2 of 42

Write now Article Tools

Go with me on this one for a while...

Imagine a great civilization long ago somewhere in the universe - far from Earth, far from our Solar System. Imagine a thriving people filling a planet with themselves and their products - and their waste.

Picture a teeming world, overflowing with everything that is familiar to us on our own planet. Engineering feats like tracery bridges, stupendous tunnels, great buildings, powerful machines; sophisticated technology like computers, lasers, microwaves; transportation marvels like cars, trains, planes, ships, submarines, Space Shuttles.

In other words, picture a world like ours, but more advanced, more sophisticated, and perhaps more crowded.

Now imagine their sun - like ours - but with a major difference. Solar physicists on their world have determined that their sun will nova in about 300 years, give or take. (I know - how do they determine this? What is the level of their science? How...)

Like I said: Go with me on this one for a while...

Following the announcement and the initial panic, these people take the long view: We've got three centuries. Let's focus and solve the problem.

Remember, these folks are ahead of us - not a lot, but sufficiently so they can actually think about solving a problem like this.

And how do they do that?

When a sun novas, it destroys everything in its path: the planets, their moons, the asteroids and comets. Essentially, when everything is over and done with, all that is left are charred cinders where once proud worlds traveled around the sun. People, life, the products of life - all gone. You don't shelter a world from a nova. A nova's destructive power is absolute.

So how do you solve the problem of your sun going nova? The only answer that makes any sense is to go somewhere else, somewhere sufficiently far away to ensure your survival.

Since the entire solar system will be destroyed, and when it is over, there will be nothing left to inhabit, the only rational choice is to go to another solar system. You're talking about a lot of spaceships and a lot of fuel here. In fact, our own science does not know how to do this - travel successfully to another solar system, especially with a bunch of people.

What if these folks decided to build a moving world - a very large, self-contained spaceship - that would hold their population, and keep them alive for however long it would take to travel the astonishing distance to another solar system. After all, they had 300 years to accomplish the task.

Think back over

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Could there be life on other planets??
We want to hear your view. Write now!