This video by Destin of SmarterEveryDay(follow his youtube channel, seriously) is more focused on the recent failures to send a rocket up to resupply the International Space Station but it'll give you an appreciation for what it takes to have space travel in today's world, perhaps giving you some insight and appreciation as to the process used in the Mass Effect Universe getting us to Andromeda and other locations in that time frame.
All about the process of trial and error and understanding.
Just noticed this was your first post. Welcome to the forums and thanks for contributing.
I mostly dip in and out and lurk a bit. This place is crazy.
I mostly dip in and out and lurk a bit. This place is crazy.
I can confirm this as a verifiable and undeniable fact.
Nice post OP. I know the leak (whihc was pretty much correct so far) suggest differently but given the context in greek lore, I think Perseus would make for a nice ship name, no?
Nice post OP. I know the leak (whihc was pretty much correct so far) suggest differently but given the context in greek lore, I think Perseus would make for a nice ship name, no?
We'd be piloting Perseus into Andromeda.
HURR HURR HURR
Article about scientists looking for signs of life in distant galaxies outside of our own.
http://www.ibtimes.c...s-signs-1883316
I had no idea this thread was a thing. Shame on me.
Great idea, LP!
I'll admit I have a very limited understanding of astrophysics and am appealing to better minds for their input on the validity of this suggestion. 
One thing I found appealing in Mass Effect was the way Bioware handled the Fermi Paradox with the Reaper's cycle acting as a great Filter mechanism throughout the history of the Milky Way. It was a cute idea at first, but I believe it also had inherent problems from a story perspective because of the sheer difference in Kardashevian scale levels between the cycle species and the Reapers made conflict impossible to achieve without the serendipitous discovery of the Crucible plans at the 11th hour of the last cycle
My hope is that Bioware do not choose to create another Apex type civilization in Andromeda and that they keep any antagonist species at a relatively equal Kardashevian scale level as the MW species that crossover. To make this logical though would require another Great Filter/Great Silence mechanism that operated within the timeline of the Andromeda galaxy that would cause mass extinction events and reset the clock on Civilization.
I found this article on Andromeda that states that Andromeda has a far more violent past than the MW and that it has been more cannibalistic of smaller galaxies than the MW in the recent past.
http://www.dailygala...-milky-way.html
It may be my limited understanding of the physics, but I don't imagine that colliding galaxies are benign environments and believe that they possibly could operate as a combined Great Filter/Great Silence type mechanism that justifies the Fermi Paradox and keeps the species at a relatively equal level on the Kardashevian scale.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I had no idea this thread was a thing. Shame on me.
Great idea, LP!
SHAME *rings bell*
SHAME *rings bell*
I'll admit I have a very limited understanding of astrophysics and am appealing to better minds for their input on the validity of this suggestion.
One thing I found appealing in Mass Effect was the way Bioware handled the Fermi Paradox with the Reaper's cycle acting as a great Filter mechanism throughout the history of the Milky Way. It was a cute idea at first, but I believe it also had inherent problems from a story perspective because of the sheer difference in Kardashevian scale levels between the cycle species and the Reapers made conflict impossible to achieve without the serendipitous discovery of the Crucible plans at the 11th hour of the last cycle
My hope is that Bioware do not choose to create another Apex type civilization in Andromeda and that they keep any antagonist species at a relatively equal Kardashevian scale level as the MW species that crossover. To make this logical though would require another Great Filter/Great Silence mechanism that operated within the timeline of the Andromeda galaxy that would cause mass extinction events and reset the clock on Civilization.
I found this article on Andromeda that states that Andromeda has a far more violent past than the MW and that it has been more cannibalistic of smaller galaxies than the MW in the recent past.
http://www.dailygala...-milky-way.html
It may be my limited understanding of the physics, but I don't imagine that colliding galaxies are benign environments and believe that they possibly could operate as a combined Great Filter/Great Silence type mechanism that justifies the Fermi Paradox and keeps the species at a relatively equal level on the Kardashevian scale.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Andromeda itself is the product of galaxies that have merged into one. Andromeda's future several billion years from now will continue this trend as both Andromeda and The Milky Way merge to become one.
Thing is, thats quite a ways off. Nothing to worry about as far as the Mass universe goes. As far as species being on relatively equal levels, colliding galaxies wouldn't really ensure that. Far as we know with human understanding the merging of Andromeda and The Milky Way won't actually be much of a pain.
The merging of the galaxies is an intergalactic event, but before that we need to worry about a macro event like our sun Sol expanding and burning up the inner Solar System, Earth included. It is safe to assume that this is very much the case for any race living in the habitable life zone of its parent star. Even then those species(humanity included) need to worry about micro events like the advancement of the species and whether it can survive its own evolutionary path.
