Extra-Terrestrial Life : Are we Alone?

[The Red Thunder]

And doesn't Mars have those Polar Ice Caps, and evidence of River Beds.

It also has salt residues that can only be formed naturally by tidal currents of liquid water. It's pretty much fact that Mars, at one point, had liquid water.

Mars might've been a Future Earth, that had some sort of Genocidal Disaster, wiping life from the surface (Meteor, Volcanic Activity, other Aliens) heck while we were still curly blobs in the pool of life. Mars could've been decades ahead of were we are now.

"Decades"? Decades are a blink of an eye, when you consider the real age of the solar system, let alone the entire age of the universe. What is a few tens of years when you're talking about billions?

 

[Aquanova]

I hanestly doubt we are alone in the universe. Its a huge huge place and we know basically nothing about most of it. There could be thousands or millions of planets that could sustain life, we just dont know about them. We are looking for life outside Earth based on our criteria, which is fine stick with what you know, right, but its also possible that Extra terestrial life dosent confrom to our standards and so therefore we are overlooking places where life might exist. I wouldnt be at all surprised if life existed in a place where no one expects.

I dont like to hypthesise about what these creatures are like because they probably are way different nor do I know if they will ever be discovered by humans.

 

[ebilly99]

Is there life out there? Yeah,
Is it intellegent? More then likely
Here is the big one though... Did they vist earth? I don't think so, the time it would take would require generational ships, and there is no profit for it. I could be wrong though, who knows.

 

[Charizardfan900]

There is most likely other life in the universe. Even possible in our solar system: The moon of Titan (Saturn), where sulphuric gas could act like oxygen, and Europa (Jupiter or Uranus?) Where its icey so there could be water under there.

Intelligent life? Once again, probablly in the universe. But I don't think in our Solar System, or we would of seen something.

Also I think the chances of meeting extra-terrastrial life, unless it is in our solar system, is thin.

 

[The Red Thunder]

Here is the big one though... Did they vist earth? I don't think so, the time it would take would require generational ships, and there is no profit for it. I could be wrong though, who knows.

Actually, there's a far more reasonable parallel to that. It's called the Theory of Panspermia. Basically, it says that life on each planet/moon didn't originate from that place to begin with, rather it's simply spreading from one place to another via asteroids. That micro-organisms are frozen away in the ice under some asteroids, and when they crash into a planet or moon, if the conditions are right, they adapt and evolve rather than simply dying off.

 

[ebilly99]

Actually, there's a far more reasonable parallel to that. It's called the Theory of Panspermia. Basically, it says that life on each planet/moon didn't originate from that place to begin with, rather it's simply spreading from one place to another via asteroids. That micro-organisms are frozen away in the ice under some asteroids, and when they crash into a planet or moon, if the conditions are right, they adapt and evolve rather than simply dying off.

Yes and I don't see a problem with that (BTW that is a generational ship of sorts) However Intellegent life would have very little reason to come a thousand years out of there way to see us.

 

[Ioneos]

Yes and I don't see a problem with that (BTW that is a generational ship of sorts) However Intellegent life would have very little reason to come a thousand years out of there way to see us.

Well, do you think that if we discovered some extraterrestial life, would we go out and visit them? To any society, that would be a huge breakthrough, so I think they would if they had the resources to. Although who says they're more advanced than us? Who says they've even evolved at all? Maybe they're just a race of mindless bacteria that lives on a planet quintillions of miles away.

 

[Deku_Link]

I feel that saying things like "the size of our universe means it's impossible for there not to be intelligent life" is intellectually dishonest. I'm not going to say whether or not I believe extraterrestrial intelligence exists, because there's literally nothing for me to base such a belief on. It might exist somewhere beyond the scope of our observation tools. It might not. I don't know, and neither do you.

That being said, I do not believe we have ever been visited by intelligent extraterrestrials. Something weird happening on our planet shouldn't be assumed to be the works of extraterrestrials that we don't know exist; it's the same line of thought that blames everything on God.

 

[ebilly99]

Well, do you think that if we discovered some extraterrestial life, would we go out and visit them? To any society, that would be a huge breakthrough, so I think they would if they had the resources to. Although who says they're more advanced than us? Who says they've even evolved at all? Maybe they're just a race of mindless bacteria that lives on a planet quintillions of miles away.

The problem is time. If we sent a spaceship to the nearest earth like planet (40 lightyears away) at our present technological level would take over a thousand years. (50 generations) and would cost billions. Any socioty that would fork that much money over would either be the most genrouis or the stupidest as they would never see a return in it for anyone alive. Even if the people who flew said ship paid for it they would never see it either. Thus it seems unlikely (Not impossible) to ever see other life or have it see us)

 

[The Red Thunder]

I feel that saying things like "the size of our universe means it's impossible for there not to be intelligent life" is intellectually dishonest.

It's not that it's impossible that we're the only life in the universe. It is altogether possible. It's just extremely improbable, given how large the universe is, when you take the sheer numbers into account.

