Pakistan rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal

[DisturbedPervert]

Aliens want us to die; we die.
Keeping nukes as a alien defence is not just silly but insane.

If it comes down to it, we need the nukes to destroy the planet rather than allow it to be taken.

[jimmy olsen]

Why would they want to mine the earth?  Of all the things an advanced civilization might want with the Earth mining would seem pretty low.

Not a bad point.  Lifting all that material into space would be a huge waste of resources.

If they came for resources they'd just mine the asteroid belt, and either flatten us to get rid of the competition or sell us shiny space beads.

[Neil]

It was the term Timmay used.
I don't know jack about Aliens.
Maybe a simple exploration ship is so far advanced that have the capability to nuke cities with their single energy weapon.
Technology is a bitch.
I wonder what a modern destroyer could have done against the entire Armada Invencible.

They would probably use kinetic energy weapons.

No they wouldn't.

[Neil]

Why would they want to mine the earth?  Of all the things an advanced civilization might want with the Earth mining would seem pretty low.

Not a bad point.  Lifting all that material into space would be a huge waste of resources.

If they came for resources they'd just mine the asteroid belt, and either flatten us to get rid of the competition or sell us shiny space beads.

We're not competition, and no interstellar species can be interested in commerce.

[jimmy olsen]

It was the term Timmay used.
I don't know jack about Aliens.
Maybe a simple exploration ship is so far advanced that have the capability to nuke cities with their single energy weapon.
Technology is a bitch.
I wonder what a modern destroyer could have done against the entire Armada Invencible.

They would probably use kinetic energy weapons.

No they wouldn't.

Why not, rods from God are cheaper then nukes, just as effective and cause no radiation.

[Habsburg]

Rods from God. 

[Neil]

It was the term Timmay used.
I don't know jack about Aliens.
Maybe a simple exploration ship is so far advanced that have the capability to nuke cities with their single energy weapon.
Technology is a bitch.
I wonder what a modern destroyer could have done against the entire Armada Invencible.

They would probably use kinetic energy weapons.

No they wouldn't.

Why not, rods from God are cheaper then nukes, just as effective and cause no radiation.

That's true, but they'd never use them.

[garbon]

Neil has touched(?) Aliens, so he knows.

[Siege]

Why would they want to mine the earth?  Of all the things an advanced civilization might want with the Earth mining would seem pretty low.

Not a bad point.  Lifting all that material into space would be a huge waste of resources.

If they came for resources they'd just mine the asteroid belt, and either flatten us to get rid of the competition or sell us shiny space beads.

We're not competition, and no interstellar species can be interested in commerce.

Why is that?

Trade seems to be a constant in all forms of civilization.

[Siege]

Why would they want to mine the earth?  Of all the things an advanced civilization might want with the Earth mining would seem pretty low.

Not a bad point.  Lifting all that material into space would be a huge waste of resources.

Maybe they have cheaper ways to lift stuff into orbit.

Space elevators come to mind.

[Tonitrus]

I wonder what a modern destroyer could have done against the entire Armada Invencible.

It would probably run out of ammunition.

[Siege]

I wonder what a modern destroyer could have done against the entire Armada Invencible.

It would probably run out of ammunition.

Destroyer have armor, right?
Can it just ram and cut in half a 16th century galleon?

We need to send this to the mythbusters.

[saskganesh]

aliens don't travel by physical means and they are already here. invasion and ... trade are out of the picture. 

[Neil]

Why is that?

Trade seems to be a constant in all forms of civilization.

Because we don't have anything to offer, and because an interstellar civilization will have had to have moved past buying and selling as the organizing principle of their economy.  The strictures of interstellar flight demand it.

[Neil]

Maybe they have cheaper ways to lift stuff into orbit.

Space elevators come to mind.

Too slow.  Also, there's nothing on Earth that could justify such a monumental effort or expense.