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[Manabanana]

I definitely do. There has to be something out there. Look at this photo.

Those are GALAXIES. Not stars. With so many (that picture is only an infinitely small fraction), I KNOW there are planets than can support life the way Earth does. What gets me is that we'll NEVER KNOW. We'll die before we know anything. We'll never know what the universe is shaped like or what lies beyond it. We'll never know what's on the other side of a black hole. We'll most likely never see alien technology or cityscape. Ah well. Here are some more galaxy photos.

 

[Vormund]

You got any desktop sized ones?

As for your question, yes I guess there could be something out there, don't see any real reason why there can't be.

 

[Manabanana]

Yeah, sure. Here are some desktops.

http://www.geocities.com/northstarzone/galaxies.jpg
http://www.astro.ku.dk/~kp/galaxies.jpg
http://www.arcetri.astro.it/irlab/Astro/galaxies/M33-LRGB.jpg
http://www.astro.cz/_data/images/wallpapers/2001/10/28/galaxies_1024.jpg

 

[ManaByte]

"if its only us in the universe, it seems like an awful waste of space"

 

[B'z-chan]

You know big or small the universe is a amazing place. Full of chaos and beauty. Who would have thought such beauty would come from such chaos?

ETs are real and they live in my colon.

 

[Koshiro]

There is nothing on the other side of black holes, you just get crushed and join the smal ball of supermass.

However, yes, of course there is life elsewhere, even sceptical scientists say that on average around 25% of planets will be in the safe zone, where conditions are right for Earth-like planets to form. The only problem with the Universe is that never the two shall meet, which is bloody annoying.

Oh, and the idea there is only one Universe is bullshit, there are infinite numbers of Universes in the same way there is more than one galaxy. There are big bang systems all over the place, the concept that there was only one is a typical assumption for us humans, we are the centre of the universe and all that. :lol

 

[Scrow]

yes of course there is other life out there. anyone who thinks otherwise is naïve.

 

[miyuru]

Makes you wonder when things started. A question that'll never be answered...

Or furthermore, what was there before anything was created? For something to be created, it's energy must be derived from something else. But how did anything come to being in the first place?

 

[Manabanana]

There is nothing on the other side of black holes, you just get crushed and join the smal ball of supermass.

That's what I think, but my girlfriend insists we'll never and there's a possibility it goes somewhere. She's right in the sense that we'll never know, but we can observe and speculate. I find all this endlessly interesting and equally frustrating. Come on science, get with it. Someone tell Nasa to stop making bedding and start working on...I don't even know what it would take

 

[sc0la]

black holes do not destroy information.

It would be possible, theoretically for the singularity of a black hole to be born into its own "daughter universe" but traveling through a black hole is simply out of the question because the force at the event horizon would essentially obliterate you

 

[Templar Wizard]

there is life on other planets. but by what yardstick do you measure 'ET's?
i have a feeling that some silicon based lifeforms like those on/near thermal vents will be found on titan. to what extent will they be formed i have no idea. Io and mars could have something at a microscopic level too.

i couldnt even begin to imagine the various forms on other planets in different systems.

 

[Kola]

What's your definition of "extra terrestrials"? If someone discovers small bacteria on Mars would you consider them to be extra terrestrial lifeforms or do only intelligent and breathing lifeforms qualify?

Currently I'm reading H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" and I'm not quite sure if I really want extra terrestrians to discover our world. At least not at our current technological level. =)

 

[Drexon]

What's your definition of "extra terrestrials"? If someone discovers small bacteria on Mars would you consider them to be extra terrestrial lifeforms or do only intelligent and breathing lifeforms qualify?

Currently I'm reading H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" and I'm not quite sure if I really want extra terrestrians to discover our world. At least not at our current technological level. =)

Extraterrestial bacteria == extraterrestial life, and wait for the movie. =)

But the question everybody's Actually thinking is "Do you believe in ET life here on earth?".

 

[karasu]

I hope that there's life on planets nothing like earth. I hope 'E.T.'s' come straight out of comic books. Ice aliens and junk, that would be cool.

