Are we Alone?

[pantherx12]

Not sure how up to date this is, but I believe Mars either has no iron/nickel core ( or if it has, no where near as big as ours) so it didn't have the protective magnetic barrier we have around our planet.

So solar winds striped away it's atmosphere/water/life etc.

( hence nothing there)

Venus I don't believe ever had a chance, it was pretty much doomed to get toasty hot from the get go.

 

[digibucc]

Whilst it's likely that other life is carbon based, it may not be.

And if it's not. Then well, that's where the spanner in the works comes from

well sure, they'd be different' just don't underestimate the human
ability to adapt and understand. we are pretty good at it.

did most people think 1000 (oops) years ago that it would be possible to accurately
predict the relationship of planets between each other, and how space time and
gravity are inter-related? could most people even conceive of how an idea
like that might look?

they can be radically different, sure. but i just believe we can rise to the challenge.

if not at this exact point is time, down the line at least

Why is there a need ... to "humanize" our concept of aliens

you are entirely pressing my point, by using examples of life on earth. read my post.

i did not say it would resemble us, i said we could be capable of recognizing and understanding it.

edit: communication, not necessarily.

 

[A Cheese Danish]

And maybe mars, or europe that's something that cannot be ruled out yet. Also considering the age of our star and when advanced life was created on earth it would be posible that some life (up to small pluricellular) appeared on mars and then dissapeared, the time taking away any evidence. Or that's what I think. Also when the sun finishes off with hydrogen and thus spands it's radius, killing our planet in the procces, maybe some other planet will take the place as viable for life... that's something I have never seen answered, but I think it seems reasonable.

And the sun is a very young star that will also die fast. There's stars that will last tens or hundreds of times more, allowing for greater chances to sustain life.

I see "europe" and keep thinking the continent It just occurred to me that ya'll mean Europa.

And planets that have the ability to support life (and possibly our life) have been found. There are other "earth-like" planets out there.
The only problem is getting to them.

 

[Benetanegia]

I see "europe" and keep thinking the continent It just occurred to me that ya'll mean Europa.

And planets that have the ability to support life (and possibly our life) have been found. There are other "earth-like" planets out there.
The only problem is getting to them.

lol yeah Europa.
Since Europa == Europe in spanish, and I'm a spaniard talking in english, well you know...

 

[digibucc]

lol yeah Europa.
Since Europa == Europe in spanish, and I'm a spaniard talking in english, well you know...

yeah when you spelled it the same i figured it was a language thing, i had to double-take the first time too... i'm like, life on mars and europe? was that a joke?

 

[CDdude55]

It's tough to say, space is vast so it wouldn't make much sense to rule out the possibility of life elsewhere.

 

[mlee49]

Physics say there are an infinite number of parallel worlds, thus an infinite number of possibilities where other life exists.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I am alone, the wife is a Nurse and on a late shift tonight On topic however, probabilities being what they are, it is highly unlikely that we could be on our own in an infinate Universe.

 

[HossHuge]

Europa is such an intriguing place. If asked I would support (financially) a mission there.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

right now in my physics class we are learning about the universe. And now that we are able to see so much further out into observable space we are able to see more and more galaxies that are just like our spiral milkyway galaxy. At the beginning of the histroy of astronomy and observing it we really didnt realize what galazies were out there. Get this, "There are as many galaxies in the observable universe as there are grains of sand on every beach on earth." With knowing that, I believe that life on earth isnt the only life out there. Since every sprial galazy we see is similar to ours thinking that our little planet we called earth with an atmosphere, thinking that "life" can only be found here is probably not so. Even saturn since it has about 50-60 moons all around it, astronomers have been studing it for quite some time(cant remember the name of it) but it seems from pictures and what they are saying about could infact have life. Intelligent life? Probalby not, but LIFE maybe. Also as technology gets better we could at some point come in contact with radio waves from life far out in other galaxies. Time will tell.

Theres a little astronomy lesson for you guys today. Enjoy

 

[Mr McC]

Europa is such an intriguing place. If asked I would support (financially) a mission there.

We're leaving tomorrow, send the cash now.

 

[garyinhere]

A question that has plagued humanity since the dawn of self awareness.

Do you believe in other living life forms? Are they microscopic? Are they intelligent? Are they blobs of jello?

