/sci/ - Science & Math

>Is there life outside of Earth?
It is inconceivable that there would not be.
>How can humans effectively travel through space?
Theoretical ways exist and seem possible but what proves to be practical, meaning it isn't the last thing you do, remains to be seen.
>Will our future world differ significantly from human history as we know?
Of course it will. We'll still be human with human emotions, needs and desires, just living differently in different environments and with different outlooks.
>Also, is there a chance for lifeforms to be beyond carbon based? Can alternate atoms with the same valence like silicon, but similar structures to biology exist? Would a silicon-based lifeform appear like a rockman?
The question becomes much more interesting the more you learn about chemistry and what makes our own biological systems work. It would suffice to say, in my own experience, that ignorant people think there is an obvious chance, educated people think there is no chance and experts, coming full circle, concluding that it is possible. Of course, you could just use the same argument that I used for life existing elsewhere but that's too simplistic as we already have evidence to believe that at least one biology, our own, works. The only data we can use to suggest that any other biology would work is the data we find in pure chemistry while carefully learning lessons from our own biology that might be applied to others.

As far as I understand it, there is only one aspect of our physical world that can travel faster than C

That's space itself. Physicists have made it pretty clear when explaining the big bang that, while there is a universal "speed limit", spacetime can do whatever the hell it wants, like expanding faster than C.

This is why the Alcubierre drive has received so much attention. If there is a way to actually travel faster than C, it will almost certainly be something like the Alcubierre drive, involving the bending of spacetime to get to your destination, whether it be riding the wave or going through a wormhole. And, if we're lucky, there's a way to do it without the need for exotic matter.

Or maybe there isn't a way to do it without exotic matter, and that's why the universe seems like such a lonely place.