I think those micro and macro events and issues have far more effect on how advanced a species is than an intergalactic event like colliding galaxies, especially since at least with Andromeda and The Milky Way the event will take place several billion years from now and the events of the game won't take place nearly that far into the future.
The merging of the galaxies is an intergalactic event, but before that we need to worry about a macro event like our sun Sol expanding and burning up the inner Solar System, Earth included. It is safe to assume that this is very much the case for any race living in the habitable life zone of its parent star. Even then those species(humanity included) need to worry about micro events like the advancement of the species and whether it can survive its own evolutionary path.
This is generally true, but it depends to a large degree to the type of the parent star. Some stars like red dwarfs live a lot longer than others (in fact, no red dwarf is known to have died since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago), while others live for shorter periods. More massive stars have shorter lifespans and vice versa.
Regarding galactic collisions, they present little to no danger to any species living in either galaxy. When the Andromeda and our Milky Way collide, the chances for stars/planets colliding are extremely minute. Instead, Andromeda will be shining brilliantly in the sky for a little over 1.5 billion years, outshining the full Moon on a clear night, and the collision will happen more or less seamlessly. Not that we need to worry about any of that ourselves, but boy are we missing out on a glorious sight. 
This is generally true, but it depends to a large degree to the type of the parent star. Some stars like red dwarfs live a lot longer than others (in fact, no red dwarf is known to have died since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago), while others live for shorter periods. More massive stars have shorter lifespans and vice versa.
Regarding galactic collisions, they present little to no danger to any species living in either galaxy. When the Andromeda and our Milky Way collide, the chances for stars/planets colliding are extremely minute. Instead, Andromeda will be shining brilliantly in the sky for a little over 1.5 billion years, outshining the full Moon on a clear night, and the collision will happen more or less seamlessly. Not that we need to worry about any of that ourselves.
Neil deGrasse Tyson opened up the possibility of artificially extending the life of Sol so the inner solar system doesn't burn up, Sol doesn't expand, and everything stays as is for potentially around a hundred billion years.
Heads up;I'm probably gonna get all of this wrong, I'm going by memory here. ONWARDS-
His idea is that we take the hydrogen outside of Sol, find a way to get it into Sol's core, and thus Sol won't run out of it. Sol's turning its hydrogen into helium and eventually...well it won't end well for us. Assuming someone of another race has this idea for their own star and applies it(depending on what it is that needs to be done and how intensive it would be), its possible they can extend the life of their parent star even if its lifespan is limited and thus keep their race evolving along a timeframe that far exceeds our own.
I'm talking space with Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon. What a time to be alive.
His idea is that we take the hydrogen outside of Sol, find a way to get it into Sol's core, and thus Sol won't run out of it. Sol's turning its hydrogen into helium and eventually...well it won't end well for us. Assuming someone of another race has this idea for their own star and applies it(depending on what it is that needs to be done and how intensive it would be), its possible they can extend the life of their parent star even if its lifespan is limited and thus keep their race evolving along a timeframe that far exceeds our own.
That sounds like something Tyson would say, though I'm unaware of how feasible this would be. Stars already extend their lifespans on their own through natural means (i.e. by converting lighter elements into heavier elements, up to iron for the most tenacious stars). Artificially extending the main sequence phase of the Sun by way of getting its outer-layer hydrogen into the core would do the trick, but how to actually pull it off is another matter. I reckon you might need something like a Dyson sphere for that, but again I couldn't say.
I'm talking space with Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon. What a time to be alive.
Elder blood knows no bounds.
That sounds like something Tyson would say, though I'm unaware of how feasible this would be. Stars already extend their lifespans on their own through natural means (i.e. by converting lighter elements into heavier elements, up to iron for the most tenacious stars). Artificially extending the main sequence phase of the Sun by way of getting its outer-layer hydrogen into the core would do the trick, but how to actually pull it off is another matter. I reckon you might need something like a Dyson sphere for that, but again I couldn't say.
I'm afraid we aren't even remotely close to doing something like he suggests, especially safely. We screw it up, we screw up massively.
Elder blood knows no bounds.
Lets be real, Ciri's been to Andromeda well ahead of the characters in the Mass universe.
This is the best thread in the ME:A section.
Excellent thread idea.
This thread is now my new favourite ME:A thread. This is an excellent idea. Now I know why you are the King of Posts. *starts worshipping*
As a former high school science teacher, I approve this thread!
Thank you for this thread
Great thread. Love astronomy.
Nice thread! Really instructive ^^
This thread should be a sticky.
Nice post OP.
I had no idea this thread was a thing. Shame on me.
Great idea, LP!
This is the best thread in the ME:A section.
That reaction gif is perfection.
I need to go watch that episode now, and immediately follow it with the next time LeVar Burton guest starred on Community.
Anyway, you deserve it. I've learned so much from this thread! This is my favorite part of the ME:A section, and I think it ties with Workday Cheer for my favorite thread on the entire BSN.
