The "Did You Know" thread

[bluecoconuts]

Did you know that the earth has an unusually large metal center created when it was impacted by a smaller planet which may have also formed the moon? This fortuitous spinning center provides the magnetic field that allows our atmosphere to exist.

THIS is one of the reasons I don't believe intelligent life is as common in the universe as one might hope. Another is that planet sized catastrophes are very common in systems without massive planets like Pluto and Neptune to eat up and deflect asteroids. Add in that the planet needs to be in a goldilocks zone, have water, be the right size, and on and on.

Luckily this is right up my wheelhouse.

There are an estimated 100 earthlike billion planets that lie in the goldilocks zone (habitable zone) in our galaxy. While galaxies range from small (about 1,000 stars) to very large (100 trillion stars), if we expect the number of 100 billion to average out, and there are about 500 billion galaxies in our observable universe that means there are roughly 50 Sextillion (5 x 10^22) earthlike planets in their parent stars habitable zone.

To put that in other words, there are an estimated 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 potentially habitable planets in the universe.

This doesn't take into account moons of Jovian planets (like Titan for example) that may harbor life either. There's a pretty good chance that there is microscopic life out there, and we will find evidence of it soon, but looking at it from a pure numbers standpoint, there's a good chance some of those planets have intelligent life on them. Even if there's a .00000000001% chance, that's still a lot of planets.

The problem is getting there. I have no doubts that there is life out there, even intelligent life. I also believe that we will find evidence of life in our lifetimes (afterall that is my area of focus) but it'll almost certainly be microscopic life, not some little green guys. I doubt that in my lifetime we'll find intelligent life, and we may never find it before we kill ourselves (unless we do the smart thing and learn how to get out of our solar system), but it's out there among the stars.

 

[Yamahopper]

Do you know....In a alternate universe Jason Smith is All pro LT every year and the Patriots never won a Super Bowl.

 

[RamzFanz]

Luckily this is right up my wheelhouse.

There are an estimated 100 earthlike billion planets that lie in the goldilocks zone (habitable zone) in our galaxy. While galaxies range from small (about 1,000 stars) to very large (100 trillion stars), if we expect the number of 100 billion to average out, and there are about 500 billion galaxies in our observable universe that means there are roughly 50 Sextillion (5 x 10^22) earthlike planets in their parent stars habitable zone.

To put that in other words, there are an estimated 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 potentially habitable planets in the universe.

This doesn't take into account moons of Jovian planets (like Titan for example) that may harbor life either. There's a pretty good chance that there is microscopic life out there, and we will find evidence of it soon, but looking at it from a pure numbers standpoint, there's a good chance some of those planets have intelligent life on them. Even if there's a .00000000001% chance, that's still a lot of planets.

The problem is getting there. I have no doubts that there is life out there, even intelligent life. I also believe that we will find evidence of life in our lifetimes (afterall that is my area of focus) but it'll almost certainly be microscopic life, not some little green guys. I doubt that in my lifetime we'll find intelligent life, and we may never find it before we kill ourselves (unless we do the smart thing and learn how to get out of our solar system), but it's out there among the stars.

Yes. There are a TON of planets and moons in the goldilocks zone. BUT, how many have a magnetic field strong enough to protect the planet from radiation and the atmosphere from being blown off? How many have large planets that have moved through their solar system vacuuming up asteroids and standing sentry to prevent planet extinctions? How many have abundant water vs other liquids and gasses that may not allow life? How many have the right balance of greenhouse gasses?

My point is simply that the numbers are far smaller than people think for the prospects of evolution to intelligence, all things considered. On earth, if the dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out, would humans ever have evolved? Probably not. What are the odds of a catastrophic event wiping out the dominant life form but also allowing a life form likely to evolve to intelligence surviving? So, even with life and a good environmental situation, it's still not a likely thing in my mind.

Then they have to evolve. How many life forms are even capable of that level of evolution? Then how many would survive long enough through long child rearing times, disease, drought, predators, global climate changes, etc.

I don't believe that any civilization can survive long enough to overcome space travel on that scale or, perhaps, it may not even be possible. Most theories for interstellar travel require unfathomable amounts of energy. The odds, the distances, the time spans, are just so enormous.

The more I learn about the universe, the less I think intelligent life is common or that we will ever communicate, much less meet.

