From TMQ on espn


Researchers led by Swinburne University of Technology, in Australia, released this map of the "nearby" cosmos. The map contains about 100,000 dots. The dots are not stars; each dot represents a galaxy, and galaxies are thought to average about 100 billion stars each. Thus the area depicted contains holds roughly 10 to the 15th power stars, a number far too huge to bother attempting to fathom. And the map merely shows galaxies nearby. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is at the center of the map. On the cosmic scale, a place with 100 billion stars is a dot.

That's pretty cool.

i was havin a pretty damn good night!

thanks, ass.

To be truthful I felt insignicant before this thread.

yeah, i pretty much thought the same thing about you

I'll cut off your scrotum and use it as a change purse motherfucker

I should post this in the religion forum and use it as proof there's no god, cause there's no ****ing way one guy built all this shit for one tiny, insignificant race of bipeds on one tiny, insignificant blue dot.

im not going to dignify this post with a response.










shit!

thats my new background.

That's all you, dumbfucks.

When you dream you think there are other people present. There are chairs and rooms and streets and skies in your dreams.

Women and men and cars and cold and light or dark.

People speak to you and say things and you respond as if you are engaged in the conversation and hearing things for the first time, in your dreams.

There is fear and joy and love and death in your dreams.

In your dream all of it seems separate from you.

You may not have thought about it before, but all that shit in your dreams is your own mind.

You may not have the clarity to grasp it now, despite the fact that the realization is already with you, but what you call "reality" is the same as this.

Exactly the same.

Exactly.

That big ol' bunch of starstuff is just you, being looked at by you.

Wake up.

It's pictures like this that best epitomize the axiom "A picture is worth a thousand words." You can tell people the numbers in physics, of just how many possible solar systems there are in the universe, but a picture like this, with what each dot represents, really drives it home.

There is no way we are alone in this universe. No matter how unlikely it is for intelligent life to evolve (especially after the amino acid was confirmed on the comet). Just no way.

And, actually, images like this make me feel more significant. Being a part of a universe like this is awe inspiring.

Concur

And @ Spademan's epiphany rant.

It doesn't make me feel insignificant.

It's actually quite liberating.

The universe will continue to spin without me, long after I'm gone. Stars will be born and will die and will never know that any one of us ever existed.

We will be long forgotten, and those who forgot us will be long forgotten.

I am not a small gear in the whole of the universe. I do not play a small part. I play no part. I have no role.

But why is that depressing? Why must I stir the universe to appreciate it? Why must the stars and galaxies spin only at my will for me to love the world I'm in?

Rather, it is because the universe doesn't depend on me, because all does not hinder on my actions, that I am able to take a step back and do the things that make me and those around me happy.

I do not have the sword of Damocles swaying over my head. I hold it in my hands! And though it is dull and will not cut, it gives me comfort.

you're a faggot

in addition, I believe this makes rape all the more acceptable.

My penis makes me feel insignificant, not the universe.

I think I can see my house in there.

So why are there two wedge shapes voids in this cluster?

I think that this image consists of two different images put together. Since the telescope is based on the Earth, it obviously can't see the entire night sky at once (because the Earth gets in the way). So, you have to look at one part of the sky, wait until the Earth rotates around, and then you get the other half of the sky. But you're going to miss a bit from edge effects, so I think that's what the missing parts are.

Bravo Yorke, bravo.

You want to join me at a rub 'n tug tonight?

.....yes.....ish...

I was just going to say this, dammit.

Cool. It's basically an image of a Supercluster of galaxies, and yes they are pretty insignificant in the realm of things, much like my posts here.

It's pie. We are pie. Some celestial entity wanted a slice of pie for itself and had seconds, hence the missing wedges




FYP

I'm still pretty convinced that I'm actually an alien youth, who, as part of a school project, has had his consciousness put into a computer simulation in order to help him fully learn about life on earth. When I die I'll wake up...and probably be all silicony or have tentacles or something. Or maybe I'm still human, just living in the distant future.

If you agree that it is theoretically possible for a computer to be powerful enough to perform this function, it's impossible to deny that this is a possibility. I'm about 99% sure this is the case.



This made me laugh really hard, even though I totally agree with LLY, as usual. I wish I could think and speak as clearly as him.

Me too. Rod is probably the only one that pulls that off to that effect, right? Is it because it's so contrary to his online persona or is it because I've predetermined anything he posts is funny?

The answer to your question is both. But it actually goes deeper than that, since Rod has always shown some knowledge of particle physics it's like a geek calling a nerd a dork. But Gay.

and/or

The fact that Rod is LLY and he is calling himself a faggot.

Well, for me, as I scrolled down and saw that RR had responded, it was the juxtaposition of the anticipation of something special to come, followed by a jolt of realization that he had gone in a wonderful, yet totally unexpected direction of writing something unapologetically trite. It was like if, right before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson had stood up and given a hauntingly beautiful speech full of excitement and hope, followed by Benjamin Franklin standing up to respond to his comments. The crowd would be hushed and leaning forward so as not to miss a single word...and all they would hear was, "Just sign the fucking parchment, faggot."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg&eur


The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D

Wait, hold on. I almost get why Rod's comment was quite funny. I just need like 4 or 5 more descriptions AT MOST of why it was funny before I can fully understand it.

It's funny 'cause it's true.

It's funny 'cause it's true.

See, that's not true, which is why it's funny.

That was awesome. Thank you.

And to quote one of my sons favorite books:



"I think out universe will always be a mystery."

Creepy. Unless you went back and edited yours to read exactly the same as mine...actually, that would be creepy too.

I thought you copied my post.

Nope. I guess this is the forum equivalent of becoming peter cousins. Congratulations to us.

Aren't one of you supposed to yell "Jinx", then punch the other?

Are you thinking of Padiddle? That's the only call/punch game I know.

Man i had a lot of them saved up in highschool

I have no idea what that is, but when I was a kid if you and another person said they same thing at the same time the person that yelled "jinx" first got to punch the other person.


This sounds like a good game to start playing again.


EDIT: Jinx