Yes because those 50 light years might be the boundary to filter the weak signal from background noise.
No, because everything moves in this universe. The Earth moves around the Sun about 30 km/s. The Sun is not fixed in space, it rotates around the Milky Way center of gravity about 230 km/second, it takes about 230 million years to make a rotation. On top of that the Milky Way is moving across the background radiation of the universe about 368 km/s. So, the bubble looks more like a twisted spaghetti which is very thin in the position we were a year ago (1 light year), thicker where we were 50 years ago (50 light years). Fun thing that we will be already 1.2e+10 km away from the thickest part of the spaghetti if someone catches up the signal from an object relatively close to us.
But, that using background radiation as the frame of reference to measure velocity. Issue is the universe is expanding. If the velocity is measured using as reference the farthest known objects, they (and therefore us) might be moving faster than light. So there’s an observable universe where we see objects running away from us, it’s an sphere of about 8.8e+26 metres. It’s not possible to see beyond that boundary because any radiation (including light) coming from there will never reach us. There might be life out there, but they maybe outside our observable universe and we may be outside their observable universe.
I liked the scene from „Contact“ where the aliens sent back the first mass-broadcast TV scene, which happened to be the Führer opening the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Some speculate that when the first Nukes exploded, they sent a signal to the Aliens who then started to take more interest in the planet.
so…what happened? (I don’t see these type of movies)
for what is worth my 20 cents – I don’t believe as such on “aliens”, I think it is our own species (civilization), just managing time better than us – latest physical theories (& practice!) have revealed what everybody feared…time is ‘reversible’, without the need of massive amounts of energy like in black holes – you can read about the Time Dilation Verification experiment and the Theoretical Warp Drive Stability theory, which are very recent…and a serious headache to understand them. As such, physicists are currently rebuking the theory of relativity.
So, if we don’t kill each other before, my very humble opinion is that in a (not) near future, humans will be able to move back & forth in time --yet, at that time, probably there will be no life on earth anymore. The way of ‘bending’ time’ might not allow to move objects across physically as we understand ‘matter’, but as forms of energy.
I have a book somewhere, one of those brilliant 1970’s pulps that I dragged out of Ray’s bookstall at blackburn market.
Basically the plot was that UFO’s were seen all over earth prior to an invasion.
Not aliens but neanderthals from another version of earth where they had not become extinct but developed near earth spaceflight, they had found a natural portal in space and were using it to subjugate all other versions of earth, all these other earths were in various stages of human development and ours was the only one with a comparable technology and able to stop the neanderthals.
The hero and heroine were part of a organization set up to evaluate potential allies on the other earths only to find that not only did the portal allow access to other earths but it was also a way to travel into the past…
Have to dig that out again as it was a fun read.
funny that you mention. I was seeing a new scientist videocast (do you say that?) last night in which all the myths about the extinction of Nearthentals due to being ‘less intelligent’ than homo sapiens were totally dismissed. (worth pointing that more than 20% of the Nearthental genome is still found in current humans, although in small %).
Would they have been based a little bit more south - with slightly better weather conditions, we might be having a better 3D vision and less back ache upon aging
I will read the book. I cannot stand the selfrightfulness of Mrs. Foster.
That was a predominately Victorian idea that lasted well into the sixties.
I visited the neanderthal museum in the Neandertal, if you ever manage to go in that direction it is well worth the trip…
There is one school of thought that the neanderthals lived for far longer than 40.000 years ago and indeed into classical times and even longer than that.
Nicely done in that very underrated move: 13th warrior.
But the tales of trolls and wildmen and legends if creatures fitting the description percisted into the middle ages.
Perhaps even they did not die out but kept undercover, hiding in plain sight, so be suspicious if your neighbour says he likes to go out “clubbing”
– latest physical theories (& practice!) have revealed what everybody feared…time is ‘reversible’, without the need of massive amounts of energy like in black holes – you can read about the Time Dilation Verification experiment and the Theoretical Warp Drive Stability theory, which are very recent…and a serious headache to understand them. As such, physicists are currently rebuking the theory of relativity.