And then, of course, you have the Borg.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Yes. There are a TON of planets and moons in the goldilocks zone. BUT, how many have a magnetic field strong enough to protect the planet from radiation and the atmosphere from being blown off? How many have large planets that have moved through their solar system vacuuming up asteroids and standing sentry to prevent planet extinctions? How many have abundant water vs other liquids and gasses that may not allow life? How many have the right balance of greenhouse gasses?

My point is simply that the numbers are far smaller than people think for the prospects of evolution to intelligence, all things considered. On earth, if the dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out, would humans ever have evolved? Probably not. What are the odds of a catastrophic event wiping out the dominant life form but also allowing a life form likely to evolve to intelligence surviving? So, even with life and a good environmental situation, it's still not a likely thing.

Then they have to evolve. How many life forms are even capable of that level of evolution? Then how many would survive long enough through long child rearing times, disease, drought, predators, global climate changes, etc.

I don't believe that any civilization can survive long enough to overcome space travel on that scale or, perhaps, it may not even be possible. Most theories for interstellar travel require unfathomable amounts of energy. The odds, the distances, the time spans, are just so enormous.

The more I learn about the universe, the less I think intelligent life is common or that we will ever communicate, much less meet.

If our jovian planets are any indication, a lot of planets will have strong magnetic fields, all of them have strong ones than earth. Of course they're also gas planets, so it doesn't really matter when we look for life. However what this does help, is the fact that often these planets have such large magnetic fields they extend out and help protect their moons. Europa is a good example, it orbits in Jupiters magnetic field, and its probable that salt water lies under the icy surface.

Its hard to say how rare life is on earth, but given all the different planets and types of stars out there, it doesn't mean that its not likely that its out there. Larger stars have a larger habitable zone, which allows planets to be further out, which helps. With red dwarfs high cloud formation can keep a tidially locked planet habitable, things like that.

How rare is being bombarded during planetary formation? There are other moons larger than ours. Do bigger Earths help? Mars is pretty small, makes it easier to lose a magnetic field, is the fact that Venus rotates in the opposite direction why it doesn't have a magnetic field?

It might not be like science fiction, but there are billions of possibilities, its just unlikely that we are the only ones. A lot of people think of habitable planets as looking just like Earth, but in reality they probably won't be.

As for unfathomable amounts of energy needed for interstellar travel, 100 years ago the idea of a smart phone would be unfathomable as well. In 1,000 years what new technology will we have then?

 

[RamzFanz]

Did you know there is a snake island off of Brazil? It has so many snakes, if there were a football field, it would be home to 888 snakes. It is also the only home to the deadly golden lancehead, whose venom is said to be 5 times stronger than any other of the american continent's land snakes. It's venom will melt your skin.

No mammals live on the island. It has an unmanned lighthouse maintained by the Brazilian Navy. I wonder how they decide who goes and replaces the light bulb?

 

[RamzFanz]

If our jovian planets are any indication, a lot of planets will have strong magnetic fields, all of them have strong ones than earth. Of course they're also gas planets, so it doesn't really matter when we look for life. However what this does help, is the fact that often these planets have such large magnetic fields they extend out and help protect their moons. Europa is a good example, it orbits in Jupiters magnetic field, and its probable that salt water lies under the icy surface.

Its hard to say how rare life is on earth, but given all the different planets and types of stars out there, it doesn't mean that its not likely that its out there. Larger stars have a larger habitable zone, which allows planets to be further out, which helps. With red dwarfs high cloud formation can keep a tidially locked planet habitable, things like that.

How rare is being bombarded during planetary formation? There are other moons larger than ours. Do bigger Earths help? Mars is pretty small, makes it easier to lose a magnetic field, is the fact that Venus rotates in the opposite direction why it doesn't have a magnetic field?

It might not be like science fiction, but there are billions of possibilities, its just unlikely that we are the only ones. A lot of people think of habitable planets as looking just like Earth, but in reality they probably won't be.

As for unfathomable amounts of energy needed for interstellar travel, 100 years ago the idea of a smart phone would be unfathomable as well. In 1,000 years what new technology will we have then?

