tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post45677851566831041..comments2023-11-28T09:02:03.742+01:00Comments on The Seneca Effect: Star Parasites: Carbon-Based Life and the Future of the UniverseUgo Bardihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-17746706000312026962021-06-09T08:47:34.782+02:002021-06-09T08:47:34.782+02:00Good question!Good question!Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-60201318894166700172021-06-09T08:47:18.799+02:002021-06-09T08:47:18.799+02:00But you are right. I forgot to write "control...But you are right. I forgot to write "controlled" when I wrote that nuclear fusion is not possible outside stars. Of course it is possible, it is just that it is not controlled, as in a nuclear warhead. I added the right words to the text.Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-83784047765532195422021-06-09T01:06:41.950+02:002021-06-09T01:06:41.950+02:00Ah, but what did the Big Bang dissipate? Or is the...Ah, but what did the Big Bang dissipate? Or is the Big Bang the mother of all Second Law breakers? Joe Clarksonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-36147087840072630412021-06-08T16:49:14.429+02:002021-06-08T16:49:14.429+02:00Thank you, Ugo. Related reading:
The Natural Scie...Thank you, Ugo. Related reading:<br /><br /><b>The Natural Science Underlying Big History</b><br /><br />"Abstract<br /><br />Nature’s many varied complex systems—including galaxies, stars, planets, life, and society—are islands of order within the increasingly disordered Universe. All organized systems are subject to physical, biological, or cultural evolution, which together comprise the grander interdisciplinary subject of cosmic evolution. A wealth of observational data supports the hypothesis that increasingly complex systems evolve unceasingly, uncaringly, and unpredictably from big bang to humankind. These are global history greatly extended, big history with a scientific basis, and natural history broadly portrayed across ∼14 billion years of time. Human beings and our cultural inventions are not special, unique, or apart from Nature; rather, we are an integral part of a universal evolutionary process connecting all such complex systems throughout space and time. Such evolution writ large has significant potential to unify the natural sciences into a holistic understanding of who we are and whence we came. No new science (beyond frontier, nonequilibrium thermodynamics) is needed to describe cosmic evolution’s major milestones at a deep and empirical level. Quantitative models and experimental tests imply that a remarkable simplicity underlies the emergence and growth of complexity for a wide spectrum of known and diverse systems. Energy is a principal facilitator of the rising complexity of ordered systems within the expanding Universe; energy flows are as central to life and society as they are to stars and galaxies. In particular, energy rate density—contrasting with information content or entropy production—is an objective metric suitable to gauge relative degrees of complexity among a hierarchy of widely assorted systems observed throughout the material Universe. Operationally, those systems capable of utilizing optimum amounts of energy tend to survive, and those that cannot are nonrandomly eliminated."<br /><br />https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263048576_The_Natural_Science_Underlying_Big_History_The_Scientific_World_Journal_v_2014_41_pages_article_ID_384912_2014_DOI_1011552014384912<br /><br /><b>The purpose of life is to disperse energy</b><br /><br />" The truly dangerous ideas in science tend to be those that threaten the collective ego of humanity and knock us further off our pedestal of centrality. The Copernican Revolution abruptly dislodged humans from the center of the universe. The Darwinian Revolution yanked Homo sapiens from the pinnacle of life. Today another menacing revolution sits at the horizon of knowledge, patiently awaiting broad realization by the same egotistical species.<br /><br />The dangerous idea is this: the purpose of life is to disperse energy.<br /><br /><br />There is growing evidence that life, the biosphere, is no different. It has often been said the life's complexity contravenes the second law, indicating the work either of a deity or some unknown natural process, depending on one's bias. Yet the evolution of life and the dynamics of ecosystems obey the second law mandate, functioning in large part to dissipate energy. They do so not by burning brightly and disappearing, like a fire torching a forest, but through stable metabolic cycles that store chemical energy and continually reduce the solar gradient. Photosynthetic plants, bacteria, and algae capture energy from the sun and form the core of all food webs.<br /><br /><br />https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10674moresomahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00289740244866738586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-24294093244051998012021-06-08T11:00:11.042+02:002021-06-08T11:00:11.042+02:00great article!great article!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-21060686407685634352021-06-08T09:08:32.133+02:002021-06-08T09:08:32.133+02:00True. But we can't exclude that life could ada...True. But we can't exclude that life could adapt to higher doses of cosmic rays.<br />Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-37434724765454736362021-06-08T02:45:46.526+02:002021-06-08T02:45:46.526+02:00Another reason that molten cores are vital to life...Another reason that molten cores are vital to life, is that without them there is no planetary magnetic field, which channels dangerous charged cosmic rays to the poles and spares the atmosphere from being blown away.Genonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-50741235601062609662021-06-07T22:48:44.809+02:002021-06-07T22:48:44.809+02:00Yes, of course. But it is not controlled fusion!Yes, of course. But it is not controlled fusion!Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-67258701451236035102021-06-07T22:25:20.945+02:002021-06-07T22:25:20.945+02:00Fusion can take place also in man-made bombs, not ...Fusion can take place also in man-made bombs, not only in stars:<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon<br />Actually, as far as I understand, you can have the three of them triggered one after the other: U235 fission, H fusion, U238 breeded fission. All in the same device. So beautiful... but it doesn't last long. Another collapse as feature.Martíhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17401388438577261791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-13190638107016655452021-06-07T22:00:42.876+02:002021-06-07T22:00:42.876+02:00Absolutely yes! Read this: https://cassandralegacy...Absolutely yes! Read this: https://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/2017/07/stereocene-future-of-ecosystem.html<br />Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-24155518485179551642021-06-07T20:41:13.686+02:002021-06-07T20:41:13.686+02:00""All you can do, and you can do no more..."<b><i>"All you can do, and you can do no more, is to transform high energy potentials into low energy potentials"....</i></b> <br /><br />In the process, the total energy put to achieve the transformation is orders of magnitude greater than the sum useful energy achieved.<br /><br />"Time taken in stocking energy to build an energy system [i.e. any energy transformation system], added to the time building the system will always be longer than the entire useful lifetime of the system.<br /><br /><a href="https://the-fifth-law.com/pages/press-release?ugo=2021/06/star-parasites-future-of-universe.html" rel="nofollow">Energy, like time, flows from past to future"</a>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-53947660276420923772021-06-07T20:36:01.151+02:002021-06-07T20:36:01.151+02:00The singularity and AI will turn us into a silicon...The singularity and AI will turn us into a silicon-based life form. Carbon is for losers. Then everyone becomes a solar panel and can be launched directly into space! Sili-Human Galactic Civilization has a good ring to it does it not? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-75514782822836150962021-06-07T10:53:26.395+02:002021-06-07T10:53:26.395+02:00Despite the disastrous conditions of science, nowa...Despite the disastrous conditions of science, nowadays, it can still provide food for thought, indeed. Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-62100809369925805592021-06-07T04:55:59.060+02:002021-06-07T04:55:59.060+02:00["The decay of heavy nuclides is slow and not...["The decay of heavy nuclides is slow and not very spectacular, but it is fundamental for carbon-based life. A geologically active nucleus generated enough heat to create the structures we call "hydrothermal vents" which on Earth appear at mid-ocean ridges. It is believed that life started at these undersea vents exploiting geothermal energy much before it ventured to the surface and learned how to exploit solar light. Then, life needs a constant supply of carbon dioxide, which is provided by outgassing from the hot mantle. Without this outgassing, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be consumed by reacting with surface silicates and disappear in a few million years at most. So, no radioactive elements, no life."]<br /><br />Hmmm ... is that so ?<br />I'm a little embarrassed to say I did no know about that.<br />Wow. <br />That'll probably be enough to induce me into a contemplative daydreaming state all week long every time my workload drudgery will allow ...<br />-----------<br />["...This is the essence of the so-called "Fermi Paradox," often understood as meaning that humans are the only technological civilization existing in the universe. In a previous post, I argued that the explanation is that two conditions create the "paradox." One is that nuclear fusion is not possible outside stars, so it is not available to planetary civilizations. The other is that the amounts of fissile nuclei available in the solar system are too small to provide sufficient energy to sustain a protracted effort of interstellar travel. "]<br /><br />[" The universe as a dissipation system appears as a thermodynamic machine. And when you deal with a machine, you can't avoid wondering what is its purpose. Why the universe is the way it is? Why do radioactive elements exist? Why is carbon-based life so dependent on their existence? Why do they exist in the amounts that we see nowadays? Is that a filter that has some purpose? Are carbon-based civilizations supposed to be "filtered" in some way for some purpose we cannot comprehend now? "]<br /><br />... or perhaps we are just short of one last big fundamental physics discovery that would allow us to comprehend black holes, the missing mass and all those nagging puzzles preventing us to get the totality of the Big Picture. <br />Maybe there's something in there that allows some sort of circumventing of space-time in exchange for ... I don't know ... a specific ordering of matter and energy; or set of incantations followed by human sacrifice during a night of full moon ?<br /><br />If not, then the closer we get to collapse to more absurd our very existence becomes.<br />UnhingedBecauseLucidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00818356463141190678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-50418967918945145942021-06-06T22:52:55.080+02:002021-06-06T22:52:55.080+02:00That may be the purpose of the "filter."...That may be the purpose of the "filter." Only those civilizations that can master nuclear fission are allowed to move out of their planet.Ugo Bardihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231859786466899924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585995614037680457.post-74027320004163626322021-06-06T19:12:53.171+02:002021-06-06T19:12:53.171+02:00Purpose implies planning and monitoring...which im...Purpose implies planning and monitoring...which implies a God or Gods set things up. If that is true, then the God in charge took care to make sure that we are far enough away from other living planets to not contaminate our planets lifeforms with anothers . Like petri dishes in a bio lab.<br />Doesn't mean a specimen won't eventually escape to another planet, but it seems to not be part of the plan ...Art Decohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12955243137081184262noreply@blogger.com