Support NeoGAF

[The Lunch Legend]

"Will humankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age?" or in essence, can we stop, or even reverse entropy?

This is part a serious question, part a reference to a certain scifi story. (space cookies for those who gets it)

When we talk about the Khardashev scale, we're not even Type I yet, but who knows what'll happen once we reach a Type VI level of technological advancement.

Do you think it is possible? To reverse the direction of entropy and stop it from reaching maximum? Is it possible to prevent the heat death of the universe?

 

[Bojji]

I doubt we will be able to colonize solar system before current civilization dies (Expanse style)...

 

[Outlier]

That's a grand question, which my only response would be = why bother?

Our best hope of surviving beyond the Solar System or the Universe would be for us to genetically change to handle new environments.

We would no longer be human.

 

[The Lunch Legend]

I doubt we will be able to colonize solar system before current civilization dies (Expanse style)...

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

 

[kanjobazooie]

Khardashev

You know humanity is doomed when you read this as "Kardashian".

 

[Bojji]

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

Not gonna happen. I would love to be wrong on this one (and our civilization reaching higher levels as well).

 

[HRK69]

Is it possible to prevent the heat death of the universe?

Only if we invent a way to punch entropy in the face, enslave dark energy and survive trillions of years on memes and spite

Are you trying to stop the heat death of the universe or just avoid doing your laundry?

Regarding memes

 

[Lord Panda]

I think that reversing entropy is impossible unless we're space-time gods.The best we could do is to slow entropy down.

 

[IDKFA]

I said 'no', but it's impossible to say what sort of technology we'll have in say 1000, 5000 or 10,000 years (that is if we even make it that far)

 

[reezoo]

Unless we kill each other, this is inevitable.

 

[jason10mm]

There is a sci-fi book that deals with this, called Manifold:Time by Stephen Baxter.

IIRC super advanced races eons from now string together stars with all the available hydrogen and use black holes to scavenge light in order to use up every last photon before everything collapses into the heat death.

 

[jason10mm]

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

Heh, maybe a decade away from sending a human on what will probably be a suicide trip. Actually COLONIZING Mars, in a way that isn't 100% dependent on Earth and has any kind of sustainability, it likely a century away at least.

Quite frankly I think we will see enclosed self-sufficient habitats here on a blasted Earth well before you see them on another planet.

 

[T8SC]

Do you mean reverse as in going from a disordered state (high entropy) to an ordered state (low entropy)? If so, there's nothing in the laws of physics that say that can't happen, it's just very unlikely. Therefore entropy always increases because it's more likely that it will. By saying this, the 2nd law of thermodynamics is able to explain why time only runs in one direction.

 

[thuGG_pl]

No

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

not a chance

 

[Rentahamster]

This is part a serious question, part a reference to a certain scifi story. (space cookies for those who gets it)

The Last Question

 

[Zathalus]

Humans as we are now? Impossible, we are simply too short-lived, stupid, and have evolutionary urges that would conflict with something like that being possible. Some transhuman/posthuman intelligence in the extreme far future? Maybe, if something like it is even possible or needed.

Funnily enough, I recently finished reading the Count to the Eschaton Sequence series of books that goes over this very scenario.

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

We are not. We can get to Mars, and we can probably build some habitats there, but long term healthy stay seems unlikely until we address the concerns regarding radiation and gravity. Rotating habitats or centrifuges are one possibility, but engineering that on Mars with our current resource and technological level seems rather unlikely.

 

[TheUnicornGuy]

Scientists have already created conditions where heat transfers from a colder object to a hotter one and quantum computers can reverse it for error correction. Apparently.

 

[The Lunch Legend]

The Last Question

 

[TheUnicornGuy]

 

[Liopleurodon]

I think it would be possible, but even if it isn't I believe humanity should still aim for the stars, and beyond.