Actually, 100 years ago this was predicted:

"This was the year that the genius known as “The Man Who Invented The 20th Century” announced his world wireless system. It would connect pictures, voice, music, transactions and signatures, globally and instantly. He said of his wireless world: “It’s all a wonderful thing. Wireless is coming to mankind in its full meaning like a hurricane some of these days. Some day there will be, say, six great wireless telephone stations in a world system connecting all the inhabitants on this earth to one another, not only by voice, but by sight. It’s surely coming.”

Yes, the gas giants have large magnetic fields, but how many planets that are in the goldilocks zone and of a type capable of sustaining life do? That's something we just don't know yet and, it would seem to me, it's probably rare. From my understanding, in a planet the relative size and type of earth, you need an abnormally large metal center and unusual spinning of that center for a magnetic field capable of protecting an atmosphere.

Life may be abundant in the universe but intelligent life, in my estimation, probably requires a huge number of advantageous circumstances that dwindles the possibilities to a very small number. For example, you can only get so far without the equivalent of an opposable thumb. That fact alone could hamper intelligence. If you can't handle tools or make and handle weapons, the odds seem very small to me a species could survive and evolve to intelligence.

Once you have a planet or moon capable of supporting life and the genesis of life, in my opinion, you still need a million lucky variables to evolve and survive as a species. The sun could kill us all and render the earth incapable of supporting life an hour from now and it could have also happened in the hundreds of millions of years in the past, but it didn't. A super volcano, asteroid, comet, gamma ray burst, rogue black star or black hole, disease, extreme climate change, predators, war, genetic vulnerabilities, inbreeding, and on and on could end species even capable of intelligence.

Evolution to intelligence itself could be a common species killer. Engineered diseases, genetic tampering, pollution, war, zombies, climate change, resurrection of extinct species or viruses, tinkering with science we don't understand. The CERN super collider could have wiped us out. We didn't think it would, but we had no real way of knowing. Climate change could already be in an unstoppable cycle that will lead to an ice age or warming that kills life on earth. We don't know. We are scientific infants.

It seems pretty daunting to me. Billions of years of life on earth, perhaps hundreds of millions or billions of species have come and gone, and only one form of intelligent life so far. Seems pretty rare even on a highly hospitable planet and situation.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Actually, 100 years ago this was predicted:

"This was the year that the genius known as “The Man Who Invented The 20th Century” announced his world wireless system. It would connect pictures, voice, music, transactions and signatures, globally and instantly. He said of his wireless world: “It’s all a wonderful thing. Wireless is coming to mankind in its full meaning like a hurricane some of these days. Some day there will be, say, six great wireless telephone stations in a world system connecting all the inhabitants on this earth to one another, not only by voice, but by sight. It’s surely coming.”

Yes, the gas giants have large magnetic fields, but how many planets that are in the goldilocks zone and of a type capable of sustaining life do? That's something we just don't know yet and, it would seem to me, it's probably rare. From my understanding, in a planet the relative size and type of earth, you need an abnormally large metal center and unusual spinning of that center for a magnetic field capable of protecting an atmosphere.

Life may be abundant in the universe but intelligent life, in my estimation, probably requires a huge number of advantageous circumstances that dwindles the possibilities to a very small number. For example, you can only get so far without the equivalent of an opposable thumb. That fact alone could hamper intelligence. If you can't handle tools or make and handle weapons, the odds seem very small to me a species could survive and evolve to intelligence.

Once you have a planet or moon capable of supporting life and the genesis of life, in my opinion, you still need a million lucky variables to evolve and survive as a species. The sun could kill us all and render the earth incapable of supporting life an hour from now and it could have also happened in the hundreds of millions of years in the past, but it didn't. A super volcano, asteroid, comet, gamma ray burst, rogue black star or black hole, disease, extreme climate change, predators, war, genetic vulnerabilities, inbreeding, and on and on could end species even capable of intelligence.

Evolution to intelligence itself could be a common species killer. Engineered diseases, genetic tampering, pollution, war, zombies, climate change, resurrection of extinct species or viruses, tinkering with science we don't understand. The CERN super collider could have wiped us out. We didn't think it would, but we had no real way of knowing. Climate change could already be in an unstoppable cycle that will lead to an ice age or warming that kills life on earth. We don't know. We are scientific infants.

It seems pretty daunting to me.

Zombies would be dangerous.

