LHC@home

though MikeW's analogies are technically correct in regards to the needle, haystack, and field, i find the estimate of success alittle pessimistic. As I am fond of saying, 'Given a long enough time-line, everyone's chances of survival drop to zero', which is my own way of saying your all goin to die. But this is true in the reverse when applied to SETI or any other project. Given a long enough time-line, these project's chances of success will reach 100%, even SETI. I believe this because humanity has the capablity to grow on a near infinite scale. We are only held down by ourselves. So provided we survive to expand beyond Earth, the possiblity that we as a race will become extinct decrease greatly, as do the events that could cause such an extinction. Should we one day reach beyond our own sun, the events that could cause the destruction of humanity become very limited, the greatest of them being a hostile alien race. From that point forward, the time-line available becomes the lifetime of the universe itself, which as we can guess, is a realllllllly long time. From there, either we expand until it is all ours, every star until the end of time, or we find others and compete for dominance, but either way, the answer is found.

in response to Thierry Drumel:
>>I said Seti because it's not a real scientific subject (for the participants).

It may take hundreds, even thousands, of years to answer such a question as 'are we alone', i believe it will one day be answer, providing, of course, we are still here to ask it. So to say that SETI has no scientific value to its particapants is an inaccuracy, because SETI is the beginnings of the answer to a question humans have been asking, and will continue asking, for many years. The scientific value to all of humanity is apparent, not only in the philosophical and theological areas, but also the scientific development of the human race. What do you think people would do if faced with undisputable evidence that alien life existed? I would say that the reach for the stars would be a vicious one, because a constant of human nature (sadly) is greed. People will want those stars for themselves, if only so that some 'little green man' doesn't get it first. Growth beyond Earth would become active because of the 'manifest destiny' various major religons preach. Granted SETI has no immediate value to the participants in the realm of science, but the question it seeks to answer, those three little deceptively complex words, is among the greatest science has asked. I would be very disappointed if that question where easily answered.

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after posting that message i looked at the topic for the thread and relize i am WAY off topic, so my apologize to the author. :)

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humm.
well i do think that SETI is scientific, only the believed success is philosophical.
it is also very unlikely that this nice planet we should all try to live along in some better harmony is the only one in the whole universe to contain life.
i hope for that alien races they are technologically advanced to us, or they'll get assimilated (enough examples here on earth). =)
BUT that whole discussion should not take place in this thread :)

greetz and happy crunching, once there is work again :)
pe.

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Back on topic.......As I have said on our team message boards...Ya know I was thinking (could be dangerous)....... not only is LHC attractive to do because you are helping design the largest supercollider ever made and it is particle physics.... almost as intreging is how they give you work...and then take it away..... kinda makes you want more...all the time,addictive(Like a woman ) hehe not to offend any female participants or readers(disclaimer)Again as I have also said I like to keep a larger work cue than what appears "acceptable" to many(hoarding is the term most used)..... but I say even when a user max's work goes to deadline and/or what BOINC will allow ,(I don't 4 day 4.72 gives me 2-3 days) so what? Isn't that what the deadline is for? Isn't that why they lowered the deadline from 14 days to 8 days? People who complain about this (new and old ) it is a dead-non-issue get over it and trust the developers to know what they need.... some of you almost sound jealous when you get no workunits and others are crunching....

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Whether Seti is a "scientific" project or not is irrelevant here, as Seti has had an epoch-making influence in distributed computer technology! They developed the technology which made us able to participate in this and other projects!

So searching for "little green men", no matter how serious this may be for people, have influenced the whole DC concept!

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"I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world" - Me

>>I believe this because humanity has the capablity to grow on a near infinite scale.

Not one - not one - human civilisation has lasted more than a few hundred years. Our present civilisation is around 250 years old and we now seem intent on burning all the natural resources our planet has within a few decades. I think it's more likely that we're all going to die...

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Gaspode the UnDressed
http://www.littlevale.co.uk

<blockquote>Not one - not one - human civilisation has lasted more than a few hundred years. Our present civilisation is around 250 years old and we now seem intent on burning all the natural resources our planet has within a few decades. I think it's more likely that we're all going to die...
</blockquote>
Um, there are a couple that lasted 2-3 thousand years. Granted this is still only 20 hundred years or so, but few is usually reserved for single digit values.

