We'll need a really long straw.

Is it in the constellation Cytheria?

Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

oldebayer: We'll need a really long straw.

and one that can survive the gravity forces around a quasar. If you hate bending a straw putting it in a milkshake you're gonna REALLY hate dealing with that.

Crosshair: oldebayer: We'll need a really long straw.

and one that can survive the gravity forces around a quasar. If you hate bending a straw putting it in a milkshake you're gonna REALLY hate dealing with that.

Ooohh, but can it be one of those see-through ones that has all the loop-de-loops in it? Those are fun!

dustlesswalnut: lightening

*lightning

aspAddict: Is it in the constellation Cytheria?

fap fap fap

dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

That's assuming FTL is even possible.

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink :( just MiO

dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology...


Well, aren't you an optimist?

hardinparamedic: dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

That's assuming FTL is even possible.

Crosshair: oldebayer: We'll need a really long straw.

and one that can survive the gravity forces around a quasar. If you hate bending a straw putting it in a milkshake you're gonna REALLY hate dealing with that.

Depends on the radius. If we saw it, it's not inside the event-horizon of the black hole. Gravity falls off quickly with distance, so maybe the upper surface is available to us.

How many Kessel Runs is that?

I am no doubt cosmologically ignorant, don't know the intricacies of the universe, but could've the water belonged to a planet before the quasar existed or because of the timeline there was always was the black hole and gas? If there was a planet with water 12 billion years ago, then there could've been ancient alien civilizations that became technologically advanced, escaped their planet before the black hole formed and made their way to our galaxy and whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, Nah, forget it. Yo, holmes to Bel-Air!

It's getting sucked into a black hole. Frak.

If this means that we never get another fraking "they've come for our water" alien invasion plotline from Hollywood then it was money well spent!

/I mean we have four fraking gas giants in our system!

hardinparamedic: dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

That's assuming FTL is even possible.

Even assuming that, the water isn't there any more. It's dispersed and spread across a million galaxies that were created ~6 billion years ago but whose light won't reach us for another ~6 billion years.

hardinparamedic: dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

That's assuming FTL is even possible.

And that this water is still around after twelve billion years, plus however long it takes for us to develop FTL technology and then actually get there.

dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.


FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

/debbie downer

dustlesswalnut: That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Ummmm.... or the lightning rod??? Who could ever suggest Franklin's lightning experiments didn't have immediate and dramatic utility.

hardinparamedic: dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

That's assuming FTL is even possible.

Of course. I think the more implausible assumption is that we won't kill ourselves off before we can develop it.

TheDirtyNacho: FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

True, but now we know what it looks like at this stage. If we get there and see it in person, then we have two distinct data points to view it from. We wouldn't even have to travel the entire distance to determine if it was still there or not; we could jump partway there, identify and analyze the light that's visible at that location in the universe, and so on.

It just bothers me when people say stuff like this isn't useful.

Lonestar: World's biggest toilet?

It's the restroom of the restaurant at the end of the universe.

dustlesswalnut: TheDirtyNacho: FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

True, but now we know what it looks like at this stage. If we get there and see it in person, then we have two distinct data points to view it from. We wouldn't even have to travel the entire distance to determine if it was still there or not; we could jump partway there, identify and analyze the light that's visible at that location in the universe, and so on.

It just bothers me when people say stuff like this isn't useful.


Now that I think about it, we'd have to spread out fairly slowly to be sure you don't actually do something like jump into a planet that wasn't there. It'd be spread out, take measurements, move a little further and so on. And then relay the information gathered back to home.

TheDirtyNacho: dustlesswalnut: TheDirtyNacho: FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

True, but now we know what it looks like at this stage. If we get there and see it in person, then we have two distinct data points to view it from. We wouldn't even have to travel the entire distance to determine if it was still there or not; we could jump partway there, identify and analyze the light that's visible at that location in the universe, and so on.

It just bothers me when people say stuff like this isn't useful.


Now that I think about it, we'd have to spread out fairly slowly to be sure you don't actually do something like jump into a planet that wasn't there. It'd be spread out, take measurements, move a little further and so on. And then relay the information gathered back to home.

That's why R2-D2 is an astromech droid. It's his job to handle all that and make sure you don't splatter yourself on a planet. I assume it's going to be much the same in the future as it was a long time ago.

This is good news, as I'm pretty thirsty. It's hot out.

TheDirtyNacho: Now that I think about it, we'd have to spread out fairly slowly to be sure you don't actually do something like jump into a planet that wasn't there. It'd be spread out, take measurements, move a little further and so on. And then relay the information gathered back to home.

Perhaps. I imagine that if we leave earth we won't be coming back. Whatever transport we develop will have to be self-sustaining.

dustlesswalnut: TheDirtyNacho: FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

True, but now we know what it looks like at this stage. If we get there and see it in person, then we have two distinct data points to view it from. We wouldn't even have to travel the entire distance to determine if it was still there or not; we could jump partway there, identify and analyze the light that's visible at that location in the universe, and so on.