Do you believe in the Multi-verse theory?
That would make the pool MUCH larger.

 

[RamzFanz]

Zombies would be dangerous.

Do you believe in the Multi-verse theory?
That would make the pool MUCH larger.

Theories like Branes and Multi-verse hurt my head. I try to stay in this dimension so as not to hurt myself.

But sure, other universes could have much better or worse propensity for life.

If the universe is infinite, than there would have to be an infinite number of intelligent species. But here in our local area, compared to the number of planets, I'm proposing that the number would be infinitesimally small.

Using the only sample we have, earth, even on a planet abundant with a massive variety of life, only one evolved to our point. That places the odds at what? A billion to one in an optimal situation? And only 1 optimal situation in maybe hundreds of planets (including dwarves) and moons? And that, an optimal situation considering our atmosphere, magnetic field, temperatures, water, etc, may be extremely rare. We assume it's not, but it seems to me we really have no reason to believe that.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Actually, 100 years ago this was predicted:

"This was the year that the genius known as “The Man Who Invented The 20th Century” announced his world wireless system. It would connect pictures, voice, music, transactions and signatures, globally and instantly. He said of his wireless world: “It’s all a wonderful thing. Wireless is coming to mankind in its full meaning like a hurricane some of these days. Some day there will be, say, six great wireless telephone stations in a world system connecting all the inhabitants on this earth to one another, not only by voice, but by sight. It’s surely coming.”

Yes, the gas giants have large magnetic fields, but how many planets that are in the goldilocks zone and of a type capable of sustaining life do? That's something we just don't know yet and, it would seem to me, it's probably rare. From my understanding, in a planet the relative size and type of earth, you need an abnormally large metal center and unusual spinning of that center for a magnetic field capable of protecting an atmosphere.

Life may be abundant in the universe but intelligent life, in my estimation, probably requires a huge number of advantageous circumstances that dwindles the possibilities to a very small number. For example, you can only get so far without the equivalent of an opposable thumb. That fact alone could hamper intelligence. If you can't handle tools or make and handle weapons, the odds seem very small to me a species could survive and evolve to intelligence.

Once you have a planet or moon capable of supporting life and the genesis of life, in my opinion, you still need a million lucky variables to evolve and survive as a species. The sun could kill us all and render the earth incapable of supporting life an hour from now and it could have also happened in the hundreds of millions of years in the past, but it didn't. A super volcano, asteroid, comet, gamma ray burst, rogue black star or black hole, disease, extreme climate change, predators, war, genetic vulnerabilities, inbreeding, and on and on could end species even capable of intelligence.

Evolution to intelligence itself could be a common species killer. Engineered diseases, genetic tampering, pollution, war, zombies, climate change, resurrection of extinct species or viruses, tinkering with science we don't understand. The CERN super collider could have wiped us out. We didn't think it would, but we had no real way of knowing. Climate change could already be in an unstoppable cycle that will lead to an ice age or warming that kills life on earth. We don't know. We are scientific infants.

It seems pretty daunting to me. Billions of years of life on earth, perhaps hundreds of millions or billions of species have come and gone, and only one form of intelligent life so far. Seems pretty rare even on a highly hospitable planet and situation.

I'll touch on this a little later, because I have to run, but there's different factors that go into things. We make predictions about the amount of habitable planets in our universe (a very high number) but it's harder to predict life, especially intelligent life.

The problem is that we don't know when or how life started on Earth, which makes it hard to predict about necessary conditions needed for carbon based life as we know it. There's evidence that suggests that there may have been basic forms of DNA based lifeforms as early as 500 million years after it's birth, which could be a good sign for potential life on other planets. This still doesn't answer how it happened though, we really don't know, and it makes it harder to predict it on other worlds.

We just don't know how rare life is on earth, and it depends on the definition of intelligent. Is it the ability to be self aware, pass on information between individuals via a complex language(dolphins do this)? Is it the ability to travel into space (what were humans before space travel then?)?

My thesis is about being able to predict the makeup types of planets around different stars, and taking it further if we can semi accurately predict the type of planets that would spawn from a new star after an older star dies. Ultimately hoping to be able to narrow down what types of stars we should focus on. The James Webb Space Telescope (basically the Hubble on steroids) should give us a better understanding of our neighborhood, but there is still so much we don't know. The more we know the easier it is to accurately predict things.


