From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Date: Wed Jan 06 1999 - 07:06:39 MST
Anders Sandberg wrote:
> patrick.wilken@infotech.monash.edu.au (Patrick Wilken) writes:
>
> As far as I know the sun passes through the spiral arms in its orbit,
> so there should be a few passages every galactic year (250 million
> years, if I'm not misremembering). So Lem's idea haven't held up well,
> although he might still argue that it is likelier for intelligence to
> evolve on stars in quieter areas sinply because of a lower risk of
> mass extinctions (but on the other hand, they tend to cause
> evolutionary radiations).
I have not heard that our sun is such a wanderer. I was under the impression that
most of the stars in this local area are rather homogenous and communal.
Mike Lorrey
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