Long as people are learning things and finding discussions they want to engage in its serving its purpose.
Regarding galactic collisions, they present little to no danger to any species living in either galaxy. When the Andromeda and our Milky Way collide, the chances for stars/planets colliding are extremely minute. Instead, Andromeda will be shining brilliantly in the sky for a little over 1.5 billion years, outshining the full Moon on a clear night, and the collision will happen more or less seamlessly. Not that we need to worry about any of that ourselves, but boy are we missing out on a glorious sight.
That's not true. While it is true that the probability of stars or planets colliding is astronomically small, the same can't be said for the clouds of gas and dust. Those will collide, and the pressure involved in the collision will ignite the clouds. The night and day sky will literally look to be on fire, and if close enough the heat and radiation from those collisions will scorch the Earth. Not that it really matters since by that time Sol will be a Red Giant and have already done that.
Thanks for the input on the question I asked earlier. I may have confused the points I was hoping to make. My concerns are not with regards the future collision event between Andromeda and the MW, and whether it would effect humanity.
I was more concerned about Andromeda's past history and its stellar structure creating a natural environment that acted as a Great Filter or Great Silence type mechanism on the evolution of intelligent lifeforms. Andromeda displays a far more cannibalistic nature on dwarf and collision events with other satellite galaxies than the MW. I agree with Daisy-023 that the dust and gas clouds, and gravitional pressures involved in collision events could impact the life bearing potential of garden planets and water worlds by taking them out of the Goldilocks zone. Being either too hot for advanced life to survive (Scorched Earth or Greenhouse type scenarios) or dust and gas acting as a dimmer on energy emissions reducing the temperature and provoking global ice ages and Snowball planets.
I'm toying with this idea as a world/timeline building exercise for some fan fiction. The scenario I was creating for Andromeda's relative recent history (around 1 million solar years prior to MW first contact) was a period of recovery from the last collision event that passed through the sector of the Andromeda galaxy the MW explorers discover. The last collision event had virtually wiped out the Apex civilizations of Andromeda such as the Remnant and reset the clock on the Kardashevian scale of intelligent life back to levels that are relatively equal to the MW species that are looking to colonize and exploit Andromeda. I'm giving the slight advantage to the natives in that they are more attuned to Remnant technology or have better relations with them.
Does this make any form of sense?
Thanks for the input on the question I asked earlier. I may have confused the points I was hoping to make. My concerns are not with regards the future collision event between Andromeda and the MW, and whether it would effect humanity.
I was more concerned about Andromeda's past history and its stellar structure creating a natural environment that acted as a Great Filter or Great Silence type mechanism on the evolution of intelligent lifeforms. Andromeda displays a far more cannibalistic nature on dwarf and collision events with other satellite galaxies than the MW. I agree with Daisy-023 that the dust and gas clouds, and gravitional pressures involved in collision events could impact the life bearing potential of garden planets and water worlds by taking them out of the Goldilocks zone. Being either too hot for advanced life to survive (Scorched Earth or Greenhouse type scenarios) or dust and gas acting as a dimmer on energy emissions reducing the temperature and provoking global ice ages and Snowball planets.
I'm toying with this idea as a world/timeline building exercise for some fan fiction. The scenario I was creating for Andromeda's relative recent history (around 1 million solar years prior to MW first contact) was a period of recovery from the last collision event that passed through the sector of the Andromeda galaxy the MW explorers discover. The last collision event had virtually wiped out the Apex civilizations of Andromeda such as the Remnant and reset the clock on the Kardashevian scale of intelligent life back to levels that are relatively equal to the MW species that are looking to colonize and exploit Andromeda. I'm giving the slight advantage to the natives in that they are more attuned to Remnant technology or have better relations with them.
Does this make any form of sense?
Given all the guessing we have to do, it makes as much sense as we want it to.
That's not true. While it is true that the probability of stars or planets colliding is astronomically small, the same can't be said for the clouds of gas and dust. Those will collide, and the pressure involved in the collision will ignite the clouds. The night and day sky will literally look to be on fire, and if close enough the heat and radiation from those collisions will scorch the Earth. Not that it really matters since by that time Sol will be a Red Giant and have already done that.
You would be correct. I had forgotten about the interstellar gas which indeed can be ignited violently over the course of the collision, though it's unlikely to present immediate risk to planetary ecosystems unless the distance happens to be especially short.
You would be correct. I had forgotten about the interstellar gas which indeed can be ignited violently over the course of the collision, though it's unlikely to present immediate risk to planetary ecosystems unless the distance happens to be especially short.
I figure the talking heads of space and astronomy would talk about this some more(the gas having an effect during the collision).
Han Shot First already mentioned intergalactic space, where in between galaxies stars are to be found. That may be important for "our" journey to Andromeda. Here's a short video about how these stars got there.
Intergalactic space may actually be full of stars.
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