For that to happen, thousands, maybe even millions of dreamers, bold, brave, smart, stupid, strong, weak, people of all kinds, generations of them would be necessary to accomplish such a feat.

On the other hand, I can see the future where humanity simply accepts the end.

 

[Rentahamster]

Spoiler

 

[ClanOfNone]

it's all a simulation, just need to edit the correct lines of cosmic code, BAM entropy reversed.

 

[Wildebeest]

If entropy couldn't be reversed at a local level then we wouldn't be here but the work of reversing local entropy results in higher global entropy.

 

[poppabk]

We would all spontaneously die. So yeah we will probably figure it out.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Let there be light. But also no.

 

[AJUMP23]

Entropy seems immutable. Heat death must occur in the current state of the universe.

 

[Pagusas]

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

I've been hearing that sense 1990...

I wonder what will happen first:

First person on Mars
Winds of Winter Releases
The Doors of Stone Releases
Star Citizen Releases

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

No

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

sure, and you can quote this comment when that happens.

 

[IntentionalPun]

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

lol no

 

[TheDreadBaron]

Humans as we are now? Impossible, we are simply too short-lived, stupid, and have evolutionary urges that would conflict with something like that being possible. Some transhuman/posthuman intelligence in the extreme far future? Maybe, if something like it is even possible or needed.

Funnily enough, I recently finished reading the Count to the Eschaton Sequence series of books that goes over this very scenario.


We are not. We can get to Mars, and we can probably build some habitats there, but long term healthy stay seems unlikely until we address the concerns regarding radiation and gravity. Rotating habitats or centrifuges are one possibility, but engineering that on Mars with our current resource and technological level seems rather unlikely.

Mars has gravity tho?

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

The Last Question

What a great story!

tyty

"Will humankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age?" or in essence, can we stop, or even reverse entropy?

This is part a serious question, part a reference to a certain scifi story. (space cookies for those who gets it)

When we talk about the Khardashev scale, we're not even Type I yet, but who knows what'll happen once we reach a Type VI level of technological advancement.

Do you think it is possible? To reverse the direction of entropy and stop it from reaching maximum? Is it possible to prevent the heat death of the universe?

Thanks for the op...that read was a fun time.

 

[popeutlal]

This short story will answer that question.

 

[Rentahamster]

What a great story!

tyty

It's one of the classic sci fi short stories and I really like it. It ticks off a lot of philosophic themes as well as scifi themes. Another short story that I liked with a sort of similar vibe but not really is The Egg by Andy Weir (author of The Martian).

The Egg

 

[Diddy X]

Pure science fiction, we'll never reach a technological level much higher than we have now.

 

[Rentahamster]

Heat death must occur

No.


Death...by snu snu.

 

[freefornow]

No. We may not even make it to Type 1 Khardashev the way we are going.
All things end. Including the Universe.

 

[bender]

We're only a decade away from colonizing Mars.

 

[EverydayBeast]

This is a big universe, and other species may have valuable information on the origins of the universe, did they witness the creation?

 

[AJUMP23]

No.


Death...by snu snu.

More friction than entropy.

 

[Rentahamster]

More friction than entropy.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

It's one of the classic sci fi short stories and I really like it. It ticks off a lot of philosophic themes as well as scifi themes. Another short story that I liked with a sort of similar vibe but not really is The Egg by Andy Weir (author of The Martian).

The Egg

I finished up Hail Mary a few months ago and enjoyed it. Cheers for this...some bed time reading.

 

[Zathalus]

Mars has gravity tho?

Only one third of Earth. Not enough to keep healthy and will likely have some sort of impact on fetal development.

 

[Connificent]

You know humanity is doomed when you read this as "Kardashian".

 

[Liopleurodon]

In reality, this is worse than even ancient people discussing path tracing.

 

[Soodanim]

It will happen if the one corporation that has absorbed all others, probably Amazon, wants it to happen.

 

[RagnarokIV]

bro i thought we were talking about cooking steaks