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Space Quotes by Seth Shostak

54 Space quotes by Seth Shostak

All Space quotes Seth Shostak’s page

A rumor that aliens might be here to breed sparks wild speculation, yet scientists note that TV and radio have already been Earth’s messengers to space. One slogan describes a space elevator as a thin ribbon reaching 60,000 miles into the sky. The quotes also hint that Earth’s unique life and culture would intrigue any visitor.

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Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio…

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The space elevator's not just another competitive technology, promoted by people who simply like the idea of diminishing the luster of the…

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A practical way to travel between the stars is a must-have for space opera, and a sine qua non for our frequently…

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It bears mentioning that the Milky Way is only one of 150 billion galaxies visible to our telescopes - and each of…

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Admittedly, it would take industrial-grade chutzpah and a massive dose of malevolence for anyone to bulldoze the spot where Neil Armstrong stepped…

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If aliens are really hanging out in our 'hood, it's hard to imagine any other fact more worthy of study. If not,…

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About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most…

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It seems that 'rocket scientist' is a job category that's here for the long haul, like 'mortician.' But all this activity masks…

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The total funding of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) in the U.S. is 0.0003 percent of the tax monies spent on…

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Five centuries from now - barring unimaginable catastrophe - the moon will be developed real estate. There's economic incentive to exploit the…

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Explorers tend to be the aggressive types - why else would they risk scurvy, mutiny and other bad things to go out…

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Buying insurance is no one's idea of fun. And it's especially easy to berate something as funky-sounding as writing checks to defend…

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Mining asteroids is a well-oiled trope of science-fiction. But someday, actually doing it will make economic sense. Many of the essential metals…

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Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar…

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The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for…

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The total number of people that do a job that has the same description as mine in the entire world is fewer…

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There is little chance that aliens from two societies anywhere in the Galaxy will be culturally close enough to really 'get along.'…

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Star Trek's genial premise is that the cosmos is flush with intelligent species, and our descendants will interact with them face-to-face, thanks…

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NASA's Office of Commercial Exploration has been concerned about protecting the landing zones where humans first walked on the Moon, and one…

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We can no better imagine what will be happening on the moon 500 years from now than Columbus could imagine contemporary Manhattan.…

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Planets that don't currently sport plate tectonics, such as Venus and Mars, are scarcely habitable. Tectonics might be a requirement of any…

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'E.T.' was far-fetched. 'E.T.' was this wimpy-looking kid that came to Earth to pick some plants, but he came from the Andromeda…

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If this is the only planet on which not only life, but intelligent life, has arisen, that would be very unusual.

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Consider that the overwhelming majority of those 40,000 near-Earth asteroids are small enough to fit on the parking lot at the mall.…

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The math is dead simple: it seems that the frequency of planets able to support life is roughly one percent. In other…

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What's a space elevator? Simply described, it's a thin ribbon, about 3 feet wide and 60 thousand miles long, stretching upwards from…

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A factory that can turn carbon nanotubes into a sheet a yard wide and long enough to stretch one-fourth of the way…

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It's hardly a secret that I'm skeptical of declarations that the aliens are out and about on our planet. Still, I try…

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In the four years since its launch, Kepler has chalked up 122 new and confirmed planets. It's also caught the scent of…

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As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system…

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Are two eyes, four appendages and an upright posture really essential for any creature that can ace the galactic SAT's? Maybe not.…

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Nine out of 10 Hollywood aliens look like us. Oh, sure, they might be short, big-eyed and hairless - decked out in…

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Mars still remains the astrobiology community's number one choice for 'nearest rock with life,' but there are many researchers who argue that…

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Like prospecting in the 19th century, reconnaissance of the asteroids would of necessity take place in an arena where trouble is likely…

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While human space travel is daunting, machines - with their indefinitely long lifetimes - could travel the galaxy. It might make little…

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Neil Armstrong was no Christopher Columbus. In most respects, he was better. Unlike the famous fifteenth century seafarer, Armstrong knew where he…

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In 1908, there was a persuasive demonstration of the power of high-speed, low-mass asteroids in rural Siberia. The Tunguska impactor iced millions…

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In days gone by, scientists would speak solemnly about our solar system's 'habitable zone' - a theoretical region extending from Venus to…

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I you look at the drawings of aliens made by people who believe that Earth is under saucer attack, you'll quickly note…

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[O]ne might ask why, in a galaxy of a few hundred billion stars, the aliens are so intent on coming to Earth…

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Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…

Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…

As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been…

Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…

Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite…

In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before…

Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to know.

If you could drive straight down, into a tunnel bored through the crust of the planet, you'd hit this molten mess in about an…

While I have always thought that the motivation for looking for E.T. was both self-evident and patently worthy, it's possible that I'm a victim…

I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to…

About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be…

This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent…

The most attractive habitats for synthetic sentience might be the vicinities of exceptional sources of energy - for example black holes, or even the…

Buying insurance is no one's idea of fun. And it's especially easy to berate something as funky-sounding as writing checks to defend our neighborhoods…

Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back…