I was going to post this in the funny stuff thread

[elija]

I realized it didn't belong there. It is not funny. It is truly humbling and awe inspiring. In fact watching this video filled me with a sense of wonder the like of which I haven't experienced since childhood. A sensation that I thought was gone for ever.



I wonder if it will do the same for you...

[rokytnji]

I've always been facinated by Space since I picked up my first Novel as a kid. Thanks Elija.

[elija]

Or to put it another way

The Universe, as has been observed before, is an unsettlingly big place, a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore.

Many would happily move to somewhere rather smaller of their own devising, and this is what most beings in fact do.

For instance, in one corner of the Eastern Galactic Arm lies the large forest planet Oglaroon, the entire "intelligent" population of which lives permanently in one fairly small and crowded nut tree. In which tree they are born, live, fall in love, carve tiny speculative articles in the bark on the meaning of life, the futility of death and the importance of birth control, fight a few extremely minor wars, and eventually die strapped to the underside of some of the less accessible outer branches.

In fact the only Oglaroonians who ever leave their tree are those who are hurled out of it for the heinous crime of wondering whether any of the other trees might be capable of supporting life at all, or indeed whether the other trees are anything other than illusions brought on by eating too many Oglanuts.

Exotic though this behaviour may seem, there is no life form in the Galaxy which is not in some way guilty of the same thing, which is why the Total Perspective Vortex is as horrific as it is.

For when you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little marker, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says "You are here."

[edit]That video is so well done, it really make we wish I was born 30 - 35 years later so I would have all the educational tools of the modern child[/edit]

[questio verum]

I realized it didn't belong there. It is not funny. It is truly humbling and awe inspiring. In fact watching this video filled me with a sense of wonder the like of which I haven't experienced since childhood. A sensation that I thought was gone for ever.



I wonder if it will do the same for you...

Thank you, Elija. And well put... It is humbling and awe-inspiring indeed!

One of my favorite short form videos is this exerpt from 'The Pale Blue Dot' by Carl Sagan. It is simultaneously stirring, humbling, and unsettling.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is another scientist that I enjoy listening to. He has assumed the role left vacant by Carl Sagan. Check out 10 questions for Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Another entertaining one is his talk on the asteroid Apophis.

I don't personally subscribe to any notion of immortality*, which is probably a good thing when you consider extreme distant future events such as this. I do have some ideas on how such an event might be survived, but they're just ideas.


qv

* With the possible exception of a singular machine intelligence, should one ever develop.

[Lazydog]

It is just amazing how much is out there. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what is really there.

[MikeTbob]

That Apophis link is very Interesting QV, I wonder if this is "Planet X" that has been speculated about.
Planets beyond Neptune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[elija]

Some excellent links there QV. Thanks.

Every science teacher should learn from Neil DeGrasse Tyson - especially about presentation and engaging with your audience. I've only just learnt who he is and I'm off to search You Tube for more.

[MikeTbob]

Some excellent links there QV. Thanks.

Every science teacher should learn from Neil DeGrasse Tyson - especially about presentation and engaging with your audience. I've only just learnt who he is and I'm off to search You Tube for more.

I believe he is also on History channel's "The Universe". Very smart person he is.

[questio verum]

That Apophis link is very Interesting QV, I wonder if this is "Planet X" that has been speculated about.
Planets beyond Neptune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mike,
Yes, I agree. When this talk was recorded, our best data told us Apophis could possibly strike Earth in 2036. Our tools and data have since been refined and we know now that it will come extremely close, but not actually hit the earth. (They are still predicting an approach that will pass below the orbital plane of Earths communication satellites, though) I wonder if there might be any measureable tidal effects on the oceans below it's trajectory?. Hmm... The surfers of the world will be on top of that, no doubt.

The 'Planet X' story (also known as Nibiru, The Ottawa Project, Marduk, Transpluto, etc, etc, ad infinitum... ad nauseum) is an interesting piece of fiction, but that's all it is. Once you put it to the test, it quickly unravels. I personally wonder if it might be a social experiment created by a communication or sociology major somewhere. If you're interested, there's a short clip here of Dr. Tyson addressing the Planet X hoax.

qv