Things that are bugging me today

[Terabith]

1)  Physics is super weird.  I mean, we can fly helicopters on Mars, but Fermi lab experiments are indicating that we our standard model of physics is completely wrong.  So we can do all this amazing stuff with physics but it seems like we have no idea how the universe works on a subatomic level.  

2) For the last year, the government has been screaming that UFOs are real and we've all collectively shrugged and gone back to arguing about masks.  CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE UFOS???

3) Time travel.  If we brought someone from the 1500s forward in time to today, what would blow their minds the most?  Spices?  Cell phones?  Indoor plumbing?  

4) My dryer steals socks and leaves little gifts.  Half knitted towels.  Ugly shirts.  Blue jeans.  It's a mystery.  

[HeartString]

13 minutes ago, Terabith said:

 

2) For the last year, the government has been screaming that UFOs are real and we've all collectively shrugged and gone back to arguing about masks.  CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE UFOS???

 

I am HERE for UFO talk. 

[LaughingCat]

The ufo thing cracks me up - I mean the article I read specifically says “unidentifiable flying objects “ AND conflates them with aliens.  Unidentifiable is pretty clear IMO 

[Stacia]

It's not a dryer.

It's a portal.

[HeartString]

22 minutes ago, LaughingCat said:

The ufo thing cracks me up - I mean the article I read specifically says “unidentifiable flying objects “ AND conflates them with aliens.  Unidentifiable is pretty clear IMO 

But unidentifiable is so lame! We’re flying a helicopter on Mars, we don’t know what these things are in our own sky?  What are these people in government even doing if not satisfying my curiosity? 
And why choose now to release information??  That’s the really interesting bit.  Is Russia going to announce some new technology that will explain it all? Did the aliens give a deadline? Was Bigfoot involved?  I have questions! 

[Terabith]

And the thing with the UFOs is that it's not like they're blurry or that we just don't know what they are.  It's that we don't know what they are and they don't move in any way consistent with physics that we know or remotely within our technological power.  So....there are a few options, and actually aliens that don't have hostile intent are actually one of the better case scenarios.  

I've never been on team aliens coming to earth, but this stuff is making me really question that belief.  I'm not convinced it IS aliens, but it definitely seems pretty mysterious.  

In 2003, I had a close friend who was a fairly high ranking admin person at the NSA.  He had been a field agent, including doing black ops, in the past, and he had some fantastic stories, but I completely wrote him off since, you know, he lied for a living.  And he was pretty angry at the NSA.  At one point, he asked me what big secrets did I want to know, and I laughed and said, "Um, who killed JFK and are UFOs real?"  He said that JFK really wasn't a conspiracy thing and that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK and that UFOs are absolutely real; that we have spacecraft, but they aren't at Area 51; they're at Wright Patt in Ohio.  I laughed and thought he was very funny, but now I'm wondering if maybe he really was telling me the truth after all?  

Carter claims to have seen UFOs when he was in the Navy and wanted to do a big thing with researching them and letting military folks who saw them know that they weren't crazy, but he was told he needed to stop talking about it around the time he was elected.  

[Pawz4me]

The lack of attention being paid to the UFO thing really is . . . unexpected. And kind of weird.

If someone from the 1500s came back today I think they'd be most surprised by the sheer number of people. And grocery stores. I mean . .  imagine someone from then in a super Walmart or Costco/Sams. So much food easily available, and all the other products, too. They might also be surprised about how many extremely pampered house cats there are. Dogs, too. But I think the cats would be mind blowing.

[Garga]

Wait...my mom has been going on and on about shows she watches about UFOs and is convinced there are aliens out there, and I thought she was just being a gullible little old lady. But..you guys are saying it might actually be true??

[Katy]

12 minutes ago, Garga said:

Wait...my mom has been going on and on about shows she watches about UFOs and is convinced there are aliens out there, and I thought she was just being a gullible little old lady. But..you guys are saying it might actually be true??

Trump declassified a bunch of UFO stuff & set a hard date for when the rest will be declassified. So it’s likely the people who made the shows she’s watching were looking at legitimate information.  Whether they also got a bunch of information from hokey new-age gurus or people who claim to be abducted?  Likely.

[Carrie12345]

39 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

If someone from the 1500s came back today I think they'd be most surprised by the sheer number of people. And grocery stores. I mean . .  imagine someone from then in a super Walmart or Costco/Sams. So much food easily available, and all the other products, too. They might also be surprised about how many extremely pampered house cats there are. Dogs, too. But I think the cats would be mind blowing

I’ve been watching videos of people from N. Korea, Cuba, etc. and their modern-day reactions to American lifestyles, so I’m not sure how I can even begin to fathom the reactions of someone from the 1500s.  And I’d want to know where they were coming from. 1500s indigenous N/S Americans vs. 1500s Europeans vs. 1500s Africans, etc. Big differences in their cultures even at that time!

