Moon and beyond

Stephen Hawking said that the human race must one day venture into space in order to survive. Currently the population of our race is roughly 6 billion. Ladies and gentlemen, think about that, and you'll probably think about the movie 2012. Well at first when I watched that movie I expected the main characters to venture into space. But we all watched it ended up much like Noah's Ark story. (disappointing...plagarism of biblical source)

Anyway, there are news saying that we discovered some sort of new mineral on the surface of the moon. This mineral, if properly harnessed, can be used to generate electricity. A couple of grams of the mineral is enough to power several Chinese cities. Moreover, we are suffering from global warming, prolonged drought, famine, diseases, etc. And also, lands are scarce but the human population is still exploding. Considering all these facts, it seems that we really have to buckle up and prepare to travel to our nearest neighbor, ie MARS.

Well, if we really have to travel elsewhere, we will, evolutionarily speaking, become a new species. Firstly, the gravitational force of other planet is different from that of the Earth. The structure of our bones, muscles will change and modify itself, whether you like it or not, to cope with the sudden change. Also, the air content of other planet might be different. You may not be able to enjoy 21% of oxygen in the atmosphere of MARS, perhaps only 15% or less, and that will lead to the modification of our lungs, our respitory system. Our chest would probably become larger, to absorb more oxygen, and our limbs become smaller to minimise the usage of oxygen. As a results, TADA... alien looking creature that no longer eligible to be called HOMO SAPIEN.
no more sexy ladies like those you see on Earth, we would evolve into alien looking creatures, and we will feed on native plants and animals on planet MARS, which could be radioactive in nature, and then we will become radioactive as well..

Alright enough of those craps. but these could be real. We can choose otherwise, to travel to other solar system to look for the 3rd, blue planet from the star, contain 21% oxygen, 70% water covering its surface. BUT, the nearest solar system from our sun, the Alpha Centauri, is 4.37 light years away. But we are stil ages away from achieving the speed of light my dear... so far the fastest man made aircraft (note: not sure rocket or plane) can travel at 7236km/h, or mach 6.7 , ie 6.7 times the speed of sound. Sounds fast eh? well it is only 0.0000067 of the speed of light. and that makes me think again. IF PHOTON CAN TRAVEL THAT FAST, HOW FAST DOES A GRAVITON TRAVEL?

:-)
Malcolm