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Message: <blockquote data-quote="s/LaSH" data-source="post: 449094" data-attributes="member: 6929">Why has growth stopped? I can think of two reasons. One, Europeans are no longer truly alive. (Although I think that applies better to American consumer zombies...) Two, that isn't actually an available niche. Everyone in developed countries has evolved, not only into territory they need, but territory they want, which are two very different things. And now that the niche is filled but not used... well, you see my point.Abrupt change of talk:Genetic modification, anyone? It'll be what takes us truly into space. Without an ozone shield, every other planet is exposed to deadly solar radiation, not to mention crazy atmospheric contents and poisonous gasses. In fact, Jupiter's magnetic field is so strong that you couldn't survive on one of its moons without an advanced radiation shielding suit. So gelfs will be the ones to live on such worlds. (Gelfs being Genetically Engineered Life Forms for the uninitiated.) Now, many of the confirmed extrasolar planets seem to be much closer to their stars than Earth, AND are much larger than Jupiter, hence probably magnetic on their own. Anybody even thinking of living on or near one of those behemoths is going to have to go through some pretty heavy germ-line modification.And that's definitely going to be possible by then...</blockquote>