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It has been widely acknowledged that self-replicating space-probes (SRPs) could explore the galaxy very quickly relative to the age of the galaxy. An obvious implication is that SRPs produced by extraterrestrial civilizations should have arrived in our solar system millions of years ago, and furthermore, that new probes from an ever-arising supply of civilizations ought to be arriving on a constant basis. The lack of observations of such probes underlies a frequently cited variation of the Fermi Paradox. We believe that a predilection for ETI-optimistic theories has deterred consideration of incompatible theories. Notably, SRPs have virtually disappeared from the literature. In this paper, we consider the most common arguments against SRPs and find those arguments lacking. By extension, we find recent models of galactic exploration which explicitly exclude SRPs to be unfairly handicapped and unlikely to represent natural scenarios. We also consider several other models that seek to exp...

The museum presents the breadth of Heyerdahl’s life’s work, from his first trip to Fatu Hiva, to the voyages with the Kon-Tiki, the Ra, the Ra II and the Tigris, as well as the expeditions to the Galàpagos Islands, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and Tùcume in Peru

Andy Gotts MBE is a celebrity portrait photographer from London, England. He specialises in beautiful iconic images, with unedited realness. Known globally as a black and white photographer and master of the photographic portrait.

The key to practical quantum computing and high-efficiency solar cells may lie in the messy green world outside the physics lab.

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A unique government effort is trying to understand how we use words

Osama bin Laden cost America more than any villain, ever--which is exactly the way he wanted it.

It might have been wiser for President Obama not to have announced the death of Osama Bin Laden so triumphantly but to have let the news leak out from “official sources” in the Pentagon…