wierd sciece questions

[Matseb2611]

You might be able to do it with identical twins since their brains would be far, far closer than two random people's.

Yeah, but even the twins are likely to undergo different experiences in their lives. The neural pathways are usually created by our experiences and what we do in life - what emotions we undergo, what information we learn, and so on. No two people's brains are the same. Even the same person's brain is constantly changing through time.

I am now slightly excited by the possibility of transferring consciousnesses.

Lol. You might be getting far ahead of yourself. We still don't fully understand what consciousness is. What exactly gives a brain that spark that sets us in motion. It's kind of like a difference between a computer that's switched on and one that's switched off, despite hardware being the same. IF it is possible to fully encode our brain signals and consciousness into some device, store it, and then to somehow introduce it into another person's brain, then yeah, but we're not yet close to achieving the level of technology that can allow us to do that.

I know what is possible and what we're already managing to achieve is to have certain gadgets respond to our thoughts. You could have a robotic hand that moves according to your thoughts, and that is pretty amazing to be able to convert biological brain signals into artificial machine ones. Imagine what can be achieved with more advances in this area? Cars that can be steered with your thoughts, wheelchairs that move when the person in them wills it, big construction machines operated by a person's thoughts, and so on.

 

[EternalShadow]

What about a brain that doesn't work plus a brain that does - if the two were put side-by-side, could the guy with the working brain "think" himself over to the other brain? o_o (excluding the whole "this might kill you" thing)

 

[Matseb2611]

What about a brain that doesn't work plus a brain that does - if the two were put side-by-side, could the guy with the working brain "think" himself over to the other brain? o_o (excluding the whole "this might kill you" thing)

Do you mean stuff like if I was to "think" myself into your brain, then now my consciousness is in your body? No idea, lol. If that's possible, we're still far from achieving this.

 

[EternalShadow]

Do you mean stuff like if I was to "think" myself into your brain, then now my consciousness is in your body? No idea, lol. If that's possible, we're still far from achieving this.

Basically lol, but my brain would probably have to be inactive for that

 

[Clord]

Science really has no clue about human race and even less clue of various animals.


Yet the Mars colony is underway. http://www.mars-one.com/

 

[Oddball]

Science really has no clue about human race and even less clue of various animals.Yet the Mars colony is underway. http://www.mars-one.com/

there actually going through with that? Water and atmosphere cant really stay on that planet. Its not warm enough for plants to grow and i imagine there isnt enough heat for plants to grow either. We've made great strides in science, and other times choices have me asking a one word questiin: why?Edit: and this coming from.someone who likes to push the limits of whats possivle?!!?!?!!!!

 

[captainproton]

So someone else doesn't do it first

 

[Oddball]

So someone else doesn't do it first

oh! I think im going to try and jump the grand cannyon in a car so someone else doesnt do it first

 

[captainproton]

Now you're thinking like a scientist

 

[Matseb2611]

Science really has no clue about human race and even less clue of various animals.

I think that's not entirely true. Science helps to explain a lot about the human race and the animals. Sure, it's not always 100% accurate, but then what is? Science doesn't claim to be right all the time. Everything that we find out, we do so via observation, experimentation, and logical deduction, and if the new findings disagree with the old ones, then the old ones get repealed. I think many people mistake science for a belief, when it isn't one.

there actually going through with that? Water and atmosphere cant really stay on that planet. Its not warm enough for plants to grow and i imagine there isnt enough heat for plants to grow either. We've made great strides in science, and other times choices have me asking a one word questiin: why?

Well we have to start exploring beyond our planet, because it won't last forever. Our population is increasing rapidly and soon we'll need to expand our territory, not to mention the drain on the Earth's resources, and also the fact that at any point it could get destroyed by a cosmic phenomenon such as a gamma ray burst or a collision with another body. If we are able to exist beyond the planet Earth, we're increasing the chances of our civilization surviving in case of a mega disaster.

Yeah, perhaps Mars is a strange choice, but it is very close and has more potential to sustain life than say Venus. It's just an intermediary step to help us make progress in the space exploration, but the long term solution will be when we finally manage to create ships that can take us beyond the solar system to find terrestrial planets akin to our own.

 

[The Stranger]

there actually going through with that? Water and atmosphere cant really stay on that planet. Its not warm enough for plants to grow and i imagine there isnt enough heat for plants to grow either. We've made great strides in science, and other times choices have me asking a one word questiin: why?

Edit: and this coming from.someone who likes to push the limits of whats possivle?!!?!?!!!!

