> it's not just that everyone you know will be dead when you arrive. Your entire nation will have disappeared to the sands of time.
Humans are just a stepping stone. Earth intelligence will transcend our 77 year lifespans and primate brains.
Our lungs are adapted to gas exchange on this particular gravity well and its unique biogeochemistry. There's no reason redox reactions need to happen like this, or indeed even be the primary propulsion mechanism.
This is our frail biases speaking. We are limited by our biology, but we won't be forever.
This exactly. Evolution is a stepping stone to engineering., which then will also be subject to evolution. (Is there a word for engineered evolution?)
The trick will be to remain -human- perhaps. Or we just accept the fate of the loser of natural selection, and are replaced by our children of an obsolete god.
I have posited an idea on how this could work and done a bit of world building in that space, perhaps I will overcome my reticence toward writing fiction and publish one day.
Humans are just a stepping stone. Earth intelligence will transcend our 77 year lifespans and primate brains.
Our lungs are adapted to gas exchange on this particular gravity well and its unique biogeochemistry. There's no reason redox reactions need to happen like this, or indeed even be the primary propulsion mechanism.
This is our frail biases speaking. We are limited by our biology, but we won't be forever.