But the point is well taken that most civilizations do not last that long. Sadly, you can see the signs of decay in most current instances.

Anyway, the point is well taken ...

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>>Um, there are a couple...

As I said - not one!

:-) - Thanks for the input, Paul

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Gaspode the UnDressed
http://www.littlevale.co.uk

<blockquote>>>I believe this because humanity has the capablity to grow on a near infinite scale.

Not one - not one - human civilisation has lasted more than a few hundred years. Our present civilisation is around 250 years old and we now seem intent on burning all the natural resources our planet has within a few decades. I think it's more likely that we're all going to die...
</blockquote>
I have to argue with this point. Eygyptian civilization lasted several thousand years. Roman civilisation also lasted a thousand years or more. I would also trace the current civilization back a bit fruther, at least back to the age of exploration in the 15th century. Possibly back even fruther than that to the late dark ages, 10th to 13th century.

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BOINC WIKI

BOINCing since 2002/12/8

Could you open a new thread for this? It's way OFF topic! ;-)

cheers,

Sysfried

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<blockquote>I have to argue with this point. Eygyptian civilization lasted several thousand years. Roman civilisation also lasted a thousand years or more. I would also trace the current civilization back a bit fruther, at least back to the age of exploration in the 15th century. Possibly back even fruther than that to the late dark ages, 10th to 13th century.</blockquote>

Egyptians? Maybe. Romans? Maybe - it depends where you measure from and to. Our current civilisation I measure from the start of the Industrial Revolution. If you take a different point then maybe we have accrued more than 250 years. Then there's all the other civilisations: Maya, Inca, etc., who's lifespan was well within a 'few hundred years'

My point is: humanity has never demonstrated any capacity for significant longevity. Our current course seems doomed to confirm this. Sadly :-(

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Gaspode the UnDressed
http://www.littlevale.co.uk

you miss my point, i said nothing of any particular civilization. I speak of humanity as a whole. People tend to forget that evolution didnt stop with the opposible thumb. Homo Sapiens AS A WHOLE has existed on Earth for many many thousands of years, constantly evolving technologically. Just because a new culture is formed as old one perish doesn't make the dead civilization any less human, nor the new one. MikeW, you are correct in your analysis of past human civilizations. Many have not survive more than a few centuries. But we still remember them, even thousands of years later. Now, do you think the cultures of the present world will be forgotten once they are gone? Do you think the questions that we asked will be forgot because we dont find the answer? My point was that no matter what may rise in the future, as long as HUMANS, not Americans or French or ect., exist, the question will remain, as will the drive to find the answer.

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and also, you forget the Chinese and Japanese civilization in your analysis. They have existed for thousands of years already, continually evolving socially and technologically.

my overall point is that NO Civilization that exist today was the first to look at the star (or the atom) and wonder what? why? or how? Even if all civilization falls and we must begin again, the questions will remain.

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please more work ;) no nice screen saver any more...

<blockquote>Whether Seti is a "scientific" project or not is irrelevant here, as Seti has had an epoch-making influence in distributed computer technology! They developed the technology which made us able to participate in this and other projects!

So searching for "little green men", no matter how serious this may be for people, have influenced the whole DC concept!

</blockquote>

Yes, my words. People love to look for 'little green men'. BOINC is here because people of SETI@home made it. I prefer LHC, but I'm grateful to SETI@home that they made it possible for me to participate in LHC through the creation of BOINC.

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Server Status

Up, 7314 workunits to crunch
34513 workunits in progress
34 concurrent connections




(It dropped over 100 just waiting for this page to load )

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Volunteer Mad Scientist For Life

Server Status

Up, out of work
10769 workunits in progress
37 concurrent connections

we are dry now.

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<br />
--
marshall

and then by magic:

Server Status

Up, 58296 workunits to crunch
27099 workunits in progress
41 concurrent connections

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Ok someone needs to say it ..

THIS THREAD NEEDS TO DIE!

It takes at least 30 seconds on a decent cable modem to download the entire text with all the graphics people have.. think of the dial up users loading this thread! :)

When we get to 10K again, feel free to start a new thread instead of keeping this one alive since 10 July! 'nuff said!

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Easy fixed....don't look at it.

You can also set your forum preferences to not show avatars and sigs to help speed it up.