I remain highly hopeful that there is intelligent life out in our universe, however I'm 99% certain I'll never hear about it, and I'm unsure if mankind will ever discover it before we kill ourselves. I do think in my lifetime we'll discover another planet that we as humans could live on. I'm hoping to be part of that team as well, so I have some interest in finding such a world.

 

[RamzFanz]

I'll touch on this a little later, because I have to run, but there's different factors that go into things. We make predictions about the amount of habitable planets in our universe (a very high number) but it's harder to predict life, especially intelligent life.

The problem is that we don't know when or how life started on Earth, which makes it hard to predict about necessary conditions needed for carbon based life as we know it. There's evidence that suggests that there may have been basic forms of DNA based lifeforms as early as 500 million years after it's birth, which could be a good sign for potential life on other planets. This still doesn't answer how it happened though, we really don't know, and it makes it harder to predict it on other worlds.

We just don't know how rare life is on earth, and it depends on the definition of intelligent. Is it the ability to be self aware, pass on information between individuals via a complex language(dolphins do this)? Is it the ability to travel into space (what were humans before space travel then?)?

My thesis is about being able to predict the makeup types of planets around different stars, and taking it further if we can semi accurately predict the type of planets that would spawn from a new star after an older star dies. Ultimately hoping to be able to narrow down what types of stars we should focus on. The James Webb Space Telescope (basically the Hubble on steroids) should give us a better understanding of our neighborhood, but there is still so much we don't know. The more we know the easier it is to accurately predict things.


I remain highly hopeful that there is intelligent life out in our universe, however I'm 99% certain I'll never hear about it, and I'm unsure if mankind will ever discover it before we kill ourselves. I do think in my lifetime we'll discover another planet that we as humans could live on. I'm hoping to be part of that team as well, so I have some interest in finding such a world.

I'm convinced it's highly probable life itself is abundant. Maybe even in our own solar system. Now that we know life can exist in extreme conditions and that life can probably travel from planet to planet through impact ejections, it seems very likely to me planets are often seeded from an original genius elsewhere.

That's a different thing altogether than having circumstances where you can have billions of attempts at evolving intelligent life from advanced life forms. My own mark for intelligent life is capable of complex reasoning. Dolphins, for example, can't communicate abstract concepts like we are here.

Going to another planet is a tricky one yes? Even if we find a way to travel those distances, the planet you will arrive at will likely be in the distant future from what you observed unless we find a close one. You may have to predict the future of a younger planet to get to one that looks like your goal.

Best wishes towards your goal. That would be awesome. When you get there, plant a Rams flag and declare the land mass Ramsland please. Then make the first law that the words "Seahawks" and "Patriots" are banned for all time. Thanks!

 

[bluecoconuts]

I'm convinced it's highly probable life itself is abundant. Maybe even in our own solar system. Now that we know life can exist in extreme conditions and that life can probably travel from planet to planet through impact ejections, it seems very likely to me planets are often seeded from an original genius elsewhere.

That's a different thing altogether than having circumstances where you can have billions of attempts at evolving intelligent life from advanced life forms. My own mark for intelligent life is capable of complex reasoning. Dolphins, for example, can't communicate abstract concepts like we are here.

Going to another planet is a tricky one yes? Even if we find a way to travel those distances, the planet you will arrive at will likely be in the distant future from what you observed unless we find a close one. You may have to predict the future of a younger planet to get to one that looks like your goal.

Best wishes towards your goal. That would be awesome. When you get there, plant a Rams flag and declare the land mass Ramsland please. Then make the first law that the words "Seahawks" and "Patriots" are banned for all time. Thanks!

I don't expect to ever walk on it, I just want to find it. By the time we have the ability to walk on it I'll be long dead. If I was born another 10-20 years into the future my goal would be to walk on Europa or Titan. My guess is after Mars Europa will be the goal. Of course if we didn't abandon space exploration after the moon we'd probably be gearing up for that trip now.

That's part of why I'm hoping to be able to predict what we'd find millions/billions of light years away, so we don't pop up and see nothing but a white dwarf.

