A Conversation for Ask h2g2
Are We Alone in the Universe?
creachy Posted May 27, 2003
i thought i read somewhere that travelling by ship would make it impossible for a physical being to cross the likely vast distances between habitable worlds
Are We Alone in the Universe?
Peet (the Pedantic Punctuation Policeman, Muse of Lateral Programming Ideas, Eggcups-Spurtle-and-Spoonswinner, BBC Cheese Namer & Zaphodista) Posted May 27, 2003
There's no problem in principle with a physical being travelling long distances in this way. The problem is that any being with a lifespan long enough to accommodate this sort of travel would probably have a sufficiently different "viewpoint" on the universe to make any meaningful communication with us impossible. It would be like us trying to establish meaningful communication with a super-intelligent dragonfly, which while perfectly able to understand what we say had the unfortunate habit of dying before we got to the end of the first sentence. Except worse. 
Are We Alone in the Universe?
Flake99 Posted May 27, 2003
It would also depend on the speed of the craft and HOW it travelled - Warp etc.
As for communication, anyone who has the patients may be interested in this: http://laetusinpraesens.org/docs/alien1.php
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Are We Alone in the Universe?
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