There are an estimated 200,000,000,000 stars (or so) in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, and we're a small one. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000 galaxies that we can identify as galaxies (not that we can actually see into them like we can ones like Andromeda). We can't actually explore them with telescopes and whatnot, but we do possess the means to identify the differences between a star in our own or a nearby galaxy to that of an entire galaxy billions of light-years away, when looking at a point of light in the sky.

I'm not saying it's impossible for us to be alone, given the numbers. But, when you do the math, and realize that there are well over 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, the vast majority of which have planets and planetoids orbiting them, and the vast majority of those also have moons and other objects orbiting the planets ... it becomes exceedingly difficult to believe that we're truly alone. But by the same token, provided that it is so vast, there is a very real probability that most of the civilizations in this universe would come and go before they ever actually found one another.

And, with that in mind, the philosphical question begins begging to be asked. Are we alone because there is no other life, or are we alone because we'll never have the capabilities to find it even if there was? Are we alone in a literal sense, or a metaphysical sense?

 

[Deku_Link]

It's not that it's impossible that we're the only life in the universe. It is altogether possible. It's just extremely improbable, given how large the universe is, when you take the sheer numbers into account.

There are an estimated 200,000,000,000 stars (or so) in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, and we're a small one. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000 galaxies that we can identify as galaxies (not that we can actually see into them like we can ones like Andromeda). We can't actually explore them with telescopes and whatnot, but we do possess the means to identify the differences between a star in our own or a nearby galaxy to that of an entire galaxy billions of light-years away, when looking at a point of light in the sky.

I'm not saying it's impossible for us to be alone, given the numbers. But, when you do the math, and realize that there are well over 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, the vast majority of which have planets and planetoids orbiting them, and the vast majority of those also have moons and other objects orbiting the planets ... it becomes exceedingly difficult to believe that we're truly alone. But by the same token, provided that it is so vast, there is a very real probability that most of the civilizations in this universe would come and go before they ever actually found one another.

Do the math? I'd like to see some calculations then, because I'm curious to see what sample size and what distributions we're using to extrapolate to all 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of those stars. That ought to be one bizarre confidence interval when constructed by anyone who isn't Stephen Hawking.

I get that it's ridiculous to assume that not one of those other stars has life somewhere surrounding it. But someone I used to know would say things like "do the math" when he actually didn't understand anything about probability or statistics, and lord knows I'm too lazy to crack out my own prob & stats textbooks from many moons ago. I'm genuinely curious (not as a challenge, but more for my own interest) to see if anyone has attempted any calculations on this matter.

 

[lugia p]

I think aliens are in fact angels coming to check up on us. In the Bible Ezekial (dont think i spelled it correct) had a case almost identical to that of modern day abductions. There was also this T.V show about aliens and this guy had a lapse of time and could not remember were the time went and went under hipnosis and recalled what happened, and he said his guardians had contacted him. That sounds like guardian angels to me which suports my theory.

 

[The Red Thunder]

Do the math? I'd like to see some calculations then, because I'm curious to see what sample size and what distributions we're using to extrapolate to all 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of those stars. That ought to be one bizarre confidence interval when constructed by anyone who isn't Stephen Hawking.

I get that it's ridiculous to assume that not one of those other stars has life somewhere surrounding it. But someone I used to know would say things like "do the math" when he actually didn't understand anything about probability or statistics, and lord knows I'm too lazy to crack out my own prob & stats textbooks from many moons ago. I'm genuinely curious (not as a challenge, but more for my own interest) to see if anyone has attempted any calculations on this matter.

Actually, the numbers I used to calculate that were actually the lowest numbers I could find. The values that I've found actually range anywhere between 200-500 billion stars in our galaxy, other galaxies range anywhere between a few million to a few hundred trillion, and there are anywhere between 100 billion to 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. The numbers I used were the ones that made the most sense to me, as they were the easist for me to use. I can't use something as radical as the variance in the number of stars in a galaxy. So I simply used ours as a baseline and used the lowest number I found for how many stars there were in our galaxy and the lowest number I found for how many galaxies there are in the known universe.

So, to say that we're truly the only life in our universe is to simultaneously say that our galaxy is the only galaxy that has life, and that our star is the only star that has life. In other words, it's 1 in 200 billion in 100 billion. Which is 1 in (2 * 10^11) * (1 * 10^11); or 1 in (2 * 10^22). That's a 1 in 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chance that our star is the only star that has life in it's solar system; given the figures that I used. It COULD be radically different, but there's simply no agreeable number, and if it were different, chances are it would be significantly higher.

Of course, that's not taking into account the very strict conditions in which life as we know it is able to flourish. However, most stars have a habitable zone where water is capable of existing as a liquid. Cooler stars tend to have their HZ closer, while hotter ones tend to have theirs further out. It's simply a balancing act between their gravitational pull, the amount of heat they generate, and the proximity to their planets, that determines whether or not their surrounding planets are capable of supporting life. I'll admit that right here and now, I have no knowledge about those figures, but they'll massively skew the figures I listed. I'm simply looking at things on a stellar level, not a planetary one.

