Would you like to be witness to the the birth of a new ocean?

I won’t be around long enough, quick everyone grab a bucket and let’s speed this process up!

Get a jack too so we can help!!

Yes! That looks like loads of fun.

It depends on where I’m standing.

I would love to be around long enough to see something like that. My geology professor said that the entire African Rift Valleys will form a new ocean eventually, and in millions and millions of years there will be a trench off the east coast of North America because the ocean floor goes under another plate there. It’s crazy to think about stuff like that.

this is probably going to open up in 2012 and swallow us all. or not.

@JONESGH Wait! I know! The Hadron Collider started it! It’s…it’s…THE BLACK HOLE!!
@Haleth Thank you..it is mind bending.

@Val123 it totally is. the people from the future are trying to warn us, but we’re not listening!

I’m listening!!!....I can’t hear anything but an ocean being formed….by a black hole….

Maybe someone will learn how to speed it up, and save the existing people from being flooded out by Global Warming. If the water forms a ‘new ocean’ that’s a good thing.

@YARNLADY i dont really understand your thinking behind that. There is still going to be the same amount of land and water, it’s just getting moved around.

@uberbatman You are correct, but I meant instead of rising up over some of the occupied land around the shores of existing oceans, it would be diverted into the “new” ocean.

@YARNLADY again, i dont follow. If the ice caps are melting, there is going to be more water. Its still going to rise up over occupied land, the land will just be in a different shape than it was before.

Have a look at Pangea Ultima 250 million years in the future

http://www.scotese.com/future2.htm

@YARNLADY Like, if you have a pool with a big boulder on the left side of it, and you move the boulder to the right side, you still have the same amount of water, it’s just in a different place in the pool is all.

and once all those ice cubes you put in the pool melt, the water is still going to rise up over that boulder.

@uberbatman Yep. A new ocean wouldn’t change anything at all!

@uberbatman Darn, and here I thought it would be a great idea.

There is a very small chance that the Sacramento Valley will fill in and I will then own ocean view property.

@YARNLADY LOL!

@mattbrowne Is that a real prediction? I sure hope we’re all getting along by then!

@Val123 i was thinking that, but then i was also thinking, do you think human life will even still be around in 250mil years?

@Val123 – Yes, very real. However, I think it’s very realistic than humanity can influence plate tectonics by the year 2100 AD and certainly long before 250,000,000 AD. Well, most of descendants will live elsewhere in our galaxy anyway.

@uberbatman It IS something to think about, isn’t it! I think we’ll be around, but will have evolved significantly in that time. How or in what way I have no idea. What do you think, @mattbrowne What kinds of physical or mental changes do you it could be possible that we’ll undergo in 250 million years?

@Val123 – Merge with technology, brain chips and the like. If someone asks you how many different lines for 50 people waiting at a ticket counter exist, it would take you 1 second before you answer

30414093201713378043612608166064768844377641568960512000000000000

but the 1 second is a complete waste of time because you actually converted sound waves into neural impulses inside your ear sending them off into your brain. Plus it will take you several seconds to actually spell out the number. How inefficient, good Lord. A more efficient way of asking would be sending the question directly into your brain. Ears? Who needs old-fashioned ears?

@mattbrowne Uh huh! Got it! WTH??

@Val123 – So did you try to use the pocket calculator in your head? Tell it to calculate 50!, the factorial of 50, which is 50×49 x 48 x… x 3×2 x 1

See also

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorial

Please, don’t get mad at me!

My point really is that in 30–40 years time your brain will be able to execute complex calculations in microseconds. You could also close your eyes and ask your brain to call Google Earth. In your head. You can take off in Kansas, fly east, cross the Atlantic and I can show you the town I live. Imagine, Google Earth without a screen, keyboard and mouse. It’ll be a bit more complex than factorials because we need to feed neural impulses into the visual cortex.

@mattbrowne I could never be mad at you! You’re my favorite Science Fiction writer!
And, thanks to your last post I understand now what you were saying. And yeah, that’s exactly what I meant, the combination of computer chips and genetics will make us evolve in an “unnatural” (but not necessarily bad) way, both mentally and physically (since we seem to put such a high premium on athletics. I wonder why. Oh! That’s a good question! It’s mine! You can’t have it! GIT AWAY! MOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!)

@Val123 – Well, it will raise many ethical questions. And the concept of cheating at school might also become obsolete. The important part is that we always control technology and not the other way round.

@mattbrowne Well, to a certain extent I think that technology DOES control us, to a degree. Just the invention of the car completely changed our world. But I understand what you’re saying….

@Val123 – You’re right, civilization went through several paradigm shifts, so in principle we’re contemplating another very fundamental shift. But I think it’s a good idea to start a debate about the ethical implications now.