Mars has both an atmosphere, and water. The water exists in small amounts as vapour within the atmosphere, but mostly as ice. Sure, the planet isn't naturally conducive for human life, but the colonists wont be living on the exposed surface. They will be generating their own oxygen, growing their own plants, and doing everything else necessary for life within the colony itself.

As for why. Well, a successful colony on Mars would be the first step on the road to human exploration and colonisation of the rest of our solar system, and beyond. You've got to look at the big picture. There are a few long term reasons why mankind should start leaving Earth (Red giant phase of the Sun, consuming natural resources on Earth, etc) but also because we want to, because we can; because we have a desire to explore the greater universe. Mars isn't the end goal, it's simply the beginning.

 

[Ralpf]

Well, I don't think Mars is a logical first step, the first step should be a Lunar base so to make launching cheaper. What Mars is, is exciting, it has appeal that the moon has lost (been there, done that). We are going to Mars to get people excited again, and it is a good place for settlement in the long (long) term. But space exploration needs wide support to have a chance to be successful, going to Mars should get that.

This youtube video on colonizing Venus is also pretty interesting.

 

[cabfe]

That reminds me of a joke (from memory and translated):

- The Americans went to the moon, we'll do better!

- What do you have in mind?

- We'll go to the sun!

- But, it's too hot...

- Imbecile. We'll go during the night.

 

[Clord]

There are actually good reasons why they pick Mars over the Moon. It has more to do than being a publicity stunt.


Then again yeah, it's probably also an achievement kind of thing. I think that the moon would be relatively easy in comparison.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Growing plants on Mars would be pretty plausible actually. It would still have to be done in an artificial environment, which of course requires inputting resources. Though, given that Mars has an atmosphere at all would probably make artificial agriculture there easier than on the moon.

There is still pretty ample sunlight on Mars so the use of HPS bulbs wouldn't even have to be the main source of light. The temperature on the moon is very erratic due to the lack of atmosphere, thus needs a lot more resources to stabilize indoors. A Martian summer actually stays as warm as 21C at the equator, though night is still pretty rough.

Using the natural soil would probably be problematic though because while small amounts of iron are needed for plant life, the amounts present in Martian soil  and the alkaline pH would cause toxicity, so we'd have to use artificial media or grow media free.

Water would be the major limiting resource, which makes hydroponics unappealing. The question my undergraduate research was trying to answer was how to genetically engineer plants to use water more efficiently; which is a question we need to answer for Earth, for starts. But would definitely be key to growing on Mars.

 

[Oddball]

Which means we would constantly have to ship resources to mars pumping all that much more carbon dioxide into the atmposphere turning mars into a nessecity rather than an option. Meaning we would have tp ship 8 billion people to mars at once. Is constantly shiping resources to mars cost efficent?

Why dont we just clean up earth instead? Besides, theres probably more put into supporting life than we realize. Also, is it efficent to built so many glass domes or whatever they would use? What happens if one of them gets cracked?

 

[Ms Littlefish]

The purpose of making a colony on Mars isn't to move all of us over there. We wouldn't fit. It's to get observational data of what happens when we try to live off Earth, and no doubt provides us a lot of observational data on our solar system in general. I don't think anyone is suggesting that Mars is a long term option, but it will help us answer many things we probably don't even know about living on Earth! It's an experiment. A very interesting one.

There's no doubt that humans have to adjust their behaviors to maintain life on Earth, and we definitely should. Going to Mars can even teach us how. The thing about Earth though, is that it doesn't care that we're here. 

Of course it's costly but I'd rather fund science, education, and exploration than much of the stuff we currently fund. In fact, learning to grow plants is even very important to cut down on the oxygen and food that is artificially supplied. An occasional rocket launch barely adds to the grand scheme of CO2 gas emissions. That is still and will always largely be a question of shipping and transportation.

 

[KanaX]

Indeed. Also Mars is devoid of water (we suspect that it once did, but we only find traces) and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Both critical for sustaining life. The reason we are fascinated with Mars is that it some terms is (way) very similar to Earth, and thus we are able to compare and guess Earths' future to some extend. Space colonization is another completely different subject.

 

[The Stranger]

Indeed. Also Mars is devoid of water (we suspect that it once did, but we only find traces) and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Both critical for sustaining life. The reason we are fascinated with Mars is that it some terms is (way) very similar to Earth, and thus we are able to compare and guess Earths' future to some extend. Space colonization is another completely different subject.

Mars is not devoid of water. It has no liquid water, but it does have frozen water; rather than just dry ice.

 

[KanaX]

Point. I was focusing more on the aspect of Mars colonization and I forgot to mention liquid water. In order to sustain life, a plant must have liquid water and vapors in the atmosphere.