I do want to make one thing perfectly clear. I don't, in any regard, believe it to be "ridiculous" (as you put it) that we're alone. I'm very mathematical, and even the smallest chance is still not zero. Even if it's a one in (2 * 10^22) chance of happening, that's means there's still a possibility, however unlikely, of it happening. Highly unlikely, yes. Ridiculous, not to me.

But, that still doesn't answer my question. Are we alone because we're literally the only life in the universe, or are we alone because we will probably never discover alien life if it did exist? I mean, even if Andromeda is simply teeming with life, we simply don't possess the technology to ever visit it, so would we still be "alone"?

 

[Spooticus]

Anyone ever watch that "Ancient Aliens" show on History Channel? That show has convinced me that intelligent life had already appeared on earth, mistaken for Gods and Deities.
Hell, if you read some of the ancient texts of mythology, even the Bible, with an open mind and thinking "Now what would it be like if I was watching this?" it might seem less like gods and more like aliens.

But all that aside, I am 110% sure that there is life out there. Maybe not incredibly advanced alien species that have giant ships and can travel faster than the speed of life (even though I do) but at least organisms such as bacteria, and maybe even multi-cellular creatures. The universe is such an amazing giant place... Giant spheres of gas, which fuses to make different gas... Then explodes to make metals and other elements... So many things out there... And life has happened at least once, on earth... And in some of the most unlikely places too.
They've found it deep below the seas, in the deepest darkest places... Gas expelling from the earth, at great temperatures... And yet live thrives.
They've found small ponds inside of glaciers, completely sealed off from the outside, with small organisms in there.

Look up at the sky at night. There are billions and billions of stars... Maybe more that we can't even see. At least half, if not more, of those stars have planets revolving around them... Blah blah blah math and such, even with the slim chance, it's still possible.

I've always been curious about Europa... The moon of Jupiter that is encased in ice... The gravity of Jupiter, along with the rotation of Europa, causes the moon to expand and contract constantly, giving it enough energy and heart to leave some of the water there in liquid form, covered up by a few miles of solid water. Now, we've found life in the deep seas, where there is no light, and inside glaciers, covered by ice... Why is it so impossible that there couldn't be life there, either?

Gawd, I wish we could just go over there and look...

 

[Tisub Lord of Kummi]

I also think aliens came here in ancient times. One connection is the idea of animal sacrifice, especially of cattle. Humans used to worship bulls as deities. Right now there are cases of animal abduction by aliens that take up cattle into their ships and then cut out their body parts and suck out their blood. There is also a video from Argentina of a cow being raised up toward a UFO.
People probably got scared and thought the gods were eating by mutilating the animals, so to appease them they try to offer food directly to them.

Aliens are also considered hostile for the fact that they hide in the night and abduct people. Yet they dont interfere in things that could be positive, for ex. they didn't try to malfunction away the 9/11 airplane drones. I would say aliens are evil and often lie. This is a good video about it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsB0TGz_S50

 

[SwiftGrovyle]

The possibility of life on this planet to occur (though I am catholic) was 25%, according to an article I read when I was twelve. Consider all attributes of this planet onto other planets, the possibility of other life forms is between 5 and10%. Us finding it would however take years of travel in space, would take up to the extent of this actual planet's life support time span. So before we find another planet with life, we better find another planet that can support our life.

But considering that, the life on another planet may also vary, from bacteria to cellular-structured beings, and even to extent of the habitat as well, meaning the possibility of perhaps another planet of the same species on a similar habitat to the one on this planet. If this given hypothesis is true, it may be that there are more humans. Or, at least, more of some species that we already know of. And with that, it could be that at a very low rate, at an estimated 2% by scientists (from the same article) that they are capable of thinking.

Doing all of the math, literally there is a 0.0001% chance of finding those smart aliens. But we, humans, are a very curious and determined species.

Thank you guys. I always wanted to talk about this.

 

[MastersOfMonsters]

I am 99% sure there are other Life-forms in the Universe.
Will we ever see them? Doubt it.
Are they intelligent? Possibly, but Doubt it.

But it would be seriously sweet to see life forms from another planet/moon, no matter How developed it is~<3

 

[paracelsus]

There is almost definitely life out there, most likely at least some of it intelligent. However, the odds that we will ever come into contact with them are slim to none.

 

[Xenosaur]

In all likeliness, yes there is some form of alien being, intelligent or not, out there in the universe. In all likeliness, that being will look nothing remotely similar to a human. It may look like an Elder Thing or the Shoggoth of H.P. Lovecraft's work, they may merely be single celled beings, or they could have ended up turning themselves into pure energy. Point is, the grand and unending universe, is most likely filled with life, all kinds and varieties of life, waiting to either show itself... or kill us.

 

[Hypno12]

The exact measurements in feet for the space in the visible universe. 1,210,527,489,600,000,000. There has to be life somewhere in that space. According to statistics based after much scientific research and experiments made by scientists.One out of every 25/50 stars would have a planet suitable for life. The planet Gliese 581g is shown to have what appears to have liquid water and is also in the zone suitable for life.