When will the human race be wiped out?

[coopdog]

When and how do you think the human race will be wiped out? The major things that could currently wipe out the human race would be some nuclear war, or a some type of space rock hitting earth. In about 100 year I think we would have the technology to stop a meteorite from impacting earth. Also be able to establish life on the moon or something if there was a nuclear war.

If we could survive for 1000 years the population would be giant maybe in the 100's of billions and spread out over a few planets, then it would be harder for the human race to die out.

100,000 years by now we should have some type of close to speed of light travel, maybe half the speed of light. Then it would be even harder for something to kill the human race.

There are theories out there that say that the Big Bang will slow down and start to comeback in on its self in trillions of years.

I wonder if in trillions of years what would be going on in the universe and if we would have the technology to stop the big bang saving the universe.

We might not be the first thing made by the big bang there could have been humans or animals living for trillions of years then the Big Bang came back in on its self destroing every person and ever piece of matter and then exploded again creating us and the universe as we know it.

[evil]

to address your estimation of the increase in population into the hundreds of billions or whatever----
i believe i read an article somewhere that estimated that the increase in total population on the earth is apparently supposed to level off in the reasonable near future---like 50 years or something.

i would also never rule out a nuclear war.

it is damn scary to think that one person could dedide the fate of the entire world.

[Vector]

Originally posted by coopdog

There are theories out there that say that the Big Bang will slow down and start to comeback in on its self in trillions of years.


Someone correct me if i am wrong, but i thought that some scientists had come to the conclusion that this will not happen as the expansion is still accelerating. They said something to the effect of since the acceleration was not slowing there would not be enough energy for it to stop and collapse back onto itself. Somehow they had figured out that it would have had to start slowing by now or it would not be able to. It may have been in one of steven hawking's books, but i am not sure.

Then again what do scientists know. As often as ideas on the universe change and new discoveries are made this theory could be completely wrong and the universe could collapse on itself.

[OutThere]

Well as long as we keep the village idiots out of power we might just be able to keep the human race toddling along, and killing everything in its path.

[agreenster]

Originally posted by evil


it is damn scary to think that one person could dedide the fate of the entire world.

VERY scary. Its hard to believe that one person could hit ONE button (okay, maybe a couple people and a couple buttons) and practically the entire Earth's human population would be obliterated.

And with terrorism running rampant in todays world, I dont see that as impossible. How hard would it be for a terr group to hack into the US military and detonate or launch a few nukes?

Freaky. Some terrorist on an ego kick would love to claim (just before his demise) that he destroyed the entire earth.

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by agreenster
VERY scary. Its hard to believe that one person could hit ONE button (okay, maybe a couple people and a couple buttons) and practically the entire Earth's human population would be obliterated.

Russia had plans for a dooms day device - basically it was a old Cruiser (ship) that had been hollowed out and sat in port with an extremely large hydrogen bomb inside.

The idea was the if they got into a war with the US and started to lose, they'd blow the ship which had enough power to destroy the whole planet. This way no one wins....nice, eh?

D

[dxp4acu]

Originally posted by coopdog

If we could survive for 1000 years the population would be giant maybe in the 100's of billions and spread out over a few planets, then it would be harder for the human race to die out.


Don't put all your eggs in one basket... Spread out over a few planets! That would be a good thing.

I personally think God will come back by then and there will be an end-times from in the Bible, but that's me. It makes just as much sense as the other explanations.

Needless to say, not a lot we could do about 1 person starting a nuclear war or an asteroid or something. Enjoy life, baby!!!

[dabirdwell]

It likely depends on the outcome of the next presidential election.

[dxp4acu]

Originally posted by coopdog
100,000 years by now we should have some type of close to speed of light travel, maybe half the speed of light. Then it would be even harder for something to kill the human race.


Where'd you get this #? I would imagine 500-1000 yrs or less! Think back to 1003 A.D.. There were horses and carriages and such. Now think of where we are now. In the last 100 years we have been at such a break-neck pace I could easily see this happening in this time.

[Mr. Anderson]

Not to mention the fact that we actually might make First Contact with aliens and they'd give us the technology....;)

There's too many possibilities for the future, good or bad. There's no way to make a prediction about what will happen - I just hope to be around long enough to see some of the good stuff....:D

D

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
Russia had plans for a dooms day device - basically it was a old Cruiser (ship) that had been hollowed out and sat in port with an extremely large hydrogen bomb inside.

