Spyman

The Local Interstellar Cloud (or Local Fluff or LIC) is the interstellar cloud roughly 30 light-years (9.2 pc) across through which the Earth's Solar System is currently moving. Diagram of the local clouds of matter that the Solar System is moving through, with arrows indicating cloud motion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Interstellar_Cloud ---------- I am not an expert on general relativity but from my understanding gravitational time dilation on the scale your story needs doesn't sound feasible for somewhat similar stars and planets, you need to get very close to a very massive and dense body to get large effects. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_time_dilation You need to either use scientific accepted travel speeds close to the speed of light to get a substantional time dilation due to realtive velocity during the travel forth and back to their home planet or simply invoke a new (magikz) time dilation that happens from the instantaneous movement or due to a strange effect from the device (magikz) they use for this kind of travel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox#Specific_example

The Day the Earth Stood Still Aliens lands in US and wants us to join the other planets in peace but warns us that Earth will be eliminated if our violence continues. -> Alien is shot by a nervous soldier, put under guard, when he escapes he is hunted by agents and finally gunned down. Picture of the landing in the movie retrieved from http://www.educatinghumanity.com/2013/02/Aliens-Landing-Earth-Best-Movie-Scenes.html

The UN is not without problems and certainly some of the critics is well deserved, but its power stems from its members, which is an impressive worldwide list, and if they really wanted to, they could likely increase the influence of the UN organisation. Map of the United Nations (UN) member states, with their territories (including dependent territories) recognized by the UN in blue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_United_Nations If we encounter an intergalactic alien federation, I think UN would be the simplest solution to handle communication, at least initially. (Any human organisation big enough to handle negotiations with aliens could be prone to ineffectiveness, corruption and bias.)

If aliens would show up at our doorstep and invite us to join their intergalactic federation, then that would give us a new perspective and more than likely help us humans to come and stand together as one. Unless the alien coalition specifically demands it, I don't think a new world government is needed. We already have the United Nations with intergovernmental cooperation and they could probably step up and peacefully* forge a new organ with the purpose of extraterrestrial communication and to speak for the whole of humanity in this hypothetical galactic/universal government. (* Off course there would be conflicts and lots of disagreements, but I don't think there would be armed conflicts or war about them.)

Well then, please do, I am curious.

Yes, you are correct, research shows that interbreeding took place and the Neanderthals location in our family tree is still contested. (Good points +1) But my main point that the Neanderthals was not our main ancestor and that they didn't survive as a species when our ancestors arrived to their territory still stands. There are no Neanderthals walking on Earth today, only Homo sapiens with traces of Neanderthals in them. Looking back at our known history regarding interactions with newly discovered and very different cultures, I think there was in general lots of mistrust, hostile competition and violence, but certainly also events with peaceful interaction and trading.

It is possible that the Neanderthals were a separate species and we (Homo sapiens) were the aliens coming to Europe and then caused their extinction by violent competition for food and shelter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal#Extinction_hypotheses From the human behavior that occurs whenever more advanced technology reach less advanced territory, we better hope that any visiting aliens are not competitive like us and that we don't have anything they need or desire.

Sure we have, but the Milky Way is huge and we have not had the radio technology for very long, so our signals have not reached very far. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2107061/Earth-calling-Tiny-yellow-dot-shows-distance-radio-broadcasts-aliens-travelled.html And while I agree that the chances for primitive life elsewhere is highly possible, the probabilities for advanced technological life is much much harder to determine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation#Criticism If we assume that several alien civilizations exists in the Milky Way, that are carbon based like us and have very advanced technology, then what do you think they would be like, in what purpose would one of them come here and would they be friendly or hostile?

Can you extend a little more on what you think can happen if they come to Earth, instead of your hard to relate analogy about a rock? I can understand that no.3 is that they leave us alone or totally ignore us. But is no.1 that they take us to a better place or that they destroy us and is no.2 that they enslave us/take our stuff or that they invite us to join a galaxy federation or similar? Also who are they, how can they find us and why would they come here?

If you are asking whether energy can be converted to matter then yes, Patrick Blackett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1948 for amongst other things showing the "transmutation of light into matter". http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1948/index.html http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1948/press.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_production#Photon_to_Electron_and_Positron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse

Resistor Wattage Ratings: The photo below shows various styles and wattage resistors. From left to right, the wattage ratings are: 5 watt, 3 watt, 2 watt, 1 watt, 1/2 watt, 1/4 watt and a 1/6 watt. http://www.bcae1.com/resistrs.htm The link also have a calculator for power dissipation in resistors.

