From: alain245@videotron.ca   
      
   Le Sep/29/2020 à 15:38, David Spain a écrit :   
   > Alain Fournier  writes:   
   >   
   > [trimming down a bit]   
   >   
   >> On Sep/24/2020 at 04:14, David Spain wrote :   
   >>> Anything that fits inside the transporter beam? Essentially using quantum   
   >>> mechanics and spooky action-at-a-distance to get around the light speed   
   >>> hangup. I've always thought that if you can essentially assemble something   
   >>> in zero elapsed time anywhere in the universe, that's probably the best way   
   >>> to travel. The trick is getting the receivers where you want them.   
   >>>   
   >> I thought about this some more. I was wondering what would be the best   
   payload   
   >> for an Alcubierre drive. But the answer to my question might very well be no   
   >> payload at all. If at destination they can detect that an Alcubierre drive   
   has   
   >> arrived, and know when and/or where that has happened, even if the drive   
   >> contains nothing, information can be transmitted this way. And since the   
   size   
   >> of the drive seems to be a limiting factor, if you reduce the payload to   
   >> nothing, you don't have to bother making the drive big enough to carry it.   
   >   
   > And I've thought about my response a bit more as well. It would be somewhat   
   > silly and naive to think that we humans would necessarily be the first   
   > inventors of a Star-gate.   
      
   You are presuming here that life is something frequent. We very well   
   might be alone. I'm not saying we are, and I hope we aren't. But until   
   we have proof that life has evolved somewhere else, independently from   
   life on Earth or until we understand the process by which life arose   
   here, we must admit that it is possible that we are alone. When we will   
   understand how our branch of life began, we will be able to evaluate how   
   likely it is that the same happened elsewhere. But with our current   
   knowledge, all we can say is that it did happen once, it might be only once.   
      
   > So essentially the issue of receivers sort of solves   
   > itself! The answer is any civilization that is sufficiently advanced to   
   create   
   > this technology will have a receiver at their location by definition! This   
   > also neatly solves the Star Trek Prime Directive issue as well, since there   
   is   
   > already a significant barrier to entry and requires a level of technological   
   > sophistication on the part of each party that is amenable to first contacts.   
   >   
   > Also you can prevent hostilities and invasion by hostile aliens simply by   
   > turning your receiver off! Of course this presumes one has invented one's own   
   > Star-gate and that some interloper hasn't sneaked one into your system via   
   > light-sail over a gazillion years that you don't know about!   
      
   I'm not sure turning your receiver off would be sufficient. If a   
   civilization can send a receiver to a star system let's say 10   
   light-years from here, then I would assume that such a civilization   
   could then move it around by a mere 10 light-years in less than a century.   
      
   You really have to hope that the major civilizations in your   
   neighbourhood are not hostile.   
      
      
   Alain Fournier   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)