[regentrude]

8 hours ago, Terabith said:

1)  Physics is super weird.  I mean, we can fly helicopters on Mars, but Fermi lab experiments are indicating that we our standard model of physics is completely wrong.  So we can do all this amazing stuff with physics but it seems like we have no idea how the universe works on a subatomic level.  

And all these subatomic particles and the atoms and molecules and all we know as matter only make up 4% of the universe and we have no clue what the other 96% are. Let that sink in. We know pretty much nothing. 

[theelfqueen]

1500s - refrigeration, food storage and availability 

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’ve been watching videos of people from N. Korea, Cuba, etc. and their modern-day reactions to American lifestyles, so I’m not sure how I can even begin to fathom the reactions of someone from the 1500s.  And I’d want to know where they were coming from. 1500s indigenous N/S Americans vs. 1500s Europeans vs. 1500s Africans, etc. Big differences in their cultures even at that time!

Where are these videos you’ve been watching? I’d love to see them!

[Not_a_Number]

8 hours ago, HeartString said:

But unidentifiable is so lame! We’re flying a helicopter on Mars, we don’t know what these things are in our own sky?  What are these people in government even doing if not satisfying my curiosity? 

Well, we didn't get very close to them. There's a difference between things we can touch and things we're seeing at a distance. 

I'm going to assume these have nothing to do with aliens unless proven otherwise. I would say that "aliens" is not likely to be the simplest explanation, even if we don't know what the explanation is. 

 

[Carrie12345]

45 minutes ago, Garga said:

Where are these videos you’ve been watching? I’d love to see them!

YouTube!  “Dimple” is a channel with multiple North Korean defectors sharing their experiences. Other similar videos come up in the sidebar while watching those.
On TikTok, mimaincuba has “first time in <stores>“ reaction videos.
I’m becoming a little bit obsessed.

[HeartString]

51 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Well, we didn't get very close to them. There's a difference between things we can touch and things we're seeing at a distance. 

I'm going to assume these have nothing to do with aliens unless proven otherwise. I would say that "aliens" is not likely to be the simplest explanation, even if we don't know what the explanation is. 

 

I kind of want it to be aliens.  The simplest explanation is experimental technology, either from our military or a different military, but that feels so mundane.

[kbutton]

Hygiene and medical care would blow my mind if I came from the 1500s.

The amount of stuff people now own is so wildly different, and everything they made had to be maintained by someone (in some parts of the world, likely a slave). The food would be mind-blowing, but in a different way. We still have to grow it or raise it. I think they'd be floored by the types of products made as food and that most of it is junk that is processed in a factory. Food storage would be life-changing for them.

I think they'd also be shocked at how many people can read, write, and do math and that it's free to learn. 

[Not_a_Number]

40 minutes ago, HeartString said:

I kind of want it to be aliens.  The simplest explanation is experimental technology, either from our military or a different military, but that feels so mundane.

Having translated some science fiction, I don't want it to be aliens, lol! There are all sorts of bizarre possibilities with aliens... 

[HeartString]

2 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Having translated some science fiction, I don't want it to be aliens, lol! There are all sorts of bizarre possibilities with aliens... 

True.  I want Star Trek aliens that come and civilize us.  Or hostile ones that are relatively easy to defeat and ultimately bring the country and world together, a al Will Smith in Independence Day.  Or Aliens that hide in plain sight and mostly behave like in Men in Black. 

 

Apparently Will Smith is a bigger influence on how I think about aliens than I had realized.

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, HeartString said:

True.  I want Star Trek aliens that come and civilize us.  Or hostile ones that are relatively easy to defeat and ultimately bring the country and world together, a al Will Smith in Independence Day.  Or Aliens that hide in plain sight and mostly behave like in Men in Black. 

Apparently Will Smith is a bigger influence on how I think about aliens than I had realized.

Right. That's all we ever visualize. 

Whereas I translated Roadside Picnic, lol (if you haven't read it, it's excellent Russian science fiction -- you should take a look.) I get lots of disquieting ideas when I think "aliens." 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[elegantlion]

If we're talking 16th century Europeans, I think they be surprised how stale our jarred spices are, unless you take them to an market where fresh spices are sold. Indoor toilets were around in Roman Britain (not as common until later) although I think they'd be awed by flushable toilets. By then much of the populace could read if not write (two separate skills) because of grammar schools. 

I think they'd be flabbergasted by how little we know about nature, cycles, what plants to use/not use, etc, how little time we spend outdoors. I think they'd be surprised how little the average American walks, how disconnected some people are from their neighbors.

