Open thread, Oct. 12 - Oct. 18, 2015

MrMind

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If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.

Notes for future OT posters:

1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.

2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)

3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.

4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.

Nitpick: It wouldn't have to be commercial use of nuclear energy. Even if we're limited to human institutions, it could be governmental use, and I have a notion that religion might be the best sort of institution for getting people off the planet. Religions have a potential for big, long term projects that don't make practical sense.

Thanks for looking into the question of planetary mass and getting off the planet-- once the question occurred to me, it exploded into a lot of additional questions, and we haven't even gotten to whether planetary mass might have an effect on the evolution of life.

One additional factor: the amount of radioactive elements still usable (that is, not completely decayed) vs. how many billion years it took to evolve from alien amoeba to alien tool-users.