Simon Darkshade
Mysterious City of Gold
Look, it is very clear that the first sign will be electrical superstorms.
The End of the World
- Thread starter earendil 1
- Start date
MHSoft
Warlord
History has shown that you don't need a huge cataclyismic event to kill off a species. All it takes is for another race to eveolve which competes with us for resources and is the tiniest bit more efficient. Over millions of years we'll be driven to extinction.
Of course there are plenty of ways that we could help that along, many of which are listed in the poll. Some others are:
1) Nanobots run wild, turning us all to dust.
2) A new ice age
3) Intelligent robots run amok.
4) Scientists create a black hole in a particle accelerator.
5) All the chemicals in our diet make us infertile.
And so on...
Of course there are plenty of ways that we could help that along, many of which are listed in the poll. Some others are:
1) Nanobots run wild, turning us all to dust.
2) A new ice age
3) Intelligent robots run amok.
4) Scientists create a black hole in a particle accelerator.
5) All the chemicals in our diet make us infertile.
And so on...
Perfection
The Great Head.
Well if we created nanotechnology, humanity could e in the form of nanobots
And a black hole from a particle accelerator? That would be effectively impossible
And a black hole from a particle accelerator? That would be effectively impossible
MHSoft
Warlord
No, honestly, they're working on it right now. Trust me, I'm a physics undergraduate. They won't be like real Black Holes, becuase of their size. In fact they'll decay almost immediately in a burst of Hawking radiation. Er.. we hope.
Perfection
The Great Head.
Exactly you're talking about a balck hole the size of one made during proton decay!
MHSoft
Warlord
I'm not saying they're going to create a Black Hole that can swallow up the world tomorrow, but who knows what will happen in a few years time. Fifty years ago who would have thought we could receate conditions down to a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang?
I think that the only thing that will destroy humanity are humans themselves. A supernova is unlikely, aliens would be too far away, a disease won't have a 100% fatality rate and won't infect everybody on the planet, volcanic eruptions would cause local devastation but most likely wouldn't eradicate the human race, and an asteroid impact is unlikely and could be deflected.
MHSoft
Warlord
An asteriod impact isn't unlikly as people think, they're a fairly regular occurance. And as for deflecting it... not as easy as Hollywood would have us believe. It's certainly not something you could do in a short period of time.
Siegmund
King
You left off the option I consider most likely: eventually being replaced by our own evolutionary successors (and for the first time in Earth's history, there's a big question whether they are going to be carbon- or silicon-based life forms).
I went with we'll be around as long as it supports us, but that can mean "until we get crowded out of our own niche by someone better" just as well as "until the whole universe goes cold and dark."
I went with we'll be around as long as it supports us, but that can mean "until we get crowded out of our own niche by someone better" just as well as "until the whole universe goes cold and dark."
Sayounara
King
WW3 definately
gr8ful wes
Deity
Men will cease to be necessary, and no longer exist, as women will be artificially inceminated. Then they will all die laughing.
Perfection
The Great Head.
@ siggy Well if we evolve I think we'd still be called humanity, just a better form of it.
That's true, but I highly doubt we'd reach that level of sophistication before going off in space, the sheer amount of energy and control needed would be unimmaginable to go about this sort of thing.
That's true, but I highly doubt we'd reach that level of sophistication before going off in space, the sheer amount of energy and control needed would be unimmaginable to go about this sort of thing.
There is no way we would be able to create a black hole that would swallow the world, anytime, with particle accelerators. A black hole that weighed 100 million tons would be the size of an atomic nucleus in diameter of event horizon. Particle accelerators could conceivably make a Planck-length black hole, but that would be exceedingly small (far too small to swallow any subatomic particles) and would dissipate almost instantly. A black hole is the least of our worries.
Perfection
The Great Head.
Well concievably if you got a glob of massive particles to collide with another glob at VERY VERY HIGH speeds and innundated with radiation immdediatly after you could; And even then, the probobility of it working is highly remote and would require trillions of dollars to work, but it's not like you could accidently do it.
Zombies rising from the grave. If you want to see how this happens, watch Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Alternatively, Godzilla might not be satisfied with just destroying Tokyo but would go after other cities, bringing about the collapse of civilization as we know it.
Alternatively, Godzilla might not be satisfied with just destroying Tokyo but would go after other cities, bringing about the collapse of civilization as we know it.
MHSoft
Warlord
According to classical mechanics, alpha decay is impossible. Theories come and go, the frog remains.
allan2
Gone Fishing
Originally posted by sysyphus
When the Leafs win the Cup.
Is that the same year the Vikings win the Superbowl?
Actually, as to the supernova option--didn't pick it, but what would be the effect if, say, Sirius or Altair exploded? Both quite close in terms of stellar distances, at 9 and 14 l.y. respectively IIRC, and both in the blue-white range--nothing to produce a SUPERnova, but IIRC these stars have a potential to become "conventional" novae. But what would be the effect of such a sudden increase in radiation in the vicinity? How bright would such novae, that close, be in our sky? How much "warning" in terms of pre-nova conditions do we have?
And what about stars like Rigel or Spica or Deneb, at further distances but definite supernova material? Would their output be exponentially greater, and dispersed out in lethal doses at a proportionally larger radius?
Hey Col, are you around?
***
As for what will "end" humanity (if what we'd be in millions of years would be anything like "humanity" as we know it anyway, we'd continue to evolve), I would say, I don't know (of course), it could very well be something not mentioned here--maybe the Vogons needing to get that damned hyperspace freeway built
.... I picked "as long as the universe will support us", which could mean many things--there are many ways the universe could cease to abide our existance, in a way--assuming an overall intelligence to the whole thing, which I believe exists--but that's another discussion. I think philosophically, that's a good way of looking at our end, should it come to pass.
earendil 1
The Halfelven
ALAN2: If there was a surpernova in our region of the galaxy, humanity would certainly be wiped out. First of all, the explosin would knock out many comets out of the Oort cloud (a far out ring of comets like the asteroid belt), and it would be extremely likely that one would hit us. Also the radiation would make space travle impossible, and many other pieces of debris would probably hit us. But it doesnt look like theres goinbe one anytime soon.
As to the qusestion of man-made black holes, the particle accelerator would have to be extremely large, in fact bigger than the solar system i think. Besides, even if one was created it would evaporate in like 10^-11 of a second or so.
My guess to the end of teh world would be this: a small atsteroid would detonate like 10 km above the Earth's surface during its entry into the Earth's atmosphere.(Yes, asteroids do detonate), and would be mistken for a nuvlear bomb. Thus nuclear war.
As to the qusestion of man-made black holes, the particle accelerator would have to be extremely large, in fact bigger than the solar system i think. Besides, even if one was created it would evaporate in like 10^-11 of a second or so.
My guess to the end of teh world would be this: a small atsteroid would detonate like 10 km above the Earth's surface during its entry into the Earth's atmosphere.(Yes, asteroids do detonate), and would be mistken for a nuvlear bomb. Thus nuclear war.
