From: rsw@therandymon.com   
      
   On 2015-10-21, Hils  wrote:   
   > "We were among the first 8 per cent of worlds that could potentially   
   > support life when we came into being 4.6 billion years ago, according   
   > the astronomers behind the study. Many of the other Earth-supporting   
   > planets won’t turn be around for some time — and are likely to come   
   > about after our own sun burns out in six billion years. [...]   
   >   
   > Humanity arrived early enough to be able to see back into the   
   > beginnings of the universe with telescopes like Hubble and other   
   > equipment.   
   >   
   > But that same understanding might be off-limits to future   
   > civilisations.  Because the universe is expanding so fast, any   
   > observable evidence of its beginnings is likely to be erased — leaving   
   > people in the future with no clue about how the universe got to where   
   > they are."   
      
   Interesting article.  It's strangely ethnocentric - has trouble   
   believing any other society could exist anywhere in time and space.  I'm   
   still partisan to Arthur C Clarke's proposition that the real   
   intelligent life existed long before us, and visited us long enough to   
   either find us strangely amusing or take pity on our primitive   
   intellects.   
      
   I suspect the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy might have had fun with   
   this train of thought, too.  Love that part (maybe in the 3rd book?)   
   where Arthur Dent lands on some planet where prehistoric humanoids are   
   about to discover fire, and then some annoying, juvenile, alien assholes   
   land in their space craft and make a fool of themselves, almost   
   interrupting the humanoids.  Arthur gets annoyed these bastards would   
   disturb his ancestors, and is then informed the ancestors to the human   
   race isn't those humanoids but rather, the assholes.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)