If the PLC have relay outputs with individual terminals, then the 12 VDC power supply could be used to control the transistors. Relay outputs have a mechanical lifetime to consider -> faster switching = broken sooner. If the turning object don't need the motor to keep holding it still when stopped, it's probably better to turn off all power to the motor completely. Or alternatively if it needs a brake to have a second circuit with limited current for the brake feature.

"Like other motors, stepper motors require more power than a microcontroller can give them, so youll need a separate power supply for it. Ideally youll know the voltage from the manufacturer, but if not, get a variable DC power supply, apply the minimum voltage (hopefully 3V or so), apply voltage across two wires of a coil (e.g. 1 to 2 or 3 to 4) and slowly raise the voltage until the motor is difficult to turn. It is possible to damage a motor this way, so dont go too far. Typical voltages for a stepper might be 5V, 9V, 12V, 24V. Higher than 24V is less common for small steppers, and frankly, above that level its best not to guess." http://www.tigoe.com/pcomp/code/circuits/motors/stepper-motors/

I am not experienced with stepper motors, but from skimming the article at Wikipedia and a quick Google find, it seems doable if you don't want to spin the motor fast or with a smooth rotation and are more interested in positioning. It looks like a fun and interesting project! Do you already have schematics of how you want to connect the motor and data on the hardware? (Would also be nice if we could get a short backstory of the purpose with the motor control.)

I am sorry but I was wrong. I didn't think it trough entirely and was in a hurry. The observable universe is only about 2% larger than the visible universe and includes everything that it is theoretical possible to detect, independent of whether we have the technology to do so or not. Any relic neutrinos from before the CMBR must thus still be within our observable universe. The observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that can, in principle, be observed from Earth at the present time because light and other signals from these objects has had time to reach the Earth since the beginning of the cosmological expansion. Assuming the universe is isotropic, the distance to the edge of the observable universe is roughly the same in every direction. That is, the observable universe is a spherical volume (a ball) centered on the observer. Every location in the Universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth. The word observable used in this sense does not depend on whether modern technology actually permits detection of radiation from an object in this region (or indeed on whether there is any radiation to detect). It simply indicates that it is possible in principle for light or other signals from the object to reach an observer on Earth. In practice, we can see light only from as far back as the time of photon decoupling in the recombination epoch. That is when particles were first able to emit photons that were not quickly re-absorbed by other particles. Before then, the Universe was filled with a plasma that was opaque to photons. The surface of last scattering is the collection of points in space at the exact distance that photons from the time of photon decoupling just reach us today. These are the photons we detect today as cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). However, with future technology, it may be possible to observe the still older relic neutrino background, or even more distant events via gravitational waves (which also should move at the speed of light). Sometimes astrophysicists distinguish between the visible universe, which includes only signals emitted since recombination-and the observable universe, which includes signals since the beginning of the cosmological expansion (the Big Bang in traditional cosmology, the end of the inflationary epoch in modern cosmology). According to calculations, the comoving distance (current proper distance) to particles from the CMBR, which represent the radius of the visible universe, is about 14.0 billion parsecs (about 45.7 billion light years), while the comoving distance to the edge of the observable universe is about 14.3 billion parsecs (about 46.6 billion light years), about 2% larger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe

If we one day find a way to observe neutrino radiation from the early universe then it's very likely that the current size of the observable universe will increase substantionally, without any need to change the current estimated age of the universe. Edit: I was wrong, further explanation in post #8. The cosmic neutrino background (CNB, CνB) is the Universe's background particle radiation composed of neutrinos. They are sometimes known as relic neutrinos. Like the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the CνB is a relic of the big bang, and while the CMB dates from when the Universe was 379,000 years old, the CνB decoupled from matter when the Universe was 2 seconds old. It is estimated that today the CνB has a temperature of roughly 1.95 K. Since low-energy neutrinos interact only very weakly with matter, they are notoriously difficult to detect and the CνB might never be observed directly. There is, however, compelling indirect evidence for its existence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_neutrino_background

While individual sites certainly can block specific persons, I hardly think there is a worldwide censorship against Enthalpy. Googling the phrase: "Flywheels store electricity" gives me these three links on top: (Oh, and I live in Northern Europe if that makes any difference.) 1. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/flywheels-store-electricity.517812/ 2. http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/59338-flywheels-store-electricity-cheap-enough/ 3. http://lofi.forum.physorg.com/Flywheels-Store-Electricity_29531.html They are all threads made by Enthalpy, but on three different science forums. (The middle link is to this thread.)

