Centauri Dreams replies to the recent Charlie Stross essay on space colonisation, and raises some good points. Lively discussion thread also.

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Charlie Stross deflates the dreams of space colonisation. I know he's right on almost all points, but .... ah, damn.

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"Mind uploading will make space travel useless. If my mind is running at a million times human speed, then the Moon, Mars, and Proxima Centauri look far more distant than they were previously. It

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Does what it says on the tin; another Centauri Dreams joint.

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"Getting a probe to 200 AU from the Sun ‘as fast as possible’ is what Innovative Interstellar Explorer is all about."

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"The new data support earlier research ... showing that carbonado diamonds formed in stellar supernovae explosions. Black diamonds were once the size of asteroids, a kilometer or more in diameter

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"The molecule in question is called C6H-, described as a chain of six carbon atoms with one hydrogen atom at the end and an extra electron."

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"...a key factor in the Drake Equation [...] is the question of whether technological societies have an average lifetime. Do they invariably survive to reach the stars, or do they destroy themsel

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"Those who ponder the Fermi Paradox might want to consider Myrhaf’s solution, one based on economics. If advanced technological civilizations really are out there, maybe they simply can’t afford

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"Given how tricky it is to pick up accidental radio signals — “leakage” — from extraterrestrial civilizations, how hard would it be to communicate with our own probes once they’ve reached a syste

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"Driving the ship would be a nuclear arsenal of staggering proportions: 30 million nuclear bombs, each of which would explode 120 kilometers behind the vehicle at intervals of 1,000 seconds."

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Volunteers expecting to scour photos of dust particles in aerogel substrate instead received random beach/cyclist/wedding photos. No explanation given for screw-up.

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The Stardust@home project kicks off...got a few spare weeks?

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There may well be atomic nitrogen in those dirty lumps of ice - maybe that's how life on Earth got started? Kinda 'panspermia lite' idea.

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