It just bothers me when people say stuff like this isn't useful.


Now that I think about it, we'd have to spread out fairly slowly to be sure you don't actually do something like jump into a planet that wasn't there. It'd be spread out, take measurements, move a little further and so on. And then relay the information gathered back to home.

You guy's DO know that the universe is REALLY EMPTY... like you're NEVER going to hit something empty? Like "Space is Big"?

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Yes, but how much are they charging for split crotch panties out there?

/or other naughty undergarments

Hmmm .... Now if only we could build an apparatus to shuttle us back and forth into outer-space

OhioKnight: You guy's DO know that the universe is REALLY EMPTY... like you're NEVER going to hit something empty? Like "Space is Big"?

Of course you're not going to run into a planet in the middle of nowhere, but if you're jumping to a location that you obvserved a nebula in based on multiple-billion-year-old light it's likely that what exists when you get there will be organized completely differently. Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it.

Quantum Apostrophe: Crosshair: oldebayer: We'll need a really long straw.

and one that can survive the gravity forces around a quasar. If you hate bending a straw putting it in a milkshake you're gonna REALLY hate dealing with that.

Ooohh, but can it be one of those see-through ones that has all the loop-de-loops in it? Those are fun!

No. We can't risk letting aliens acquire our crazy-straw technology.

YakiManiac: Hmmm .... Now if only we could build an apparatus to shuttle us back and forth into outer-space

The shuttle is so '70s at this point. We should be concerning ourselves with how to exist in outer space for entire lifetimes. We've got plenty of ways to blast people up there; I want to see them develop a way to leave this place.

If I'm ever going to buy a ticket to outer space it had better be one-way.

dustlesswalnut: OhioKnight: You guy's DO know that the universe is REALLY EMPTY... like you're NEVER going to hit something empty? Like "Space is Big"?

Of course you're not going to run into a planet in the middle of nowhere, but if you're jumping to a location that you obvserved a nebula in based on multiple-billion-year-old light it's likely that what exists when you get there will be organized completely differently. Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it.

I think the best thing to do would be to jump, plant a stationary probe that observes what's around it and broadcasts its information using similar jumping technology. Establish a network of these buoys throughout the galaxy and then you'd have nearly real-time information on positions and status of phenomena that would allow safe point-to-point movement.

I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros: Y'all need to be more optimistic. The great distance just increases the likelihood that we'll pass a bourbon planet on the way.

Yes, but what good is bourbon without a little interstellar H₂O to open it?

OhioKnight: You guy's DO know that the universe is REALLY EMPTY... like you're NEVER going to hit something empty? Like "Space is Big"?

Okay, champ. Start from the center, and draw the straight line that doesn't intersect something.

dustlesswalnut: Assuming our species doesn't annihilate itself before we can develop FTL technology things like this WILL be useful. That's like saying Ben Franklin's experiments that proved lightening was a massive charge of static electricity wasn't useful when, in fact, his discoveries influenced battery technology and the invention of the electric motor.

Science FTW.

It was there 12 billion years ago. FTL is pseudoscience and will happen the same time the rapture does.

OhioKnight: dustlesswalnut: TheDirtyNacho: FTL will set us up for so many let downs. This body of water doesn't exist in the present, the light reaching us is 12 billion years old. I'm sure so many interesting looking phenomena will either A. Not be as it looks from Earth, or B. Kill whoever visits. You know, when you jump out of hyperspace and crash into a planet that wasn't there 5 billion years ago...

True, but now we know what it looks like at this stage. If we get there and see it in person, then we have two distinct data points to view it from. We wouldn't even have to travel the entire distance to determine if it was still there or not; we could jump partway there, identify and analyze the light that's visible at that location in the universe, and so on.

It just bothers me when people say stuff like this isn't useful.


Now that I think about it, we'd have to spread out fairly slowly to be sure you don't actually do something like jump into a planet that wasn't there. It'd be spread out, take measurements, move a little further and so on. And then relay the information gathered back to home.

You guy's DO know that the universe is REALLY EMPTY... like you're NEVER going to hit something empty? Like "Space is Big"?

Yet we look at the Deep Field Survey and see billions of stars and thousands of galaxies in a dark patch of the sky(about 1/20th of a degree, iirc). Moving at the speed humans are used to on earth, space is empty. Moving at a far greater speed, it becomes less so. Things are relative.

Los Angeles Water Department planning new aqueduct in 4...3...2...

faster than light travel will never be achieved. it's not physically possible.

aspAddict: Is it in the constellation Cytheria?

Well done. Made me think back to an old GF who was one. Every guy should experience that craziness.

30 billion trillion. sounds like congress wannabes