We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Part II - The Universe We Live In
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2023
The options for space travel will determine how much of our corner of the Milky Way we might explore in the future. Whether exobeings will have crossed the frontiers we recognise in this field now is an open question. The speed of light will be the same absolute barrier for them as it is for us. Indeed, reaching a significant fraction of this speed will represent an immense technological challenge. This means that, for all practical purposes, the search for life elsewhere is, and will be in at least the near future, limited to our corner of the Milky Way galaxy. Life can only arise on planets (leaving moons aside for a moment) and these are relatively small compared to stars. And, of course, they only reflect light from the latter so that detecting planets in other galaxies is presently out of the question, despite advances in technology.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
