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Exploration - the next frontier?

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    Exploration - the next frontier?

    The early 1900's was the Golden Age of Exploration - Peary, Cook & Nansen at the North Pole, while Crean, Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton broke new ground in Antarctic endeavours. Later, Jacques Cousteau became one of the pioneers in deep-sea oceanic exploration, with the space race sending human-created crafts beyond the solar system into interstellar space. But, with no human lunar missions since 1972 and pelagic waters largely unexplored, who and what will marvel 21st-century voyeurs?

    #2
    Exploration - the next frontier?

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      #3
      Exploration - the next frontier?

      It's the Leeds song.

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        #4
        Exploration - the next frontier?

        Well, not only deep sea waters but aren't the arctic wildernesses still pretty much untouched?

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          #5
          Exploration - the next frontier?

          If it's a wild, strange place you're after, where outsiders never venture, you could try Skelmersdale.

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            #6
            Exploration - the next frontier?

            We're exploring inner space through the medium of the internet.

            Innit.

            To be fair the argument that humanity going to Mars (rather than sending a probe) is a pointless exercise because there is absolutely fuck all there is a compelling one.

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              #7
              Exploration - the next frontier?

              Yes, exploration seems to be more micro focussed than macro, now. On the cellular and genetic level, in fact. And on exploring the boundaries of what we can do with what we have, rather than just where we can go.

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                #8
                Exploration - the next frontier?

                That's right. I reckon the next step will be shrinking people so that they can travel in a micro-vehicle that can move through the body. I saw a documentary about it in the 70s

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                  #9
                  Exploration - the next frontier?

                  Ah. Fantastic Voyage. I bought that last year in a bin for $2. Astoundingly kitschy fun, but I'm not sure the science is sound.

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                    #10
                    Exploration - the next frontier?

                    Mars surely contains lots of wonderful unrenewable resources. Say if we develop a way to transport resources between Earth and Mars at a very fast rate. We won't have to worry about running out of resources in the next millenium. Of course, this would cost heaps...

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                      #11
                      Exploration - the next frontier?

                      Worn Old Motorbike wrote:
                      Yes, exploration seems to be more micro focussed than macro, now. On the cellular and genetic level, in fact. And on exploring the boundaries of what we can do with what we have, rather than just where we can go.
                      I think nanotechnology and the possible creation of nanorobots is both exciting and kind of chilling too.

                      One day, we'll all be driven to work in by these:

                      -

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                        #12
                        Exploration - the next frontier?

                        I am going to spoilt everyone's fun and say that maybe curing cancer, Hiv, malaria and poverty will be our next target.

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                          #13
                          Exploration - the next frontier?

                          Being a sourpuss again, I hope you don't go anywhere new as every time we do, leave our rubbish and debris there

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                            #14
                            Exploration - the next frontier?

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                              #15
                              Exploration - the next frontier?

                              To be fair the argument that humanity going to Mars (rather than sending a probe) is a pointless exercise because there is absolutely fuck all there is a compelling one.
                              Compelling, but wrong.
                              The population of the Earth will pass 7 billion this month. There are estimates that by 2100 it'll be approaching 15 billion. Quite simply, we need to either stop reproducing, or spread out a bit. Not least because even if by some miracle we overcome the inequalities in resource distribution and even more miraculously manage to wean ourselves off fossil fuel dependency there is only so much to go around.
                              I've read elsewhere that even more of a problem is even if we use the greenest of green energy to generate power, it still has a byproduct. Heat. And if you keep putting heat into a system, well, it heats up. Which is the same issue we have with greenhousing ourselves.
                              Of course, another issue is that stuck here on one tiny ball of rock floating flying about in an uncaring universe brings to mind the issue of eggs and baskets.
                              One really nasty ebola variant, one well aimed chunk of asteroid, one set of nutjobs in the whitehouse hovering over the red button, one gamma ray burster pointing in the wrong direction - and every single life that we know exists, animal vegetable or mineral could be gone. And there's a chance we're the only example of life anywhere.

                              It can be argued that sending people to Mars is pointless in and of itself. And well, it probably is. But as a first step towards spreading out, testing our limits, developing technologies that would allow us to start forming beachheads elsewhere, well in that no probe, no remote, no non-sentient being is going to cut it.

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                                #16
                                Exploration - the next frontier?

                                They'd have to live in a tent wouldn't they? And that's the problem. First generation living in a tent, maybe. Second generation, born in a tent, spent their life in a tent, they'll go postal. No-ones going to live there. And then inevitably some bright spark will say 'lets make it a penal colony' and before we know where we are, we're all living in an episode of Blake's 7.

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                                  #17
                                  Exploration - the next frontier?

                                  There's a lot of people living in tents right now.

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                                    #18
                                    Exploration - the next frontier?

                                    Um, living as in it's their home, yeah. But they can leave the tent without suffocating can't they.

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                                      #19
                                      Exploration - the next frontier?

                                      So, to summarise your argument. We should just stay put and risk innumerable disasters both natural and man-made, because someone might get a bit claustrophobic?
                                      Well, I'm sold.

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                                        #20
                                        Exploration - the next frontier?

                                        hobbes wrote:
                                        There's a lot of people living in tents right now.
                                        And that's the part that reall'yurts.

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                                          #21
                                          Exploration - the next frontier?

                                          Further exploration of the navel to secure renewable sources of belly button fluff.

                                          A copy of “New Scientist” was hanging around the house I used to share with a mate a few years back and there was a quit, quite fascinating article about how the next big jump in technology could be a biology version of the microprocessor, meaning everyone could have a Personal Replicator type thing that could produce anything organic, basically.

                                          Which would be nifty, even though I could imagine a few practical problems without having any idea of how practical the science ever could be or if it was really no more than a flight of fancy.

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                                            #22
                                            Exploration - the next frontier?

                                            Oopsy daisy, crossed post, the following effort was in response to Hobbes.

                                            I think it's more than that though. I don't think it's possible for a society to survive in any meaningful way under those conditions.

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                                              #23
                                              Exploration - the next frontier?

                                              Worn Old Motorbike wrote:

                                              Ah. Fantastic Voyage. I bought that last year in a bin for $2. Astoundingly kitschy fun, but I'm not sure the science is sound.
                                              Oh, I beg to differ, Mr Motorbike. You obviously haven't seen the precursor of that fine documentary, which sets out the origins of the technology involved.

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                                                #24
                                                Exploration - the next frontier?

                                                I think our chances for success are much better in a place (a), where we have everything we need to survive than going to place (b) where we have nothing we need to survive and would need to bring all the essentials from place (a) where, quite obviously, they're already on the wane.

                                                It's also not inconceivable that we have adequate resources to feed, clothe and house 15 billion people. We just can't do it in the manner to which the first world has become accustomed. And the first world will need to learn to live a lot differently.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Exploration - the next frontier?

                                                  I don't think it's possible for a society to survive in any meaningful way under those conditions.
                                                  Probably no more than say, the Innuits when they first arrived in the far North.
                                                  Humanity has a pretty long history of adapting to difficult conditions before adapting those conditions to themselves. I'm not sure why it shouldn't continue to be so.

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