Researchers develop memory crystal that could store 360TB of data forever

[HiFlyer 9,359]

I'd like to think that as a species progresses technologically, they also progress in other respects. To survive without blowing themselves to pieces they would have to. They would need to overcome any self destructive tendencies. So perhaps any species visiting here would have progressed beyond violence and conquest.

 

Well in this scenario, they wouldn't necessarily destroy us because of competition for resources or anything like that, but in simple preemptive self defense. Any species that gains the ability to accelerate matter to relativistic speeds gains the power to destroy any other civilization by the simple act of hitting other species planets with rocks moving at appreciable fractions of lightspeed.

 

Instant extinction level event.

 

By cold, brutal logic alone, it would need only a single advanced civilization, deciding that allowing other species to reach that level of technology constituted an unacceptable threat, to make the neighborhood very very dangerous.

 

Us or them, and they would prefer it to be us.

[martin-w 3,235]

Well in this scenario, they wouldn't necessarily destroy us because of competition for resources or anything like that, but in simple preemptive self defense.

 

 

Except that the xenophobic species would have no immediate need for self defence. As we have zero capability for FTL. No way of threatening them. Given how far away we are from being technologically advanced enough to be a threat, don't think we have anything to fear. A species with pre-emptive self defence on their minds wouldn't be bothering us for a good few thousand years yet, perhaps longer.

 

 

 

 

Any species that gains the ability to accelerate matter to relativistic speeds gains the power to destroy any other civilization by the simple act of hitting other species planets with rocks moving at appreciable fractions of lightspeed.

 

 

Actually that wouldn't be necessary. Just nudge a few asteroids in the direction of a planet you wish to annihilate. Even if that civilisation had an asteroid defence capability, enough of them would swamp that defensive system. No need for fancy physics. Or a simple pathogen would do it.

 

 

By cold, brutal logic alone, it would need only a single advanced civilization, deciding that allowing other species to reach that level of technology constituted an unacceptable threat, to make the neighborhood very very dangerous.

 

 

 

They would have to be "the first" advanced species for that to be plausible. If they weren't the first, and there were other equally advanced spacefaring civilisations around, then they would most certainly object to our hypothetical, xenophobic aliens activities. I'm sure any equally advanced but less aggressive aliens would feel somewhat uncomfortable with a bunch of pointy eared Romulan's warping around taking out less advanced civilisations. 

 

 

An advanced species, capable of traversing the distances involved, would certainly have the capability to observe in extreme detail of course. They would know everything there was to know about a civilisation. And if civilisations do become less violent as they progress, then there would be no need to waste resources, time and effort, annihilating a nonviolent, zero threat species.

 

You could say that such paranoid behaviour is a characteristic of a less advanced species, not a more advanced one. I would say that it's more likely that an advanced civilisation would merely keep an eye on other worlds, keep an eye on the progress that civilisation was making, both technologically and morally. And that they would only act in self defence if there was actually a genuine threat. Anything else is primitive.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Except that the xenophobic species would have no immediate need for self defence. As we have zero capability for FTL. No way of threatening them. Given how far away we are from being technologically advanced enough to be a threat, don't think we have anything to fear. A species with pre-emptive self defence on their minds wouldn't be bothering us for a good few thousand years yet, perhaps longer.

 

No need for (maybe impossible) FTL. Just being able to reach significant portions of lightspeed makes us a threat. And given our current rate of advancement we might have that capability surprisingly shortly.

 

Actually that wouldn't be necessary. Just nudge a few asteroids in the direction of a planet you wish to annihilate. Even if that civilisation had an asteroid defence capability, enough of them would swamp that defensive system. No need for fancy physics. Or a simple pathogen would do it.

 

It's a possibility, but an extremely advanced civilization might  have sufficient spaceflight capability to see NAFL objects incoming at a far enough distance to nudge them off of a collision course, or even simply destroy them with weapons we can't imagine. On the other hand, no matter how advanced you are, you are pretty much toast against a relativistic attack, even if your civilization is orders of magnitude more advanced than your attacker, because of the fact that with a sufficiently speedy projectile, by the time you see it, its just about to hit you. No warning.

 

They would have to be "the first" advanced species for that to be plausible. If they weren't the first, and there were other equally advanced spacefaring civilisations around, then they would most certainly object to our hypothetical, xenophobic aliens activities. I'm sure any equally advanced but less aggressive aliens would feel somewhat uncomfortable with a bunch of pointy eared Romulan's warping around taking out less advanced civilisations. 

 

Warp drive puts the discussion into the realm of science fiction, whereas relativistic bombardment is well within the bounds of possibility. As for retribution by advanced species, well, for safety's sake, everybody should do what they can to hide. (And it is very quiet out there, isn't it?)

