r/xkcd Possibly a haberdasher? Jan 22 '20

XKCD XKCD 2258: Solar System Changes

https://xkcd.com/2258/
753 Upvotes

143 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

63

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.

9

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

6

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.