/sci/ - Science & Math

>>2104662

I used to think so too.

Then I realized there's not much left to study in low Earth orbit. Or on the moon, or Mars. The closest NASA has come to finding alien life is what may be a fossilized microbe. Far more beautiful, terrifying and exotic creatures are found in the thousands every time we send a scientific expedition to the sea floor. Pic related, it's better by a million times than anything found in space so far and probably will be until we investigate Europa.

You'll never go to space. Realistically it's not something the average person will be able to do. Short hops into suborbital space, sure. But other planets? Of course not. And you'll never meet alien life, intelligent or otherwise.

But the ocean is someplace that, increasingly, average people can explore. Using increasingly affordable minisubs, or scuba gear, including dry transparent helmets that let you breathe more naturally and talk over radio. There are no personal spaceships on the market, or spacesuits. There exist now, today, undersea hotels you can visit. But there are no space hotels yet.

We may mine the asteroids someday. But today, we're starting to mine the seafloor. And to farm it for biomass. It's closer, has more to offer in the near term, and it's cheaper to reach. Space is our future, but the sea is our present.

I don't even. I DON'T EVEN.

This is a real fucking organism. It's alive, somehow. An example of the bizarre shit we find in the deep. Nothing remotely comparable has ever been found by astronauts and never will be in our lifetimes.