 

Certainly any sane perpetrators would hide (go EM dark) to avoid a counterattack.

 

I was actually going to go on about this a little longer but while doing some quick research, I just found this site that can do it a lot better than I could, and has pretty much the same scenario I was talking about. (Nice!)

 

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/aliens.php#killingstar

[Slayer 190]

Considering that by estimates %99.9 of all species that have existed on earth are now extinct, I think we have much bigger problems to deal with than aliens.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Famous last words.......!  :h01162:

[z06z33 763]

Unless we have had visitors!!! We may scoff at UFO reports, but there are some pretty weird ones out there.In particular by pilots.   :smile:

 

 

Any way, I don't no what you negative Nancy's are babbling on about. Only last night I was cruising a resource extraction sire in my A  rated Vulture, blasting bad guys and then heading back to the nearest space station with one million credits in bounties. 

 

Some of you will know what I'm talking about.  

You play Elite? You should add me,Im a noob at it lol

[martin-w 3,235]

No need for (maybe impossible) FTL. Just being able to reach significant portions of lightspeed makes us a threat. And given our current rate of advancement we might have that capability surprisingly shortly.

 

 

Doubt such a thing would be "surprisingly shortly". Although it depends how you define surprisingly shortly. And it depends how you define "significant portion of light speed". Currently, we are nowhere near achieving speeds that would render us any kind of threat to a distant alien civilization. We don't even know if such a thing is possible at all. The universe is an unimaginably huge place, and even at light speed we would be a minimal threat. At present we have mere conjecture, and the necessity for exotic materials we can't even prove exit, no solid physics that would make such unimaginably distant journeys possible.  Of course, miraculous, serendipitous discoveries are made, but it's beyond unlikely that such a fortuitous random breakthrough would occur and be significant enough to suddenly make us an intergalactic civilization capable of threatening others.

 

On the other hand, no matter how advanced you are, you are pretty much toast against a relativistic attack, even if your civilization is orders of magnitude more advanced than your attacker, because of the fact that with a sufficiently speedy projectile, by the time you see it, its just about to hit you. No warning.

 

 

 

If your civilization was orders of magnitude more advanced than your attacker, then you would most certainly be aware of the danger of a "relativistic attack" and you would also have the knowledge to defend against and defeat that attack. If that wasn't the case, you would have a balance of power, mutually assured destruction. If your planet gets wiped out by such an attack, your other colonies would respond in kind, a relativistic attack.

 

 

 

 

Warp drive puts the discussion into the realm of science fiction, whereas relativistic bombardment is well within the bounds of possibility. As for retribution by advanced species, well, for safety's sake, everybody should do what they can to hide. (And it isvery quiet out there, isn't it?)

 

 

 

 

Well no, warp drive is science fiction yes, but so is "relativistic bombardment". Both require physics we don't yet possess. Thus science fiction. 

 

How would you propel your relativistic weapon? How would you avoid an infinite energy requirement? How would you avoid inertial mass and thus an infinite mass scenario?

 

In reality your relativistic weapon isn't possible as far as we know, as far as our current understanding of physics tells us.

 

I have to say though, warp drive could be used as a weapon. It's been theorized that when you drop out of warp, when you switch off the negative energy that would  create your warp bubble, the result would be quite devastating for anyone nearby.  When the Alcubierre ship decelerates the particles it has collected during it's journey are released in a very energetic outburst. We are talking Gamma rays and high energy particles. And here's the thing, the longer the journey the more particles are accumulated. Interestingly, there is no upper limit to the energy released upon arrival, the longer the journey the more the particles build up. Simply dropout of warp after a long journey, near your target planet and that world would be devastated.

 

The above I see as a possible weapon, your relativistic weapon on the other hand has no physics to back it up in terms of how you would accelerate to such velocities.

 

 

It's certainly in the realms of possibility that there are species out there that are a threat. And that hiding is a rather good idea, but there are plenty of other theories as to why it seems to us to be quiet out there. We need to consider all of them I'd say.

 

I'd say it's far more likely that life is commonplace but intelligent life rare. far more likely that intelligent life is widely separated. And given that the universe is very old, and a species has a finite existance, the chances of two intelligent species being in the same neighborhood at the same time are rare.

[martin-w 3,235]

You play Elite? You should add me,Im a noob at it lol

 

 

 

Played it a little when it was first released and then not much. A couple of months ago I bought Horizons and dived back in. Loving it now. No expert by any means. I have a very well equipped vulture and I guess around 20 million credits total assets.

 

Spending most of my time at the moment cruising RES sites and picking up the big bounties. Quickest way I know to make big money.

 

Hopefully I'll have enough to buy a big freighter soon and do some trading.