The idea was the if they got into a war with the US and started to lose, they'd blow the ship which had enough power to destroy the whole planet. This way no one wins....nice, eh?

D

Lucky for the Earth and human kind that mutually assured destruction worked. The USSR was like us in that they cared about human life. They realized that nuclear war meant the end of life.

All we can really do is be optimistic!

[hvfsl]

Originally posted by Vector
Someone correct me if i am wrong, but i thought that some scientists had come to the conclusion that this will not happen as the expansion is still accelerating.

This is just one of mainy theories, people don't really have any 'real' evidence one way or the other, it is all theoretical. If people use one set of caculations it looks like the universe will implode, while if they look at some other calculations it looks like the universe will expand forever.

Anyway if people do not change then the world will end within 300 years because the earth will no longer be able to support the human race. What I mean by not changing is still using non-renewable fuel, the population still increasing and wars etc. So I think the only way for the human race to suvive is for it to expand onto other planets.

I expect Mars to become like the Americas used to be, the 'new world' that everyone wants to go to for a better life.

[topicolo]

Who's to say that technological and scientific innovation will keep accelerating like it has so far? Maybe after a certain point, the advancement of knowledge in all aspects of human society will slow down. I mean, it's happening already--math, organic chemistry, physics (some areas), etc advance much more slowly than blistering new fields like genomics and microbiology.

Maybe in 200 years, we'll have about the same knowledge that we'll still have in 1000 years.

[vollspacken]

i think the human race will be wiped out as soon as TROGDOR gets back from his vacation...

I better grab my tiBook, leave my thatched roof cottage, and seek shelter in the mountains...

vSpacken

[Rower_CPU]

From what I've heard, the population on the planet is expected to double in the next 60 years. That takes us from over 6 billion to somewhere near 13. :eek:

Do we really think the planet can support this kind of population growth? Technology can't solve everything, and the possibilities of widespread food and supply shortages are very real.

[Ryan1524]

by killing our planet, we're ensuring our extinction. and the process is already too far. i'll give it another 500-600 years if we don't make some serious changes. :(

[Dont Hurt Me]

space exploration is so important for the human race, outside an astroid hitting the earth which we are doing nothing about by the way, ourselves are the biggest risk. allways some fool taunting his Nucs like the crazy Korean. we should really have a world wide program on how to attack and kill/divert astroids of many sizes.after we had missles built/adapted for this, the next thing we need is a moon base and mars habitat/colony to convert the planet into semihabitable atmosphere. now the human race has back ups.

[Ryan1524]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
space exploration is so important for the human race, outside an astroid hitting the earth which we are doing nothing about by the way, ourselves are the biggest risk. allways some fool taunting his Nucs like the crazy Korean. we should really have a world wide program on how to attack and kill/divert astroids of many sizes.after we had missles built/adapted for this, the next thing we need is a moon base and mars habitat/colony to convert the planet into semihabitable atmosphere. now the human race has back ups.

i want the star trek universe.

no, seriously. earth has been cleaned up, no poverty, no disease, no war. no money (source of everything that's wrong in this world). Earth is virtually a paradise. :) :)

[MrMacMan]

If Earth Blows up/Gets Blown into small peices/Is Cracked By any Weapons made we will *not* be able to live on the Moon!

And anyone on the moon would probably die.

Think about it.


With earth gone, the moon stops revolving around it, either goes flying (slowly in universe terms) into some:
a) Planet
b) Sun
c) Other objects: Asterois, Meteor Belts...


You are all dead, start heading for titan or some other solar system.

Run, Go NOW!!!

:rolleyes:

[Dont Hurt Me]

the earth has been hit many times in the past and this did not happen

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
the earth has been hit many times in the past and this did not happen

Lets review the concept of an atmosphere.

Earth has air... or an atmosphere.
The Moon, does not have either.

This means while meteors go through an atomsphere they break down. So much so that objects car sized could be broken down into objects like a bowling ball.

When this happens to a non atmosphere object (exp: Moon) it would create a creator, or would dent/damage the object more.

(If that sounded condescending it wasn't meant to be)


At any rate the Moon would be moving and the object at the moon:


Moon
-------> __________ <-- Meteor

One '-' would mean more or less force/speed.