 

[RamzFanz]

I don't expect to ever walk on it, I just want to find it. By the time we have the ability to walk on it I'll be long dead. If I was born another 10-20 years into the future my goal would be to walk on Europa or Titan. My guess is after Mars Europa will be the goal. Of course if we didn't abandon space exploration after the moon we'd probably be gearing up for that trip now.

That's part of why I'm hoping to be able to predict what we'd find millions/billions of light years away, so we don't pop up and see nothing but a white dwarf.

Yeah, I misunderstood and didn't want to rain on your parade.

LEO exploration and the shuttle were expensive and time consuming, but perhaps a necessary step to advance our knowledge and experience while the technologies advanced?

Right now my money is on Spacex, under contract, delivering the first human to a foreign body.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Yeah, I misunderstood and didn't want to rain on your parade.

LEO exploration and the shuttle were expensive and time consuming, but perhaps a necessary step to advance our knowledge and experience while the technologies advanced?

Right now my money is on Spacex, under contract, delivering the first human to a foreign body.

Part of the issue is that there's really no priority put on the pursuit of knowledge, and not really much incentive to do so. Multiple times I've had to beg for funding from private sources, and almost weekly I have people going "so you get a really nice job after all this right?" And when I tell them not really, they all wonder why do it, doesn't make sense to them. That type of attitude pushes kids away from science. There's plenty of other jobs that are just as important, but when we have such a low priority of science, its no wonder we fall behind. Shit our politicians stick people with the least amount of understanding in positions where they control the funding and research. Awful.

 

[RamzFanz]

Part of the issue is that there's really no priority put on the pursuit of knowledge, and not really much incentive to do so. Multiple times I've had to beg for funding from private sources, and almost weekly I have people going "so you get a really nice job after all this right?" And when I tell them not really, they all wonder why do it, doesn't make sense to them. That type of attitude pushes kids away from science. There's plenty of other jobs that are just as important, but when we have such a low priority of science, its no wonder we fall behind. crap our politicians stick people with the least amount of understanding in positions where they control the funding and research. Awful.

Let's hope you're getting in on the ground floor of a space boom. Seems like it. Privatization, Mars missions, new planet discoveries, asteroid mining, space telescopes, lots of cool stuff going on right now.

 

[Selassie I]

@bluecoconuts and @RamzFanz

This intelligent life topic is in my wheelhouse also. I think you both presented some good thoughts on the matter.

Just to stir the pot a little here. There are those that say that we already have the technology and ability to travel beyond our solar system. There are even those that say we currently have ships and bases on the far side of the moon. Could they be correct ?

As far as the power source for that kind of travel in space. Either of you guys ever hear of element 115 ?

Ever look into the Sumerian written stories of how humans were created ?

 

[RamzFanz]

@bluecoconuts and @RamzFanz

This intelligent life topic is in my wheelhouse also. I think you both presented some good thoughts on the matter.

Just to stir the pot a little here. There are those that say that we already have the technology and ability to travel beyond our solar system. There are even those that say we currently have ships and bases on the far side of the moon. Could they be correct ?

As far as the power source for that kind of travel in space. Either of you guys ever hear of element 115 ?

Ever look into the Sumerian written stories of how humans were created ?

Yeah, I don't buy in on the moon base stuff. I had not heard of element 115, thanks!

 

[Selassie I]

Yeah, I don't buy in on the moon base stuff. I had not heard of element 115, thanks!

I'm not sure that there's anything out there that I haven't read when it comes to intelligent life elsewhere and space. I don't believe most of the conspiracies either, but some of the stuff that many consider cray-cray... I believe.

 

[Rynie]

The more I learn about the universe, the less I think intelligent life is common or that we will ever communicate, much less meet.

And then, of course, you have the Borg.

You're comparing everything to Earth. Why does all intelligent life need the same things? Like someone mentioned above, there are billions of galaxies in the OBSERVABLE universe. That's still NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. Not only do I think there's intelligent life out there, I bet they're more evolved and smarter than we are. More than likely, however, they're too far away to ever discover them (unless they discover us). *doom doom doom

 

[IowaRam]

Did you know .....

 

[Memento]

Did you know that certain species of sea cucumbers (some of the ones in the order Elasipodida) have nearly the same amount of density as the water around them, and thus can make long jumps up to 1,000 meters high? The species is also given a long description in Edgar Allen Poe's only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, and has inspired thousands of haikus in Japanese literary culture.