Fine tuning? Ha!

[Trolldor]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4NnP48q ... re=related[/youtube]

[AnInconvenientScotsman]

Nothing new really. Although could somebody with a bit more expertise comment on the collision with Andromeda? Is it really going to be that destructive? I was under the impression that the majority of a galaxy is empty space (apart from dark matter etc. ) so isn't it improbable that there will be as much physical destruction, dangerous to us, as Christopher seems to be implying here?

[Trolldor]

We've got an image of two galaxies colliding.

It ain't pretty. Two super massive blackholes, or a series of massive black holes, meeting one another?

[AnInconvenientScotsman]

We've got an image of two galaxies colliding.

It ain't pretty. Two super massive blackholes, or a series of massive black holes, meeting one another?

Ah. I'm really not qualified to discuss any event of the sort lol

[amused]

I think the 'fine tuning' objections to localized (solar system) destructive events are too small in scope. And, maybe the universe is only 'coarse-tuned' for life. If I wanted to create a relatively stable place that is hospitable for life, a round rock that is big enough to hold an atmosphere, and that slings itself around a heat source at a safe distance, and all of which is suspended in a vast space so it probably won't bump into anything most of the time, this universe is an elegant solution to that problem.

It doesn't matter that there are potential bad ends to that design in one place or the other if it is repeated enough times across the universe. Maybe it's like the reproductive strategy of producing a gazillion offspring so that a few survive. It doesn't matter if *we* survive if there are a lot of other species around the universe that do.

[Hermit]

Nothing new really. Although could somebody with a bit more expertise comment on the collision with Andromeda? Is it really going to be that destructive? I was under the impression that the majority of a galaxy is empty space (apart from dark matter etc. ) so isn't it improbable that there will be as much physical destruction, dangerous to us, as Christopher seems to be implying here?

This is what I recall reading about it: The destruction does not require physical contact between celestial bodies. The galaxies are torn apart (or merged, or a bit of each) by the gravitational forces of each tearing into the other.

Here is a simulation of such a collision.

[mistermack]

Nothing new really. Although could somebody with a bit more expertise comment on the collision with Andromeda? Is it really going to be that destructive? I was under the impression that the majority of a galaxy is empty space (apart from dark matter etc. ) so isn't it improbable that there will be as much physical destruction, dangerous to us, as Christopher seems to be implying here?

Destructive is the wrong word. Nothing is ever created or destroyed. Just changed.
The only thing that qualifies as being destroyed is an event, which isn't a thing, but a process. When two galaxies collide, a lot of existing processes would be changed into new processes. I suppose you could call that destruction of a sort, if you had an interest in the original process.
The timescale would be incredibly slow by human standards though.
.

[Trolldor]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

[mistermack]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

Planets and stars are just processes. Events over time. They aren't destroyed, they simply take on a new form.
.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

I've heard differently, that they pass through each other. They're distorted by the gravitational fields, but comparatively little actual damage is done.

[Tero]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

cool

want to see it on Star Trek

[Eriku]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

I've heard differently, that they pass through each other. They're distorted by the gravitational fields, but comparatively little actual damage is done.

Would be devastating to our biosphere, mind.

[kiki5711]

la la la la I can't hear you!!!

[Eriku]

la la la la I can't hear you!!!

Of course you can't... but surely you can read me?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

When two galaxies collide, both are destroyed. Planets and stars, destroyed.

I've heard differently, that they pass through each other. They're distorted by the gravitational fields, but comparatively little actual damage is done.

Would be devastating to our biosphere, mind.