Starship Asterisk*

Wanderers

Explanation: How far out will humanity explore? If this video's fusion of real space imagery and fictional space visualizations is on the right track, then at least the Solar System. Some of the video's wondrous sequences depict future humans drifting through the rings of Saturn, exploring Jupiter from a nearby spacecraft, and jumping off a high cliff in the low gravity of a moon of Uranus. Although no one can know the future, wandering and exploring beyond boundaries -- both physical and intellectual -- is part of the human spirit and has frequently served humanity well in the past.

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There are a lot of Swedish names in the credits list at the end of the video.

Ann

Many times, in serene hours of the night I lean back in the armchair and put my face looking at the darkness of the night to accustom the view then I close my eyes so that nothing interferes in the attention, I light the imagination and I travel through the worlds more logical that I can find, I travel according to the possibilities of existence, I apply the laws of physics, chemistry, mechanics and the most important the immanent and with them armo a solid, liquid, gaseous or ethereal world with inhabitants of the most varied forms and modus vivendi known, I imagine talking to them and I respond within the strictest logic and sometimes the dream comes and I must stop to sleep until dawn

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:06 am There are a lot of Swedish names in the credits list at the end of the video.

Ann

That isn't that surprising since according to Wiki, Wanderers is a 2014 Swedish sci fi animated short film.

De58te wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 7:30 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:06 am There are a lot of Swedish names in the credits list at the end of the video.

Ann

That isn't that surprising since according to Wiki, Wanderers is a 2014 Swedish sci fi animated short film.

I suppose the Wiki you refer to is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderers_(2014_film).

Written and narrated by Carl Sagan! Gosh, when? Fabulous! Fabulous as in fable, of course. Seeing humans protected only by a space suit wandering in so many fatal environments... We humans are not just evolved to suit our surrounds, we are an integral part of planet Earth. What will probably happen is that we will send out non-human entities that are pre-adapted to those other worlds....worlds that could not develop life, we will kick-start life there. We've done it already on Mars; the only question is, can it eventually be self-sustaining? Doubtful but not I think impossible. Let's go for it!

heehaw wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:31 pm Written and narrated by Carl Sagan! Gosh, when? Fabulous! Fabulous as in fable, of course. Seeing humans protected only by a space suit wandering in so many fatal environments... We humans are not just evolved to suit our surrounds, we are an integral part of planet Earth. What will probably happen is that we will send out non-human entities that are pre-adapted to those other worlds....worlds that could not develop life, we will kick-start life there. We've done it already on Mars; the only question is, can it eventually be self-sustaining? Doubtful but not I think impossible. Let's go for it!

Hmmm. We're currently breaking the Earth, for which we are nearly perfectly adapted, in a way that could drive us to near extinction. And we're somehow going to make alien asteroids or moons habitable and sustainable? I don't think were remotely close to going for that! Better learn how ecosystems actually work first.

I keep noticing things. I've pointed out the yin-yang symbol on Iapetus already. In the hollowed out asteroid, note the replicas of Earth water bodies. You can recognize the Caspian Sea, Read Sea and Strait of Hormuz.

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:06 am There are a lot of Swedish names in the credits list at the end of the video.

Ann

Ann; I gather you are Swedish!

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Mon Apr 30, 2018 12:45 am

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:06 am There are a lot of Swedish names in the credits list at the end of the video.

Ann

Ann; I gather you are Swedish!

I am!

Ann

heehaw wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:31 pm Written and narrated by Carl Sagan! Gosh, when? Fabulous! Fabulous as in fable, of course. Seeing humans protected only by a space suit wandering in so many fatal environments... We humans are not just evolved to suit our surrounds, we are an integral part of planet Earth. What will probably happen is that we will send out non-human entities that are pre-adapted to those other worlds....worlds that could not develop life, we will kick-start life there. We've done it already on Mars; the only question is, can it eventually be self-sustaining? Doubtful but not I think impossible. Let's go for it!

Good points. I noticed the EVA near Jupiter that would probably be suicidal with any current tech. But I realize that Dr. Sagan's text in no way is at fault in those -- they were all in the choices of the moviemaker. And I don't fault Erik Wernquist, either; I love his imagery, even with such artistic licenses. Your alternative idea is worth considering. But I think Dr. Sagan is imagining that we will never be fully satisfied with that approach. Perhaps the ultimate answer would be something involving both his idea and yours. Re-engineered humans? Human-machine hybrids?

