"Retroactive 'population control?'" Topic

I was watching 'Universe' on History channel recently and the episode 'Cosmic Encounters' mentioned TWO different 'asteroid impacts' that supposedly REALLY 'changed history/evolution of life' on Earth.

The more 'proveable' one was about 150 million years ago and occurred near the Yuccatan penninsula? and left a crater about 100 miles across. The asteroid was supposedly 5-6 miles in size and a member of a 'notorious' group of 'collisional families'…(whose name I forgot)…

But that impact was the basis for the extinction of the dinos, etc…and deposited irridium in thin layer all over the earth!

This left the way for mammals/aka HUMANS to 'evolve'…but the program talked about another mass extinction 180million years BEFORE the Dino-killer/KT layer!

This one happened back before the 'supercontinent' PANGEA split up…and made way for the dinos to 'evolve'…

If you want more info, check out History channel or the UNIVERSE series…but for scifi purposes…

Suppose a race like the XINDI or whatever had simply sent a time-traveling/one-way 'bomb' to nudge the KT asteroid OFF-course 150 million years ago…or 250 million years ago…so dinos didn't evolve either????

no muss, no fuss…HUMANITY never would have evolved! or if you don't like dinos…whatever was here BEFORE/Elder Gods perhaps??? could have flourished???

Now they did say that the asteroids probably only 'put the final 'nail' in the 'coffin' as the earth was experiencing massive volcanic activity during the periods of 'mass extinctions…possibly 'methane caltrate undersea eruptions and firestorms'….but the ASTEROIDS killed off the plant-life…and hence most of the food-chain.

It's kind of interesting to 'speculate' that one spaceship…'nudging' a space rock off course by a degree 150+ million years ago…could have PRE-emptively erased humanity??? (or could do so NOW as the 'G'oald' tried with their 'naqadah' asteroid..on Stargate SG-1)..

Thoughts anyone???

*slish…slish*…by the way…the MARTIANS became 'extinct' about 3 million years ago….but not from asteroid impacts…they just got too 'old'…(*but tasty!)

Wouldn't work: or rather would only work for the TT crew. If you accept that TT is impossible WITHIN THIS TIME FRAME, then to get "virtual" TT you'd have to translate to a different timeframe (i.e. different unverse). If you have the ability to do that, then why even bother? Just find a universe in which humans didn't ever evolve…

Of course that universe might have a far, far more dangerous threat…

Damon.

If you believe in the 'many worlds' theory, deflecting the KT asteroid would only result in the formation of a new parallel universe branch. Your own timeline would still be unaffected. Personally, I'm a big fan of this theory.

Here's a brief intro:

link

but if TT was possible wouldn't we be hunting T-Rexs? But being careful not to step on the butterflys of course.

How's this?

TMP link

CC

The Universe show and 'Life After People/Population Zero' upcoming shows got me thinking more about this. Good thing our resident 'caveman/Cave wars' specialist already had this in mind! (thanks CC!)…

Then again..maybe the 'Greys'…like the Asgard from SG-1 represent that alt reality where dinos did 'evolve'…(Thor reminds me of a humanoid 'fish')

Maybe we ARE an 'alternate' time-line ourselves…*slish..slish*

Nudging the KT asteroid off course is only going to result in the Xindi ship returning to the future to find their people being destroyed by the terrifying Velociraptons of Sol III. ;)

-will

"Maybe we ARE an 'alternate' time-line ourselves"

Probably already are. Just your decision to type the above, as opposed to the myriaid of possible replies, calved off alternate universes for each incidence…

Infinite Damons, all existing at once in the Multiverse…

First, if time travel is possible, you do whatever you want (as many times as you want).

But just because the mathematics work out for time flowing backwards and infinite alternate realities doesn't mean they could actually occur.

The idea that the universe has fundamental, immutable, and – most importantly – finite laws that govern its operation is an ideological one that isn't supported by the evidence. It's merely the secular version of intelligent design. Just because you can describe something with some degree of accuracy (at a certain time and place and from a certain perspective) by a mathematical formula doesn't mean that that formula actually dictates its operation.

The universe is much more likely to be non-linear, chaotic, and continuously mutating at the most fundamental levels.

I recall that Harlan Ellison came up with a story for the first "Star Trek" movie.

It involved lizard aliens from space. Turns out that before humans evolved, the dinosaurs had evolved into a humanoid reptilian species, and launched ships into space.

One ship was lost. Took 65 million years to get home at relativistic speeds. They got here… to discover that their civilization was gone, and that mammals had swarmed the place. Us.

Naturally, they do a Star Trek Time Tripster around the sun… with the intention of shooting down the KT meteor, saving their civilization, and finally arriving home…

…at the expense of the human race.

And Kirk and Spock and McCoy would have had to agonize over the decision of whether they had the right to exterminate a sentient species to preserve their own timeline, or what.

Reportedly, at this point, a studio exec said, "This sounds cool. Can we put some Mayans in it?"

Ellison said, "What?"

"Well, I was reading about the Mayan calendar, and Chariots of the Gods, and all that. We should put Mayans in there."

Ellison said, "There weren't any Mayans 65 million years ago."

The studio exec said "Who's to know?"

Apparently, this is why Harlan Ellison did not write the Star Trek motion picture. He apparently got a bit harsh with the studio exec in question…

At least one episode of Voyager, and a TOS novel, used the idea of intelligent descendants of the dinosaurs.

"Apparently, this is why Harlan Ellison did not write the Star Trek motion picture. He apparently got a bit harsh with the studio exec in question…"

There's a crater where that office building once stood. There's a fence around it, and when there's no moon, you can still make out a green glow…

Yeah, ol' Harlan is not one to practice rhetorical restraint. Especially when it comes to Hollywood executives.

There's always room for compromise:

"Then how about we put some Mayan dinosaurs in instead…?"