Oh, and I'm curious about the UFO thing. Of course their UFOs, they UNIDENTIFIED. Doesn't mean they're alien, but the truth is out there. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by elegantlion
ufo

[gardenmom5]

11 hours ago, Terabith said:

1)  Physics is super weird.  I mean, we can fly helicopters on Mars, but Fermi lab experiments are indicating that we our standard model of physics is completely wrong.  So we can do all this amazing stuff with physics but it seems like we have no idea how the universe works on a subatomic level.  

 

I have an affection for physics. . .  never mind my math will never be a physicist. (even 1ds (BS aerospace engineering, finishing a MS in same), took a plasma physics class as an elective when he was an undergrad.  . he said there was no curve. there were those few that understood it - and everyone else. It was the only class he dropped.

there are some great physics documentaries on amazon prime.  (the British Physicist Al-Kahlili is good at explaining things simply).  Einstein hated quantum physics.   and it is super weird - it has been proven to work on that subatomic level.  not the galactic level - likewise, einstein's theory of relativity does not work on a quantum level, even though it appears to work on a galactic level.  (there's a youtube video where they caught light photons.)

the one experiment they did that required using two telescopes focused on two different pulsars to prove how what happens in one place can affect what happens somewhere else  . . 

or that atoms only make up about 5% of the mass of the universe . . . dark matter.    

I think it's why I like Bohemian Gravity so much.   If he ever gets tired of physics - he has a future in music.  (there are some great comments in the thread.  The tween girl who thinks quantum physics is easy . . .  "the government would like to talk to you".   And Robert Feynman's comment that those who think they understand quantum physics don't understand quantum physics.

[Moonhawk]

11 hours ago, Terabith said:

1)  Physics is super weird.  I mean, we can fly helicopters on Mars, but Fermi lab experiments are indicating that we our standard model of physics is completely wrong.  So we can do all this amazing stuff with physics but it seems like we have no idea how the universe works on a subatomic level.  

10 hours ago, Terabith said:

And the thing with the UFOs is that it's not like they're blurry or that we just don't know what they are.  It's that we don't know what they are and they don't move in any way consistent with physics that we know or remotely within our technological power.  So....there are a few options, and actually aliens that don't have hostile intent are actually one of the better case scenarios.  

MAYBE the alien's intent is educational! They started really showing themselves off in 1940's right? Coincidentally (wink wink) during Einstein and our modern physics renaissance. Maybe they were watching our scientific progress and going, "Oh. Oh no, they're totally going the wrong way here. Ugh. We need to demonstrate to them so they can get back on the right path! Quick, send some hover-zip-zap-ships, that'll surely show them!" And as time goes on they're like, "Their eyesight must be worse than we thought. Let's do some big light shows over some cities to make sure they got the message." 

 

[Terabith]

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Right. That's all we ever visualize. 

Whereas I translated Roadside Picnic, lol (if you haven't read it, it's excellent Russian science fiction -- you should take a look.) I get lots of disquieting ideas when I think "aliens." 

My oldest is taking a whole class this semester in Russian science fiction.  I'm so jealous of their humanities classes!  Not sure if they read this one or not.  Most of the stuff they read was from pretty early on....1920s type stuff, I think.

[Not_a_Number]

6 minutes ago, Terabith said:

My oldest is taking a whole class this semester in Russian science fiction.  I'm so jealous of their humanities classes!  Not sure if they read this one or not.  Most of the stuff they read was from pretty early on....1920s type stuff, I think.

Do you know what they’ve read? I’m curious!!

[Terabith]

Just now, Not_a_Number said:

Do you know what they’ve read? I’m curious!!

We, The Lunar Bomb, Red Star, Engineer Many, Immortality Day are the ones I vaguely remember.

6 hours ago, regentrude said:

And all these subatomic particles and the atoms and molecules and all we know as matter only make up 4% of the universe and we have no clue what the other 96% are. Let that sink in. We know pretty much nothing. 

In the vein of "if I could go back in time and see what would change if things were done differently," my husband had just had a final interview with Fermi Lab in August of 2001, and they had informally told him that they'd be offering him a job, but then 9/11 happened....

[mommyoffive]

I just turned on the news and saw this UFO news.

 

(1) Leaked video shows UFO flying around Navy ship near San Diego - Bing video

[GailV]

On 5/16/2021 at 9:30 AM, Not_a_Number said:

Right. That's all we ever visualize. 

Whereas I translated Roadside Picnic, lol (if you haven't read it, it's excellent Russian science fiction -- you should take a look.) I get lots of disquieting ideas when I think "aliens." 

Based on this comment I got Roadside Picnic out of the library and already finished it off.  Wow wow wow, how did I not know about this until now?  I love sci fi, and this is so different than the usual stuff.

