CuCabeludo said:
Not really, earth is set to be unable to support life between 1 and 2 billion years from now when the sun starts it's death phase by slowly becoming hotter and bigger, and eventually it explodes into a supernova in 3.5-4 billion years according to scientific estimates. Water will no longer be able to exist in liqud state 1 billion years from now therefore earth won't be able to support life, it will be a lot hotter. |
If we're still stuck in out own little solar system in 1 billion years then we don't deserve to colonize the universe. Interstellar flight should be possible within another thousand years.
However if the speed of light can't be broken in any possible way, an interstellar society will simply be impossible. The universe might already have small islands of disconnected colonies spread out in time. When messages take years to travel between stars with any supplies or traffic taking a multiple of that and even more due to relativistic effects, what kind of interstellar society can you build.
Suppose any messages between America and Europe would take 10 years to arrive, while any ships take a hundred years to arrive. The two would simply grow apart as if the other doesn't really exist.