No, it really don't, NO communication do not support more 'esoteric' anything, it falsifies communication. (Doing hocus pocus and dressing it up with fine words doesn't make it science.) Did you not understand what I said or do you refuse to listen? I asked for a crucial confirmation and you failed to deliver: Why did you ignore my request and continue to obfuscate such a simple question? I ask again: Do you claim to have a scientific measurable communication or not? If your messages are indistinguishable from random events and have three possible answers, then they will be wrong twice as often as they are correct. Thus such collection of answers are totally unreliable and essentially worthless. But if the communication is false and your answers instead came from your subconscious then they can have some worth and meaning. Fondness for an idea does not make it true, but it can make you more likely to be fooled by it.

Mike, I think it is crucial that you understand that if the communication is screened behind ambiguity to such extent that it can't be measured with a scientific test, then from a scientific standpoint that is evidence for absence of communication. It's good that you like the idea of truth, so can you now please stop beating around the bush and confirm that you understand by clarifying whether you have a scientific measurable communication or unreliable, unrepeatable and subjective signs. Oh, don't bother for my satisfaction, I am already convinced that you are wrong, it would be for your own good. Yes, I did, there was no answer whatsoever, not even a wrong one.

Seriously? You don't seem to think your own claim is important nor really interested in trying to find the truth.

No, the challenge is to scientifically test if your observations is random events or messages from a higher life form.

But if you want a good scientific discussion you still have to reach some level of rigor and demand. Ok, I tried that and this is what I got for it: And as expected you didn't take my challenge and instead argue something I never have opposed, as if you don't want to find out the truth and deliberately avoid to engage in the discussion, floating away with random thoughts and wishful thinking. There is a very large gap between thinking about other life forms elsewhere in the Universe and claiming that communication exists. No Mike, you are basically arguing hocus pocus and subjective opinion, your claim lacks critical thinking and scientific procedures. Then WHY don't you do that? Why don't you do scientific tests or listen to the answers you have gotten here in this thread? Well, I have important news for you, you are certainly att odds with science and "way over the horizon" in this matter. The truth is that there is NO ONE communicating with you, this "gentle signal" exists only through your imagination. (And you better snap out of it and sober up, before you get delusional.)

I think MigL ment that it is the rotation that is causing Earth to be squished in the first place...

Well Mike, you are claiming, that on more or less daily basis and when you are alone, you have a ritual where you can ask questions directed to a higher power. This more advanced life form will then, within a few minutes, reveal the answer to you by manipulating your surroundings and show you a mystical sign. Moreover you think you have a method to correctly decipher this serendipity and are accepting this information as useful contribution for consideration. So I can only see four possibilities here: 1) You want to believe this is true so badly that you fool yourself by finding and interpret random events to support your wishes. 2) You lie deliberately and tries to deceive us with this exotic fantasy for some unknown reasons. 3) You are really losing your grip on reality and should seek professional help as soon as possible. 4) You are correct and there actually exists a higher life form which is communicating with you. IMHO the first alternative is the very best and most likely of them, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, I don't wish the third to happen to anyone and for humanity's sake, I hope the last option is false, I don't think higher powers nor advanced life forms, who hides and secretly interferes with human business will do us any good. Looking at the options, an insane person would very likely have revealed himself already and an objective and honest person would actively and eagerly seek a way to discern the truth and try to scientifically verify it, which is something that so far, from your side, is painfully missing throughout the whole thread. That leaves us with the first and second alternatives which both have the trouble that if true, you will do your best to avoid and dodge anything that could expose the opposite of your claim, both logic conclusions and scientific tests. It's fine by me if you want to keep your belief, but if you want to convince us that something actually exists and communicates with you, then you really need to start to engage in the discussion, answer questions directly without superfluous and misleading thoughts and seriously search for a scientific way to verify or falsify this supposed communication. The friendly community here can more than likely help you devise a scientific blind test if you truly are willing to fully commit.