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<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri>Right you are, Bob, as usual, forgot to mention
the heliosphere. And I thought the way to the Pub would be long and endless when
you are thirsty...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri>One can spin tall tales, ideas and probabilities.
Rest assured that even famous theoretical phycisists and cosmologists had their
2 cents to add to the problem, including Dawkins, Hawking and Neil deGrasse
Tyson. Untill the Little Green Men will be knocking on me door demanding I hand
over my GG collection (and Chuck Berry, no doubt) asap we won't know for
sure. Here is the infamous Fermi Paradox for you all to comtemplate
on. Oh, and don't worry, I usually get a headache from too much theoretical
pyhsics, cosmology and the Planck World too....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri><A
title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
STRG + Klicken, um Verknüpfung zu folgen"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri>Voayger leaving, out into space...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri><A
title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bebHG--W8s0
STRG + Klicken, um Verknüpfung zu folgen"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bebHG--W8s0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bebHG--W8s0</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title="mailto:bobmerk@earthlink.net
STRG + Klicken, um Verknüpfung zu folgen"
href="mailto:bobmerk@earthlink.net">Robert Merkin</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:03 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A
title="mailto:f_minor@glenngould.org
STRG + Klicken, um Verknüpfung zu folgen"
href="mailto:f_minor@glenngould.org">Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn
Gould.</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [f_minor] Glenn Gould Bach and the Voyager[s] leaving
our SolarSystem</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">Hahahaha Thanks James! I should have
remembered it was Sagan!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">But the impression we eventually make on
the thousands of sentient races in the Milky Way isn't a trivial,
meaningless or fantastic business. We've now sent out our first greeting
cards and sound samplers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">How will they think of us? After the Bach,
they'll know where Earth is and will focus in on us. They'll be looking for more
of Gould's Bach (and of course more Chuck Berry).<BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">But what will they truly find? How will
they truly think of us?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">Drake's Equation </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">N = R* x <EM>f</EM>(p) x <EM>n</EM>(e) x
<EM>f</EM>(e) x <EM>f</EM>(i) x <EM>f</EM>(c) x L </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">is a long product used to estimate the
number of sentient races in the Milky Way. We know confident values for all
the terms except the last term L:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"><STRONG>Once a species invents
radio, how long after that, on average, will it survive?
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">We have only one example we can use to
interpolate/guess a value for L. The human race invented
radio around 1900.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">Our same race dropped two atomic bombs on
ourselves just 45 years later, and about 7 years after that tested thermonuclear
bombs hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs. Superpowers still
have thousands of these bombs atop thousands of highly
accurate intercontinental missiles. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">Since the Cold War "ended," our diplomats
and national leaders <STRONG>talk</STRONG> less about using them. But they're
still there. The bombers, missiles, and "boomer" submarines are still a
button-push away from targeting and launching their missiles.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">When our new friends and admiring music
fans beyond the Solar System come looking for more of Earth's magnificent
achievements ...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New">The fascinating answer to the
question: <STRONG>Are we alone?</STRONG> is best told in "Intelligent Life in
the Universe" (1966) by Carl Sagan and the Russian astrophysicist <SPAN
class=ptBrand>I.S. Shklovskii. It's beautifully written, and assumes the
intelligent reader knows nothing about astronomy, biochemistry or
physics, as it gently and expertly explains every concept needed to search
for our intelligent neighbors. I can't urge this book on all of you too highly;
it was one of the most thrilling reading adventures I ever had. Whether we've
ever thought about it or not, we all have a right to know where and how we "fit
in" in the universe.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"><SPAN
class=ptBrand></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"><SPAN class=ptBrand>Bob</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"><SPAN class=ptBrand>Earth (and sometimes
Planet Vleeptron)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4 face="Courier New"><SPAN
class=ptBrand></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gzarlino@hotmail.com href="mailto:gzarlino@hotmail.com">James
Wright</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=f_minor@glenngould.org
href="mailto:f_minor@glenngould.org">f_minor list</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, December 14, 2010 11:51
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [f_minor] Glenn Gould Bach
and the Voyager[s] leaving our Solar System</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"
lang=EN-US>It was Carl Sagan who quipped "That would be bragging!" (in reply
to the proposal that <SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"
lang=EN-US><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"
lang=EN-US>the Voyager golden audio disc should contain all Bach and only Bach
</SPAN>).</SPAN> Lewis Thomas allegedly added (or so the story goes): "I
would vote for Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be
bragging of course but it is surely excusable to put the best possible face on
at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths
later."</SPAN><BR><BR>James K. Wright, Ph.D. </P>
<DIV>Associate Professor &</DIV>
<DIV>Supervisor of Performance Studies</DIV>
<DIV>School for Studies in Art & Culture: Music</DIV>
<DIV>A917 Loeb Building, Carleton University<BR>1125 Colonel By
Drive<BR>Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6<BR>Email: <A
href="mailto:James_Wright@carleton.ca"><FONT
color=#0066cc>James_Wright@carleton.ca</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV>Telephone : (613) 520-2600 (ext. 3734)<BR>Fax : (613)
520-3905<BR></DIV><BR><BR><BR> <BR>
<HR id=stopSpelling>
From: bobmerk@earthlink.net<BR>To: f_minor@glenngould.org<BR>Date: Tue, 14 Dec
2010 23:43:16 -0500<BR>Subject: Re: [f_minor] Glenn Gould Bach and the
Voyager[s] leaving our Solar System<BR><BR>
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<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Courier New">Somebody, I forget who, said that sending
Gould's Bach into outer space isn't sharing Earth sounds with sentient life
forms who find and play Voyagers' golden audio discs. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Courier New">It's just bragging. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Courier New">So we Earthoids may get a rep as the
braggarts of the Milky Way.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
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