[Not_a_Number]

5 minutes ago, GailV said:

Based on this comment I got Roadside Picnic out of the library and already finished it off.  Wow wow wow, how did I not know about this until now?  I love sci fi, and this is so different than the usual stuff.

Ooh, yay! It's a great book. Which version did you get?? 

[Farrar]

I just realized this thread is a week old and everyone was still like, meh, UFO's, whatever. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, Farrar said:

I just realized this thread is a week old and everyone was still like, meh, UFO's, whatever. 

If they ever become IFOs and they show signs of alien life, I'll be the first to be super excited, I promise. 

Edited May 22, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[GailV]

12 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Ooh, yay! It's a great book. Which version did you get?? 

Forward by Ursula LeGuin, afterword by Boris Strugatsky.  I think it's from 2012. 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by GailV

[Terabith]

2 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

If they ever become IFOs and they show signs of alien life, I'll be the first to be super excited, I promise. 

The cool thing to me is that it's not jus that we can't identify them.  That's pretty meh.  I, personally, am terrible at identifying things.  It's that we can't identify them and they behave in ways that appear to break the laws of physics that we know of and that are far beyond anything that we have any awareness of how to do technologically.  

[Not_a_Number]

@GailV, ah yeah, that’s the new one.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Wheres Toto]

14 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Ooh, yay! It's a great book. Which version did you get?? 

 

11 hours ago, GailV said:

Forward by Ursula LeGuin, afterword by Boris Strugatsky.  I think it's from 2012. 

 

Me too.  I was able to borrow it from our e-library.   I'll start on it tonight since I have to get some work done today.

Any other suggestions?  I love science fiction and I'm always looking for new stuff to read.

[Terabith]

4 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

 

Me too.  I was able to borrow it from our e-library.   I'll start on it tonight since I have to get some work done today.

Any other suggestions?  I love science fiction and I'm always looking for new stuff to read.

Have you read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of God?  

[Not_a_Number]

4 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

Me too.  I was able to borrow it from our e-library.   I'll start on it tonight since I have to get some work done today.

Let me know how you like it! 

 

4 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

Any other suggestions?  I love science fiction and I'm always looking for new stuff to read.

Have you read Solaris? 

[Wheres Toto]

6 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Have you read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of God?  

I don't think so, maybe Children of God.  I'm adding them to my list to check out.

4 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Let me know how you like it! 

 

Have you read Solaris? 

Maybe, it sounds vaguely familiar.   May be worth a reread even if I have.

[GailV]

20 hours ago, Terabith said:

Have you read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of God?  

OK, not the person you said this too, but always looking for new sci fi, I rushed right over to the library online app.

I just got to Chapter 3 of The Sparrow, and I remember these hands. Whoa.

I have no memory of this book at all, but I remember these hands. Maybe I read Children of God as a stand alone and it's mentioned there?  Someone else used this idea? Who knows. This is why I started using Goodreads to keep track of what I read and purchase.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!

[Not_a_Number]

Here's a pretty good explanation of why I'm skeptical: 

https://slate.com/technology/2021/05/ufos-seti-science-astrobiology.html

[Paige]

8 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Here's a pretty good explanation of why I'm skeptical: 

https://slate.com/technology/2021/05/ufos-seti-science-astrobiology.html

That just suggests it's not aliens, but it could still be time traveling merpeople! 

[Lady Florida.]

On 5/22/2021 at 7:39 PM, Farrar said:

I just realized this thread is a week old and everyone was still like, meh, UFO's, whatever. 

Yeah, I was going through the thread liking posts then realized I'm liking week+ old posts. To be fair, the UFO info came out last year while we were all preoccupied and we as a species collectively shrugged. I'm kind of surprised that we're still shrugging now that things are starting to get back to normal. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Lady Florida.

[skywards]

On 5/16/2021 at 6:33 AM, theelfqueen said:

1500s - refrigeration, food storage and availability 

I second this, and add antibiotics to the list. 

[vonfirmath]

6 hours ago, GailV said:

OK, not the person you said this too, but always looking for new sci fi, I rushed right over to the library online app.

I just got to Chapter 3 of The Sparrow, and I remember these hands. Whoa.

I have no memory of this book at all, but I remember these hands. Maybe I read Children of God as a stand alone and it's mentioned there?  Someone else used this idea? Who knows. This is why I started using Goodreads to keep track of what I read and purchase.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!

Children of God would not make as much sense without reading Sparrow first IMHO.

[Tap]

Someone from the 1500s....electricity, phones, internet, planes, transportation speed, appliances.

 

UFOs I could see them being real (or not).

 

Your neighborhood is a portal like the Bermuda Triangle.  Your neighbor put up the lighthouse to help guide the visitors 👽. This also explains your weird micro weather events. If you get sucked in, it was nice knowing you 🤣🤣🤣send postcards!!