Space

As in outer space. Its amazing how little we know about it. Writers such as Carl Sagan have provided rich illustrations for our imagination over the years and yet we know very little about our own solar system, let alone what lies beyond.

To me, outer space fascinates me in ways few things can. It is a world where change and chaos is the norm and nothing is expected. There is beauty and danger to be found and {gasp} the idea of possible terrestrial life in areas of the billions of galaxies which stretch further than both eye and mind are willing to see.

I must admit my own thoughts on the universe are constantly changing, but in a place where change is constant, perhaps there is little else to do.

Take this article for example.

Astronomers describe violent universe - Yahoo! News

Anyways, my question is this: How do you perceive space and mankind's relationship to it?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Space, as in, the Universe, is just a really abstract concept to me. Everything, be it distance, size, and age, is measured in billions or trillions. Stars and planets are billions of years old, galaxies are millions of light years long, which is billions and billions of miles, the amount of stars could reach into the trillions. Everything is on a scope I don't think anyone can truly fathom, and it all just sort of goes on forever and ever in a huge, boundless vacuum. A near infinite number of possibilities could exist within any part of it: elements we've never discovered, objects or areas that defy physics as we know it, wormholes, and even life, both complex and simple, in forms we may not be able to fathom. I can totally see how people could be content to study it forever, but I wonder if we'll ever fully be able to understand it all, especially since we don't even know everything about the here and now. I mean, just look at all the complex and diverse stuff in our own solar system, or even our own planet! Of course, Maybe some of the more interesting stuff like life is rare, especially if you put any stock in things like the Rare Earth Hypothesis. But even so, whatever else is out there that isn't life could be just as interesting or beneficial. We're still trying to classify some things as 'life' here after all, germs for instance.

The potential for human development in the universe is just as boundless, I think. Imagine tapping into even a fraction of the sun's energy output at any given time. Energy problems would be done forever (or for the next 5 billion years at least). Or how about harnessing comets as interstellar tow-trucks for satellites and research equipment? Using the resources of countless rocky planets for materials both rare and otherwise. It's all pretty rad, and it's no wonder we've been captivated by it for about as long as we've been able to even remotely understand what it all is. People look at science-fiction writers as geeks, but geeky as they may be, their ideas might become the blueprints for all sorts of practical stuff in the future. I know the idea of a 'space elevator' is turning a few heads in the scientific community (essentially an enclosed, pressurized capsule mounted on a several hundred-thousand foot long cable tethered to the Earth at some point neat the equator attached to a satellite in low orbit that it can travel to and from using a powerful lift rather than wasteful, expensive thrusters). It's all baby steps, but until we can gain true freedom over our surroundings, we need to rely on our imaginations (Sagan, like you said) to get us there. Scientists are finding out new stuff every day (grad students gotta do somethin'!) and it's one of those fields that I think will infinitely be full of surprises.

There's nowhere I can't reach.