From: whisper@ozemail.com.au   
      
   On 10/02/2026 6:53 am, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:   
   > Whisper wrote:   
   >> On 9/02/2026 10:14 am, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:   
   >>> a425couple wrote:   
   >>>> from   
   >>>> https://boingboing.net/2026/02/05/the-fantasy-of-starships-   
   s-no-more-realistic-than-magic.html   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The fantasy of starships is no more realistic than magic   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Ellsworth Toohey  1:16 pm Thu Feb 5, 2026   
   >>>> Cover for  Cover for "Tiger, Tiger" by Alfred Bester   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Interstellar travel — the kind in Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune — will   
   >>>> never happen.   
   >>>   
   >>> They said that of supersonic flight before, too.   
   >>   
   >> That was on planet earth.  It's not unusual for planet inhabitants to   
   >> invent many different means of transport on their planet.  Once you get   
   >> off earth forget it, humans ain't going anywhere.  If you want to see   
   >> that happen keep reading sci fi and dreaming.   
   >   
   > As I just indicated, similar bold predictions have been made before.  (Some   
   > of them are legends, though, misinterpretations and false attributions.[0])   
   >   
   > If history teaches us anything, it is that sooner or later they are shown to   
   > be wrong.  For example, just 156 years ago, Jules Verne wrote stories that   
   > are considered science-fiction today, about things and technologies that   
   > were thought to be inconceivable at the time of writing:   
   >   
   > * in "De la Terre à la Lune" (1865) ["From the Earth to the Moon" (1868)],   
   >    he described humans traveling to the Moon;   
   >   
   > * in "Autour de la Lune" (1869/1870) ["Around the Moon" (1872)],   
   >    he described humans traveling around the Moon in a capsule;   
   >   
   > * in "Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers" (1869–70) ["Twenty Thousand Leagues   
   >    Under the Seas" (1871)] he described humans traveling in a submarine,   
   >    and about giant creatures that would live there.   
   >   
   > Yet, today there is nothing fictional about submarines; and just a few days   
   > ago the observation of a live giant jellyfish during a deep-sea exploration   
   > was in the news.[1]   
   >   
   > People have not only been going to and around the Moon, and returned (since   
   > Apollo 8, 1968) but walked and drove on it (since Apollo 11, 1969); and they   
   > are going to do so again.[2]  Rockets are now launched into outer space on a   
   > daily basis; there are (unfortunately for astronomers) more than 10'000   
   > artificial satellites (mostly Starlink satellites) in orbit.  And they can   
   > land safely now to be reused, too -- something that until that became a   
   > reality was only shown in (cheap) science-fiction films.   
   >   
   > I find it an interesting historical coincidence that Verne's ideas became   
   > true almost exactly 100 years after he formulated them.   
   >   
   > I guess that you will not live to see your claim being shown wrong.   
   > Unfortunately, probably neither will I.   
   >   
   > It is clear that you do not know what you are talking about, and ISTM that   
   > you do not want to know either: That you are just an ignorant, someone with   
   > a closed mind who is attacking that which you do not understand or do not   
   > have enough imagination to conceive.  And you are a pseudonymous Usenet   
   > troll, too.   
   >   
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   As a wise man once said, a man's gotta know his limitations.  Not   
   everything you can think up in sci fi fantasy can actually happen.  We   
   will never get close to reaching another star system.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)