[wdlove]

I think that by the time a meteor threatens Earth, we will have an effective defense. Our chances look pretty good with a meteror when you think of how long Earth has existed.

Man is very innovative. I feel confident that we will find ways to overcome the problems of the future.

[themadchemist]

Originally posted by topicolo
Who's to say that technological and scientific innovation will keep accelerating like it has so far? Maybe after a certain point, the advancement of knowledge in all aspects of human society will slow down. I mean, it's happening already--math, organic chemistry, physics (some areas), etc advance much more slowly than blistering new fields like genomics and microbiology.

Maybe in 200 years, we'll have about the same knowledge that we'll still have in 1000 years.

yeah, but these "blistering new fields like genomics and microbiology" have come into being as a result of a strong footing in the "traditional" fields such as math, organic chemistry, physics, etc.

Who's to say the even newer fields won't be established that use as their foundations our future solid knowledge of genomics, microbiology, etc.?

[Durandal7]

Originally posted by MrMacman

With earth gone, the moon stops revolving around it, either goes flying (slowly in universe terms) into some:
a) Planet
b) Sun
c) Other objects: Asterois, Meteor Belts...


Hey, just like Space 1999 :p

The human race will be destroyed on the twenty-third of August in the year 2827. This will be triggered by a genetically engineered "super-cow" coughing on a researcher and infecting him with a super-bug that brewed in one of the super-cow's super-stomachs. The super-bug will be resistant to all forms of medication and it will spread to humans and kill them and eventually reach Mars, killing everyone there.

Meanwhile, the cybernetic humans will swap their few biological parts out for synthetic materials and get to be smug for the next millenia since they were right all along. Thus the debate over whether the human race should become quasi-AI or genetic super-humans will be settled once and for all.

[themadchemist]

Originally posted by MrMacman
Lets review the concept of an atmosphere.

Earth has air... or an atmosphere.
The Moon, does not have either.

This means while meteors go through an atomsphere they break down. So much so that objects car sized could be broken down into objects like a bowling ball.

When this happens to a non atmosphere object (exp: Moon) it would create a creator, or would dent/damage the object more.

(If that sounded condescending it wasn't meant to be)


At any rate the Moon would be moving and the object at the moon:


Moon
-------> __________ <-- Meteor

One '-' would mean more or less force/speed.

don't worry, your spelling of crater as "creator" vaporized any possible condescension, intended or unintended. ;)

on a more serious note, how would force and speed be interchangeable? I don't think they would be. If you want to know how much the moon would be deflected, mass and velocity would be better indicators, whereas if you'd like to know what kind of energy would be released by such a collision, I do believe that force would be a better indicator.

I could always be wrong, though. I am, after all, not a physicist.

[Dad]

Originally posted by hvfsl
This is just one of mainy theories, people don't really have any 'real' evidence one way or the other, it is all theoretical. If people use one set of caculations it looks like the universe will implode, while if they look at some other calculations it looks like the universe will expand forever.


Actually, it is pretty widely accepted that not only is the universe still expanding, but it is also accelerating. This means that eventually the distance between stars and galaxies will be so great that light will never get to us. Star light will wink out and everything will be cold and black. Do a search on "dark matter" or "dark energy".

[topicolo]

Originally posted by themadchemist
yeah, but these "blistering new fields like genomics and microbiology" have come into being as a result of a strong footing in the "traditional" fields such as math, organic chemistry, physics, etc.

Who's to say the even newer fields won't be established that use as their foundations our future solid knowledge of genomics, microbiology, etc.?

You may have a point there, but I don't believe that there is an infinite amount of knowledge in the universe. We will eventually hit a point where physical features of the universe won't be observable by any of our tools and by then, there would be nothing for us to learn. I think the acculumlation of human knowledge will kind of look like a sigmoid curve, similar to the population curves of organisms like bacteria, as they start growing, reach an exponential growth rate, and then slow exponentially as they approach the carrying capacity of their environment.

[mrjamin]

The end of the world will be at 4:33am and 20s on May 18th 2033.

As for "how", i haven't figured that one out yet. Maybe Jesus has scheduled his return - i'd like to be there in my lifetime!

How do i know? I'm a nerd - any heavy nerds should be able to figure it out...

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by mrjamin
The end of the world will be at 4:33am and 20s on May 18th 2033.