I believe that life (evolved or inspired) seeks out the most efficient form of being. Kinda like how nature abhors a vacuum, life needs to be as efficient as possible. I think "living things" on planets is purely a fluke. So life in essence is a thing that needs to transfer energy from something else to benefit it's own self. Wouldn't you think that the infinite amount of stars could sustain microscopic organisms feeding off it's energy bypassing any "X" factors. As for intelligent life forms, our ego is what drives us to congratulate our intelligence. As we cure sickness and put men into space and battle the atom, we still bury our trash and shit in a hole.

 

[Kreij]

right now in my physics class we are learning about the universe. (snip)
Get this, "There are as many galaxies in the observable universe as there are grains of sand on every beach on earth."

Can you direct me to a link which shows how this comparison was tabulated and how its accuracy was determined?
That statement is pure hyperbole.

Until there is substantiated proof of other sentient life in this universe, I'll just stick with, "we are alone."
We have more important things to deal here on earth at the moment.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Kreij, read through this:
http://ufos.about.com/od/physicalproofcases/UFO_Cases_with_Physical_Proof.htm

It lists all the cases (with brief summaries) where the encounter left physical proof (including damage to train engines hitting a UFO, damage to police cars hitting a UFO, rings left in the ground after an encounter, broken living tree limbs, etc.). Virtually all of them are unexplained by anything "natural."

 

[Bow]

Why is there a need to feed in the sense you are familiar with? Plants thrive without feeding in the human sense. A thinking apparatus is likely to be there, but why the assumption that it would work in any fashion similar to our own? A hive mind concept comes to mind and that's something humans can understand to an extent. How many other concepts of intelligence are possible beyond our realm of understanding?

I'm just saying that the variables are so numerous and of such importance (A tiny deviation in the gravitational pull, atmospheric mix, if any, or the amount of energy received by a planet can affect an evolution of a species by incredible amounts. After all, we are talking millenia of evolution in entirely different places) that the assumption of being able to communicate, understand or even recognize each other is far from trivial.

We tend to "humanize" our concept of aliens and apply to them concepts from our daily lives, our history and our fiction, but there is nothing to indicate that if aliens exist they would fit any of those concepts.

 

[kid41212003]

Can you direct me to a link which shows how this comparison was tabulated and how its accuracy was determined?
That statement is pure hyperbole.

Until there is substantiated proof of other sentient life in this universe, I'll just stick with, "we are alone."
We have more important things to deal here on earth at the moment.

Until all planets have been searched and discovered, we can't just dismiss the possibility.

Ideas push human forward, so lets just be a bit imaginative.

 

[Kreij]

Ford, I've read countless articles on reported UFO sightings and the experiences that people have had.
"Not natural" != "extraterrestrial".
I'm a sceptic at heart with most things extraordinary, so until an extraterrestrial spaceship lands in my driveway and the pilot and/or crew stops in to chat ... well I guess I'll just continue to not buy it.

 

[KainXS]

Have Aliens come to earth well lets look at it.

Lets say your an alien, you come all the way here(why would you do that) and you come along this planet where there are intelligent? life forms, now you want to make contact, so you look at them for a while and see how they act, how they treat eachother, gauge their intelligence, In the case of we humans, what would you do after seeing how they have acted for a while.

The problem with checking all the planets is that that Idea is so far off by the time its possible we probably won't need to do it anymore, we can get a man on the moon probably on mars and thats it beyond that are gas giants and the other inner planets which have no chance, in the case of moons it broadens but still its far off because we won't be going far enough to do that for many many many years. Mars is the Best bet we have in a long time.

 

[Kreij]

Here's a little on-topic humor ...

An alien spaceship lands in Kreij's driveway ...
Alien : I am from the plantet Aghdfihl
Kreij : Did you bring beer?
Alien : What is beer?
Kreij : Nevermind, how long did it take you to get here?
Alien : To be honest, we hit a wormhole 1.6 million kicks out and have no idea where we are.
Kreij : So you are new to space travel?
Alien : Pretty much, can you people of earth show us the way back?
Kreij : Not unless it's on google maps.
Alien : Shit, what's this beer?
Kreij : Shut off your ride and I'll show you. Give me the keys though, No drinking and driving.

... a few beers later ...

Alien : (Hic) Screw the wormhole this planet rocks.
Kreij : You buy the next 30 pack.
Alien : We have no earth money, but we have a holodeck!
Kreij : Beer's on me, boys ...

