McCoy was waaaaay off
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Star Trek
chris109 — 9 years ago(October 13, 2016 02:54 PM)
MCCOY: In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy blah, blah
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/13/hubble-telescope-universe-galaxies-astronomy
Universe has two trillion more galaxies than previously thought
There are a dizzying two trillion galaxies in the universe, up to 20 times more than previously thought, astronomers reported on Thursday. The surprising finding, based on 3D modeling of images collected over 20 years by the Hubble Space Telescope, was published in the Astronomical Journal.
Scientists have puzzled over how many galaxies the cosmos harbors at least since US astronomer Edwin Hubble showed in 1924 that Andromeda, a neighboring galaxy, was not part of our own Milky Way. But even in the era of modern astronomy, getting an accurate tally has proven difficult.
To begin with, there is only part of the cosmos where light given off by distant objects has had time to reach Earth. The rest is effectively beyond our reach. And even within this observable universe, current technology only allows us to glimpse 10% of what is out there, according to the new findings.
It boggles the mind that over 90% of the galaxies in the universe have yet to be studied, commented Christopher Conselice of the University of Nottingham, who led the study. Who knows what interesting properties we will find when we observe these galaxies with the next generation of telescopes? he said in a statement.
Fear of the light: why we need darkness | Amanda Petrusich
Read more
Using deep space images from Hubble, Conselice and his team painstakingly converted them into 3D to measure the number of galaxies at different times in the history of the universe. The analysis reached back more than 13bn years very near the time of the Big Bang thought to have given birth to the universe. -
kerryedavis — 9 years ago(October 13, 2016 03:21 PM)
But but, McCoy wasn't wrong. "three million million" is the same as three trillion.
A THOUSAND million is only a billion. But a MILLION million, is a Trillion.
Or, as I prefer, Sandra Dickinson. Rather than Zooey Deschanel.
(Yes, I know, a not o. Tough!) -
chris109 — 9 years ago(October 13, 2016 03:29 PM)
But, but, it says 2 trillion 'more' than previously thought. And if extrapolated out 2 hundred years into the future when McCoy makes the comment
My brain hurts.
With regards to Sandra and ZooeyI am ducking because it went right o'er me head. -
kerryedavis — 9 years ago(October 13, 2016 03:41 PM)
If you were quoting from that story, where it says:
There are a dizzying two trillion galaxies in the universe, up to 20 times more than previously thought, astronomers reported on Thursday. The surprising finding, based on 3D modeling of images collected over 20 years by the Hubble Space Telescope, was published in the Astronomical Journal.
That doesn't say two trillion MORE. "More" is not included. Where it says "20 times more" that would mean that previous estimates were 100 billion. 20 times that would be a total of 2 trillion, not 2 trillion MORE. Although you could say that 2 trillion is 2 trillion MORE than 100 billion
Anyway since McCoy said 3 trillion, and scientists have only found 2 trillion of them so far, the scientists still have more work to do. -
kerryedavis — 9 years ago(October 13, 2016 03:48 PM)
With regards to Sandra and ZooeyI am ducking because it went right o'er me head.
Sandra Dickinson played Trillian in the TV mini-series of "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy."
https://vovatia.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/54017-trillian_mice.jpg?w=600
Zooey Deschanel had the role in the rather bleh 2005 movie.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/cc/b1/cf/ccb1cf59b09db88016c24468470d954a.jpg
