Chapter 30 Chapter 2 Rational Arguments

Except for quick meals at the carousel—thankfully the main food service was unbroken—Bowman literally lived at the console.He dozed off in his seat so he could find what was wrong as soon as signs appeared on the screen.According to the instructions of the mission command station, he temporarily installed several emergency systems, but they were not satisfactory.It even seemed possible that he would live to see the Discovery reach Saturn—of course, whether he lived or died, the Discovery After all, it is to reach Saturn. No one doubts that there is some relationship between TMA-1 and the Saturn system, but few scientists are willing to admit that the creatures standing on that plate came from Saturn.Saturn is less suitable for the existence of life than Jupiter. Many moons of Saturn are frozen all year round, and the temperature is 300 degrees below zero.Only one of them—Titan—has an atmosphere; and that's just a thin layer of poisonous methane.

So, beings who visited Earth's moon in ancient times, or came not only from beyond Earth, but from beyond the solar system - were visitors from the stars, and established bases here and there in suitable places. Many scientists flatly deny this possibility.They pointed out that the fastest "Discovery" in history would take 20,000 years to reach Alpha Sagittarius -- and it would take millions of years to enter the depths of the Milky Way.Even after several centuries in the future, even if the propulsion system is improved to an unimaginable degree, it will eventually encounter the insurmountable obstacle of the speed of light, which cannot be surpassed by any material thing.Therefore, the creators of TMA-1 must have come from the same solar system as humans; and, since they have never appeared in recent history, they are presumably extinct.

A few disagreed.Even centuries, they argue, are no barriers to determined explorers, even if it takes centuries to get from one star to the next.The hibernation technology used on Discovery is one possible answer.Another answer is a completely self-sufficient artificial world, used for journeys that may last for generations. Anyway, why think that all higher animals are as short-lived as humans?There may be some kind of creatures in the universe, for them traveling for thousands of years is just a bit monotonous... Although these debates are purely theoretical, they contain an element of great practical significance, namely the concept of "reaction time".If TMA-1 does send a signal to a star—say, with the help of some sort of further science facility near Saturn—it will take many years for that signal to reach its destination.So even if it gets an immediate response, humans have a breathing space that could last decades—more likely centuries—and, for many, that's a reassuring thought.

But not everyone is reassured by this.Several scientists—most of them explorers of the broad fringe disciplines of physics—raised the unsettling question: "Can we be sure that the speed of light is an insurmountable barrier?" Yes, special relativity has Proven to be fairly persistent, the centenary will soon be approaching; but the theory is starting to show some holes.Even if you can't fight Einstein, you can always avoid him. Proponents of this view talk with great hope of shortcuts into hyperspace, of straighter-than-straight lines, of hyperspace connections.They like to quote a very vivid new term from a Princeton University mathematician in the last century: "worm eyes of space".In response to criticism that the idea was too esoteric to be taken seriously, they quoted Niels Bohr (1885–1962, Danish physicist, from 1939 Began to serve as the president of the Danish Academy of Sciences. He established the theory of modern atomic and molecular structure, and made decisive contributions to the theory of nuclear structure and nuclear reaction. He is considered to be one of the greatest scientists and thinkers in history. Crazy — but not so crazy that it's unreal."

Arguments among physicists are hardly comparable to arguments among biologists.Biologists debate the age-old question: "What would rational beings look like outside of Earth?" They're divided into two rival camps -- one insists that "they" must be humanoid, the other insists the same "They" don't look like people. Those who advocate the first theory believe that the two legs, two arms, and the main sensory organs are all at the highest point. This arrangement is the most basic and reasonable, and it is difficult to imagine a better design.There are of course some minor differences.For example: six fingers instead of five, different skin and hair colors, and special arrangements of facial features; however, most rational creatures from outside the earth—usually referred to as E. T． S - They are all very similar to humans, and will not attract people's attention in dim light or at a distance.

This isomorphic idea has been ridiculed by other biologists.This group of biologists is truly a product of the space age and considers itself immune to the prejudices of the past.They pointed out that the shape of the human body was the result of millions of years of evolutionary selection, which in turn happened by chance over countless ages.In countless decisive moments, the hereditary dice could have been rolled differently, perhaps with better results.Because the human body is really an improvised monster, full of organs that don't work, and the changes are not always successful-there are even discarded parts (such as the cecum), which are even worse than useless.