Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Speculative biology is simultaneously a science and form of art in which one speculates on the possibilities of life and evolution. What could the world look like if dinosaurs had never gone extinct? What could alien lifeforms look like? What kinds of plants and animals might exist in the far future? These questions and more are tackled by speculative biologists, and the Speculative Evolution welcomes all relevant ideas, inquiries, and world-building projects alike. With a member base comprising users from across the world, our community is the largest and longest-running place of gathering for speculative biologists on the web.

While unregistered users are able to browse the forum on a basic level, registering an account provides additional forum access not visible to guests as well as the ability to join in discussions and contribute yourself! Registration is free and instantaneous.

Join our community today!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Science News General; Stuff that doesn't need its own topic
Topic Started: Apr 9 2014, 07:11 AM (11,242 Views)
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/forget-water-on-mars-astronomers-may-have-just-found-giant-alien-megastructures-orbiting-a-star-near-a6693886.html

Bit of a sensationalist article but it's an interesting proposal. I skimmed through the paper, which had no mention of alien megastructures and made a pretty good case for captured exocomets affected by the close passage of a nearby companion star to the star in question. It seems like the suggestion came from the director of SETI and the team studying the star decided it couldn't really hurt to run a couple additional tests to see if it was a megastructure. I find it very implausible that it's any kind of artificial system, it seems more like we've encountered a new and rare natural phenomenon. A dyson sphere would be imperceptible beyond it's black body radiation and a dyson swarm would have a far more uniform and distinct signature to it assuming it could be detected from vast interstellar distances through means available to us at all.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Datura
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Paraspooky
Oct 15 2015, 01:11 AM
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/forget-water-on-mars-astronomers-may-have-just-found-giant-alien-megastructures-orbiting-a-star-near-a6693886.html

Bit of a sensationalist article but it's an interesting proposal. I skimmed through the paper, which had no mention of alien megastructures and made a pretty good case for captured exocomets affected by the close passage of a nearby companion star to the star in question. It seems like the suggestion came from the director of SETI and the team studying the star decided it couldn't really hurt to run a couple additional tests to see if it was a megastructure. I find it very implausible that it's any kind of artificial system, it seems more like we've encountered a new and rare natural phenomenon. A dyson sphere would be imperceptible beyond it's black body radiation and a dyson swarm would have a far more uniform and distinct signature to it assuming it could be detected from vast interstellar distances through means available to us at all.
This deserves its own topic.

Also, if its an artificial structure, what about a collection of Dyson Rings, or a Dyson Bubble? Could either possibly work for this? There are multiple variants to a Dyson Sphere.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

Looking into some new sources on this I think the megastructure idea may be more plausible than I first thought. The star in question is an F-type star, making it far more massive than our sun, and whatever is around it is blocking 22% of the light that star emits. Consider that a planet the size of Jupiter around a star similar to our sun would block out only around 1% of the light at best and you see why this is a very strange situation. This is also a very old star so many of the theories about debris are unlikely since it would involve either the star being young or very unlikely events. I'm still skeptical but it's interesting to see a scientific discovery where "phenomenon is likely caused by activity of extraterrestrial intelligence" is one of the more plausible theories.

EDIT: Let me clarify a couple of things about the other possibilities. One is that it is a very tightly packed asteroid belt. This doesn't work for two reasons: 1.) no dust has been detected around the star which would be expected from the interaction of such a large number of rocky celestial bodies, and 2.) in order to block out this amount of light the asteroids would have to either be so tightly packed they would probably just collapse into a planet or the asteroids would have to be 22 times the mass of Jupiter, which is absurd. Another possibility is that there are a few superjovian planets eclipsing the star all at once, but this is unlikely as they would need to each be 11 times the mass of Jupiter at least and there is not enough wobble detected on the star to indicate this as likely. The idea of exocomets being captured in large amounts is unlikely because it would require another celestial body, such as a star, passing close enough to the star in question that it exchanged the comets but has no other interaction. What does all this mean? It means all known natural explanations are unlikely enough that the possibility of a megastructure is good enough to seriously consider. It does not mean that the megastructure explanation is more likely than any other previously mentioned. I'd be willing to bet we've simply discovered a as-yet-unknown natural phenomenon, though I can always hold out hope it's aliens. When dealing with this kind of thing it's best to invoke the House-Lupus rule: it's never aliens, until it's aliens.
Edited by Ànraich, Oct 15 2015, 11:29 AM.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Scrublord
Member Avatar
Father Pellegrini
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Isn't there a way to just turn the Hubble on it and find out?
My Projects:
The Neozoic Redux
Valhalla--Take Three!
The Big One



Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com

In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado.
--Heteromorph
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
lamna
Member Avatar


Space always lets you down, whether it's what's up there or what you can actually see yourself. It's like Peter Molyneux, it promises the world but then falls short.

Always assume it's the least cool possibility.
Living Fossils

Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural


34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
T.Neo
 
Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
[flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Scrublord
Member Avatar
Father Pellegrini
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
I've made a topic about it:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5891052/1/
My Projects:
The Neozoic Redux
Valhalla--Take Three!
The Big One



Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com

In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado.
--Heteromorph
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

More news about the possibly-a-megastructure story. Newer studies suggest the star has been dimming consistently by about 16% per century, but it's very likely this is just a result of telescopes getting more and more accurate over time. From the data that's been gathered and analyzed since my last post the hypothesis of the dimming being the result of giant comets has come to the forefront of the most likely theories.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
LittleLazyLass
Member Avatar
Proud quilt in a bag

So it's almost certainly not the remains of a megastructure built by a long lost alien civilization?
totally not British, b-baka!
Posted Image You like me (Unlike)
I don't even really like this song that much but the title is pretty relatable sometimes, I guess.
Me
What, you want me to tell you what these mean?
Read First
Words Maybe
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

That would be correct. Something tells me we're probably in the ass end of the Milky Way and there's not much in the way of civilization. That's the more comforting possibility. The less comforting one is that we're in the galaxy's equivalent of Detroit.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Parasky
Jun 7 2016, 08:44 PM
That would be correct. Something tells me we're probably in the ass end of the Milky Way and there's not much in the way of civilization. That's the more comforting possibility. The less comforting one is that we're in the galaxy's equivalent of Detroit.
'ass end of the Milky Way' and 'the galaxy's equivalent of Detroit' are synonymous.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

Not really. The ass end of something usually refers to some sparsely populated rural area while Detroit is (was) a city that has largely been abandoned and ruined due to neglect.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dragon
Member Avatar
/r/GamingCirclejerk is the best subreddit, don't @ me
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Give Detroit to Canada, we can fix it. Actually, just give the entire state of Michigan to us, I'm sure nobody will miss it.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life," John 3:16

A neat pixel animation of a future cowboy


trex841
 
Hey, their right to get freaky ends when it goes up my nose.


I think this describes what dinosaurs are like now

Click for something good. Click this too.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Russwallac
Member Avatar
"Ta-da!"
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
You don't want it. Trust me.

In other (somewhat old) news: Movile Cave! It's a cave system that's been isolated for 5.5 million years, and has developed a chemosynthesis-based ecosystem in that time. There's some pretty crazy stuff living down there.
Edited by Russwallac, Jun 8 2016, 08:14 AM.
"We've started a cult about a guy's liver, of course we're going to demand that you give us an incredibly scientific zombie apocalypse." -Nanotyranus

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

http://www.geek.com/science/romanian-cave-sealed-for-5-5-million-years-is-unsurprisingly-full-of-strange-creatures-1654995/

There's some info about the cave. It's really quite fascinating. Apparently, in addition to chemosynthetic bacteria being the basis of the food chain, the atmosphere in the cave is really unique with low levels of oxygen and high levels of hydrogen sulfide.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Russwallac
Member Avatar
"Ta-da!"
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
It definitely has a lot of ramifications for alien life, since the environment is about as alien as you could get on Earth.
"We've started a cult about a guy's liver, of course we're going to demand that you give us an incredibly scientific zombie apocalypse." -Nanotyranus

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Learn More · Sign-up Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Science Central · Next Topic »
Add Reply