 

[seanoff]

too many galaxies with way too many stars in each one for there not to be.

 

[MrPing1000]

All I know is we need to give head and shoulders a defence contract

 

[Crow]

"if its only us in the universe, it seems like an awful waste of space"

Someones read/watched 'Contact'.

I think that it is an extremely high posibility that life exists in one form or another somewhere out there, but the word 'definetly' shouldn't be used. It can not be proved one way or another.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Someones read/watched 'Contact'.

I think that it is an extremely high posibility that life exists in one form or another somewhere out there, but the word 'definetly' shouldn't be used. It can not be proved one way or another.

Um, sure it can be proven. Just by finding some.

Perhaps you meant that it's not likely to be proven in our lifetimes. I agree with that.

 

[Jason]

All I know is we need to give head and shoulders a defence contract

:lol

 

[Do The Mario]

Yeah I think there is life out there it’s how intelligent it is that is the question.

Intelligent life is hugely dependant on a planet remaining stable for a long period of time.

 

[teiresias]

Aside from the whole question of extraterrestrials, I just think it's interesting to try and wrap your brain around what the universe is "in."

Like, I'm sitting in my chair IN my office, which is IN building, which is IN Virginia, IN the USA, IN North America, ON Earth, IN the solar system, IN the milky way, IN the universe, which is IN??? Just this infinte black emptiness with perhaps another universe's big bang happening in a far off corner of the emptiness?

When theoretical physicists talk about the universe do they term the universe simply the area in which matter has spread from our big bang? In which case, any empty space beyond where the most distant matter from the big bang has spread is not considered part of the universe? Or do they consider our universe like this quantum dimension? I'm trying to figure out if there could be another universe in the void out there, without getting into other dimensions and quantum reality kind of things.

 

[Drensch]

I always thought it was ridiculous for people who play the whole "I believe in god" thing to
look down at people who believe in extra terrestrials. God could exist, but there's really no way of knowing. However, the odds of some form of life existing in the universe other than earth?, it's inevitable.

 

[Phoenix]

I always thought it was ridiculous for people who play the whole "I believe in god" thing to
look down at people who believe in extra terrestrials. God could exist, but there's really no way of knowing. However, the odds of some form of life existing in the universe other than earth?, it's inevitable.

Actually not really. There is nothing that says that life MUST be plentiful in the universe, much more problematic if we talk about sentient life.

 

[Phoenix]

What's your definition of "extra terrestrials"? If someone discovers small bacteria on Mars would you consider them to be extra terrestrial lifeforms or do only intelligent and breathing lifeforms qualify?

Currently I'm reading H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" and I'm not quite sure if I really want extra terrestrians to discover our world. At least not at our current technological level. =)

It is estimated that it would take us on the scale of 10s of thousands of years to reach the scale where we could travel to distant stars in reasonable time frames. The amount of energy necessary to make that trip in reasonable time is unbelievably large - to the extent that people just can't comprehend how much that is. If we were to expend all the natural energy available to the planet we still wouldn't be able to do it. We absolutely don't want any species coming to earth until we have that ability because hostile or not the consequences would be devestating for humanity.

 

[tedtropy]

It's amazing - I could spend my entire life staring in awe at pictures like that and not even remotely realize the sheer significance of them. The concept of dozens and dozens of GALAXIES in a single picture, comprising nothing in the total vastness of space...it simply exceeds the capability of human comprehension. Meanwhile I’m looking at this picture while passing time at work, but one man in a city of millions, on a planet comprised of many millions more, floating on this little insignificant dot within the span of infinity. Still, it is no less incredible...

 

[Hitokage]

Life elsewhere in the universe? Absolutely, the chances are pretty good considering the billions upon billions of stars out there.

