FilterHN

Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

14 points

by wglb

1 hour ago

| past

| 4 comments

| nytimes.com

| HN

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owlninja

19 minutes ago

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I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are not here for a long time - just for a good time.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

-Bill Watterson

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bellowsgulch

2 minutes ago

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[delayed]

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im3w1l

15 minutes ago

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There is a pretty significant chance that ours will be a starfaring civilization and that our children will reshape the very heavens.

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stouset

30 seconds ago

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I suppose zero is a pretty significant number.

Without new physics that isn’t even remotely visible on the horizon, this isn’t going to happen. Robotic AI probes sent to other star systems to send back telemetry? Sure. Flesh bags sent to self-replicate on terraformed worlds out in the stars? Not a whisper of a microscopic chance.

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blightful

9 minutes ago

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Very doubtful when you really dig into what is involved. We probably will never make it out of the solar system. To another star is a pipe dream. We will wreck our planet soon enough and the likely outcome is our species will go extinct. This will probably happen in the next few thousand years or sooner.

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excalibur

8 minutes ago

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Our kids can't change a tire.

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eth0up

3 minutes ago

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Oh come on man. That just because they know we should be hovering by now ;)

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kibwen

9 minutes ago

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If by "children" you mean self-replicating viral robot swarms, then maybe. Nothing biologically descended from humans will ever leave the heliosphere in any form that could be considered living.

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opengrass

37 minutes ago

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We must prevent our sun from doing this by eating less meat and paying more taxes.

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gchamonlive

21 minutes ago

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While the sun has nothing to the with the rest, >500g a week of red meat is linked to intestinal cancer[1][2] and the billionaires should be paying more taxes if you asked me

[1]https://www.wcrf.org/preventing-cancer/topics/meat-and-cance... [2]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03088...

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jmyeet

10 minutes ago

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It's really the plastic straws that are the problem. That and avocado toast. And in 1-2 billion years when the Sun has heated up the Earth such that it's uninhabitable anyway (or 100 years at the rate we're going), we can at least feel comfort in all the shareholder value we've created along the way.

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SkiFreeWin3

25 minutes ago

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Good point, clearly a solar system with too many liberals and no second amendment.

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senectus1

40 minutes ago

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https://archive.md/CtsG6

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rgrieselhuber

45 minutes ago

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"Just"