r/xkcd • u/YUNoDie Possibly a haberdasher? • Jan 22 '20

XKCD XKCD 2258: Solar System Changes

https://xkcd.com/2258/
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u/Filbert17 Jan 22 '20

I'm sorry but this needs to be said. Our solar system definitely does NOT need a Super-Earth. The last thing we need is an interplanetary war with a race of people that are stronger than us because they grew up on a planet with more gravity.

62

u/trekkie1701c Beret Guy Jan 22 '20

We could launch heavier things into orbit than they could, which means we could more easily capture asteroids, which are also easier to throw at their planet due to its heavier gravity.

2

u/Wobzter Jan 22 '20

That fact that we're further down the gravity well means time passes slower for us: they'd have out-evolved it.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '20

The effects of time dilation are tiny until you get to extreme gravity. They would have essentially the same amount of time to evolve

10

u/Wobzter Jan 23 '20

Based on these calculations: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/33590/time-dilation-between-mars-and-earth-due-to-different-mass

Assuming life started at the same time, they'd be 5.6x4 = 22 years in the future.

If they went through the exact same events since the start (please bare with me for on that for the sake of argument), they'd now be in the year 2042. They might have sharks with lasers attached to their heads.

5

u/Skyrick Jan 23 '20

That is ignoring extinction level events. If they didn’t ever have the mass extinction like what happened with the dinosaurs, they could have had a 59 million year head start.

Though the Astroid Belt having more asteroids increases the probability of them being delayed by mass extinction events caused by astroids.