As for "how", i haven't figured that one out yet. Maybe Jesus has scheduled his return - i'd like to be there in my lifetime!

How do i know? I'm a nerd - any heavy nerds should be able to figure it out...

Sure, but if time goes 64 bit or even 128 bit by that time it will give us plenty of room......Y2033! UNIX time runs out....which also means macs now....;)

D

[mrjamin]

Originally posted by Mr. Anderson
Sure, but if time goes 64 bit or even 128 bit by that time it will give us plenty of room......Y2033! UNIX time runs out....which also means macs now....;)

D

here mr anderson, have a trophy!

[rainman::|:|]

probably when we find an interesting enough way of doing it.

pnw

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by mrjamin
here mr anderson, have a trophy!

uh, well, on accepting this most prestigious honor.....;)

I used to code in C and C++ on Unix boxes in a previous life before 3D animation, it was always talked about, that and the solutions....

D

[Durandal7]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
probably when we find an interesting enough way of doing it.

pnw
Combining sex and explosives?

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
probably when we find an interesting enough way of doing it.

pnw Yes, bringing back disco should be enough to spark the flame that destroys the human race.

---

I'd say more, but the image of Richard Simmons squat thrusting to disco tunes in and all new Sweatin' To The Oldies video might just cause a rash of suicides.

[jefhatfield]

don't think that disease will do us in

but war is the most likely culprit...we have technology and intelligence, but not wisdom

i give us in the hundreds or thousands of years

i can't see us lasting tens of thousands or longer...unless we get a handle on killing each other

[Moxiemike]

Originally posted by wdlove
I think that by the time a meteor threatens Earth, we will have an effective defense. Our chances look pretty good with a meteror when you think of how long Earth has existed.

Man is very innovative. I feel confident that we will find ways to overcome the problems of the future.

I dunno about that if its america. We sure couldn't stop two "planes" from crashing into the WTC and one from slamming into the pentagon.

Hehe. SOOOO advanced. I bet the french could get it though. :)

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by themadchemist
don't worry, your spelling of crater as "creator" vaporized any possible condescension, intended or unintended. ;)

on a more serious note, how would force and speed be interchangeable? I don't think they would be. If you want to know how much the moon would be deflected, mass and velocity would be better indicators, whereas if you'd like to know what kind of energy would be released by such a collision, I do believe that force would be a better indicator.

I could always be wrong, though. I am, after all, not a physicist.

Haha. Good Eye.

Well in this case I made speed and for interchangeable because that the greater speed an object the higher its velocity is and the higher amount of damage it can do.

Originally posted by paulwhannel
probably when we find an interesting enough way of doing it.

pnw
Yay Nuclear Winter!
:rolleyes:

Originally posted by Durandal7
Combining sex and explosives?
Indeed.
:D

My theorys are:
Super Evil Genius w/ Money
Nuclear Winter
End of Universe
orrrr.
We evolve and branch off into different sections of the universe.

:D

[Chomolungma]

Last year, a couple decided to select an embryo out of many that did not carry the disease, in which both husband and wife were carrier. I think it was Cystic Fibrous (unsure of my spelling here). We recently found out a version of one gene that makes you a better endurance athelete, while another version makes you a better sprinter or better and anerobic activities. I think we'll soon find out structural genes that can produce very portional and symmetrical human beings (e.g. Bratt Pitt and Julia Roberts). IQ? Why? It may be important, but it is easily to be beautiful in life. Nice if we can select for both (possible).

I think the end of the natural human species is near. The technology is getting better and cheaper (current goal is to sequence a human genome for less than $1000), so the have and have not issue is a non issue.

Off course biotechnology doesn't evolve in a vacuum. I think AI will compete with the best of us. Who knows. As Ronald Reagan once said, "The future is not for the weak, but for the brave."

None of the above is far reaching, in fact most of them are real and moving faster than most layman knows.

[Physiognome]

I don't think the human race will be wiped out that easily by each other as we currently stand. Even if biological & nuclear warfare slay 99.9% of the population and trigger the next Ice Age, enough of those .1% will survive to regain their former numbers one day.

Of course, that could change if we stay earthbound long enough for Chomolungma's suggestion to come true. People engineered to no longer store unsightly percentages of body fat will not hold up well in an Ice Age.

By that time, though, we'll probably also have "planet busters" and a few people still insane enough to use them.