There may be other sentient life in the universe ...

 

[mlee49]

right now in my physics class we are learning about the universe. And now that we are able to see so much further out into observable space we are able to see more and more galaxies that are just like our spiral milkyway galaxy. At the beginning of the histroy of astronomy and observing it we really didnt realize what galazies were out there. Get this, "There are as many galaxies in the observable universe as there are grains of sand on every beach on earth." With knowing that, I believe that life on earth isnt the only life out there. Since every sprial galazy we see is similar to ours thinking that our little planet we called earth with an atmosphere, thinking that "life" can only be found here is probably not so. Even saturn since it has about 50-60 moons all around it, astronomers have been studing it for quite some time(cant remember the name of it) but it seems from pictures and what they are saying about could infact have life. Intelligent life? Probalby not, but LIFE maybe. Also as technology gets better we could at some point come in contact with radio waves from life far out in other galaxies. Time will tell.

Theres a little astronomy lesson for you guys today. Enjoy

I'm gonna build on this.

Think about the millions of galaxies with billions of planets out there.

Think about the thousands of species of Life on this ONE planet.

New species are still found every year, most of the oceans are not fully explored.

It seems there is so much intelligent life on this one planet it would be absurd to think its not at the very least possible for other life to exist.

 

[KainXS]

Here's a little on-topic humor ...

An alien spaceship lands in Kreij's driveway ...
Alien : I am from the plantet Aghdfihl
Kreij : Did you bring beer?
Alien : What is beer?
Kreij : Nevermind, how long did it take you to get here?
Alien : To be honest, we hit a wormhole 1.6 million kicks out and have no idea where we are.
Kreij : So you are new to space travel?
Alien : Pretty much, can you people of earth show us the way back?
Kreij : Not unless it's on google maps.
Alien : Shit, what's this beer?
Kreij : Shut off your ride and I'll show you. Give me the keys though, No drinking and driving.

... a few beers later ...

Alien : (Hic) Screw the wormhole this planet rocks.
Kreij : You buy the next 30 pack.
Alien : We have no earth money, but we have a holodeck!
Kreij : Beer's on me, boys ...

There may be other sentient life in the universe ...

that alien takes the beer back to his planet and his whole planet gets destroyed by wars over beer . . . .

 

[theJesus]

Here's a little on-topic humor ...

An alien spaceship lands in Kreij's driveway ...
Alien : I am from the plantet Aghdfihl
Kreij : Did you bring beer?
Alien : What is beer?
Kreij : Nevermind, how long did it take you to get here?
Alien : To be honest, we hit a wormhole 1.6 million kicks out and have no idea where we are.
Kreij : So you are new to space travel?
Alien : Pretty much, can you people of earth show us the way back?
Kreij : Not unless it's on google maps.
Alien : Shit, what's this beer?
Kreij : Shut off your ride and I'll show you. Give me the keys though, No drinking and driving.

... a few beers later ...

Alien : (Hic) Screw the wormhole this planet rocks.
Kreij : You buy the next 30 pack.
Alien : We have no earth money, but we have a holodeck!
Kreij : Beer's on me, boys ...

There may be other sentient life in the universe ...

I think the alien would react more like "You call that intoxicating? Try some of this."

 

[HossHuge]

"There are as many galaxies in the observable universe as there are grains of sand on every beach on earth."

"There are as many stars in the observable universe as there are grains of sand on every beach on earth."

Corrected.

 

[GENTLEMEN]

I'd say there is definitely life (depending on how we define life) outside our planet. Why?
1. The Earth is just 1 planet. There are at least a few billion other planets (or moons) within this universe.
2. We've haven't even fully explored our own planet (oceans to be exact) so we can't say for sure that we know ALL the species on our own planet.
3. Our (the general) view of extraterrestrial life is more humanoid, and sometimes bacteria. And, who's to say if alien life can/can't adapt to our planet's atmosphere, etc.
4. The farthest we've reached (physically) outside the earth is the moon (not counting the other space probes -or whatever they're called).

 

[pantherx12]

Regarding new species on earth, apparently you can just sit in your garden and your fairly likely to spot something new ( or a new variation of something old)

I've seen some insects in the past that I now know arnt recorded species in this country. Shame at the time it was just a scary looking thing that I didn't want near my BBQ ribs.

Try it some time, get amongst the undergrowth