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:27 pm Hmmm. We're currently breaking the Earth, for which we are nearly perfectly adapted, in a way that could drive us to near extinction. And we're somehow going to make alien asteroids or moons habitable and sustainable? I don't think were remotely close to going for that! Better learn how ecosystems actually work first.

True indeed. I'm glad the Earth has given us a gentle hint. I'm an optimist that we will learn its lessons quickly enough and then react quickly enough to what we are learning, such that we don't kill ourselves off in the process. At least not from human-induced global warming. But I judge that it is an optimistic view. Aside from greenhouse gases, we are doing lots of other things to the environment and I wonder how many "OMG We're all going to die" scenarios we will eventually produce.

Healing our Planet's HUMAN induced problems starts with a UNIVERSAL assertion that OUR #1 goal & Priority IS to PROTECT The Planet Earth. Unfortunately a contagious desire to amass WEALTH & the unavoidable flaw of GREED that comes attached will hopefully not lead us to our demise.

Just a brief note (in case anyone else has run into this problem) that, in my experience, Vimeo stopped working with Mozilla-based browsers like Firefox and Pale Moon over a year ago. I've gone looking for a fix on occasion since then, but so far I haven't found anything to restore functionality. Vimeo works just fine with Chrome, though.

Yelnik Igwawa wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 4:48 am Just a brief note (in case anyone else has run into this problem) that, in my experience, Vimeo stopped working with Mozilla-based browsers like Firefox and Pale Moon over a year ago. I've gone looking for a fix on occasion since then, but so far I haven't found anything to restore functionality. Vimeo works just fine with Chrome, though.

It works when I open the APOD in Firefox...

Yelnik Igwawa wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 4:48 am Just a brief note (in case anyone else has run into this problem) that, in my experience, Vimeo stopped working with Mozilla-based browsers like Firefox and Pale Moon over a year ago. I've gone looking for a fix on occasion since then, but so far I haven't found anything to restore functionality. Vimeo works just fine with Chrome, though.

Vimeo won't play in browsers (or some browsers) that have autoplay of videos disabled. In Firefox, you can go to about:config, search for "autoplay", and set it to "true", and the Vimeo should play. Of course, that's a pain, because then you need to set it back again. I generally just skip anything in Vimeo unless I really want to watch it a lot.

Chrome is moving to make their handling of autoplayed videos more aggressive, so Vimeo may stop working there, as well, without some kind of manual change of settings.

What a beautiful and stimulating video!

However, it's impact sinks into whistfulness when you realize that humans have, in general, _not_ migrated or explored due to Melville's "itch for things remote." If you recall your history books, it was "gold, glory and the Gospel." Even greater than those, with respect to mass migration, was starvation. Persecution is a major cause of migrations throughout history -- now, we call such migrators refugees. I'm not a historian by profession, but I should say that nowhere in history do I recall a major exploration or migration for the sake of personal experience or an itch for things remote. Perry and Amundsen certainly explored competitively, for the glory of it, making exploration more akin to sports than to quests for knowledge.

Roger Venable wrote: ↑Thu May 03, 2018 12:17 pm
What a beautiful and stimulating video!

However, it's impact sinks into whistfulness when you realize that humans have, in general, _not_ migrated or explored due to Melville's "itch for things remote." If you recall your history books, it was "gold, glory and the Gospel." Even greater than those, with respect to mass migration, was starvation. Persecution is a major cause of migrations throughout history -- now, we call such migrators refugees. I'm not a historian by profession, but I should say that nowhere in history do I recall a major exploration or migration for the sake of personal experience or an itch for things remote. Perry and Amundsen certainly explored competitively, for the glory of it, making exploration more akin to sports than to quests for knowledge.

• Well, I personally have spend a good deal of time searching for the remote.

APOD Robot wrote: "Although no one can know the future"

As with the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, it's captivating to think time travelers would only find it possible to interact through the consciousness of a thinking person. That person may then use the internet thinking they had spontaneously generated the epiphany but it would, in fact, eliminate the evidence of interaction. Some creative people claim that their ideas flow while in a self-induced, focused state.

Time travel is usually depicted physically but could it be limited to a mental interaction that leads to a physical one? Could we be the "Wonderers"?

neufer wrote: ↑Thu May 03, 2018 2:51 pm

• Well, I personally have spend a good deal of time searching for the remote.

That's it Art, you've nailed it. The human race will forevermore be searching for the remote.

Rob