Intelligent extraterrestrial life visiting our planet in secret to steal our semen and conduct anal probes? Absolutely not.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

yes... phone home... phone home

 

[Phoenix]

Oh, and the idea there is only one Universe is bullshit, there are infinite numbers of Universes in the same way there is more than one galaxy. There are big bang systems all over the place, the concept that there was only one is a typical assumption for us humans, we are the centre of the universe and all that. :lol

There is and can only be one universe as we define it. There are different dimensions however and the math that people are using to define the unified force theory define that as a fine number of dimentions.

 

[Phoenix]

Life elsewhere in the universe? Absolutely, the chances are pretty good considering the billions upon billions of stars out there.

Intelligent extraterrestrial life visiting our planet in secret to steal our semen and conduct anal probes? Absolutely not.

I have to ask - how can you accept one, but completely reject the other.

 

[Koshiro]

There is and can only be one universe as we define it.

I need to find a definition, I'm sick of people talking about the 'edge of the universe'. If the edge of the Universe is the youngest material from the big bang, then suggesting there was only one big bang is preposterous. It's like going back to us thinking there is only one galaxy.

 

[Phoenix]

I need to find a definition, I'm sick of people talking about the 'edge of the universe'. If the edge of the Universe is the youngest material from the big bang, then suggesting there was only one big bang is preposterous. It's like going back to us thinking there is only one galaxy.

You get into the age old scientific debate of the hot/cold universe Personally I think the big bang theory itself is flawed as there are new galaxies forming admist galaxies millions of years old. You shouldn't have new galaxies forming in the core.

 

[SteveMeister]

I have to ask - how can you accept one, but completely reject the other.

Well, I agree with him, because while it seems improbable that there are no other sentient species anywhere else in the universe, it seems even more unlikely that they will have not only detected our little planet, but had the capability to visit us. In fact I think the odds are infinitesimal that any extraterrestrial sentient life has the foggiest notion that Earth exists and hosts its own sentient life.

 

[Phoenix]

Well, I agree with him, because while it seems improbable that there are no other sentient species anywhere else in the universe, it seems even more unlikely that they will have not only detected our little planet, but had the capability to visit us. In fact I think the odds are infinitesimal that any extraterrestrial sentient life has the foggiest notion that Earth exists and hosts its own sentient life.

The other places where life can exist in the core are many billions of years older than the earth and if science is correct, and they developed life on the same scale - they could easily be travelling the universe looking for other forms of intelligent life. Its the same scale as us evolving from amino acids to people - the scale is beyond reasonable comprehension how much older the core galaxies are.

 

[jett]

I believe there's intelligence life out there, it seems almost stupid to think otherwise. But I don't believe "they" have visisted us.

 

[Miguel]

God..fucking Bush.

I read this as Extra terrrrrrists.

 

[Drensch]

Actually not really. There is nothing that says that life MUST be plentiful in the universe, much more problematic if we talk about sentient life.

I'm saying in terms of odds. The numbers are so high in terms of possibility of life, that it's a done deal.

 

[Mario_Hugo]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

This "Elegant Universe" program the most pleasant headache I've had this side of baudrillard. Very interesting stuff. I think you can watch episodes there...

 

[miyuru]

There is definitely life out there, and the odds prove it. If you assume that space on a whole is infinite, then the chances of anything happening are absolute, at least theoretically.

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/

This "Elegant Universe" program the most pleasant headache I've had this side of baudrillard. Very interesting stuff. I think you can watch episodes there...

Great series and a great book!

 

[Phoenix]

There is definitely life out there, and the odds prove it. If you assume that space on a whole is infinite, then the chances of anything happening are absolute, at least theoretically.

Ugh I hate to do this but:

1) odds don't prove anything
2) if the universe is infinite then the chances of anything happening are less than absolute as many things happening become impossible due to the 'laws' of physics

 

[Pfucata]

There is nothing on the other side of black holes, you just get crushed and join the smal ball of supermass.

http://www.space.com/news/hawking_bet_040716.html

"once black holes form they start to 'evaporate' away, radiating energy and losing mass in the process...black holes are not totally 'black' because the vacuum of the imploding star lets out very tiny amounts of matter and energy in the form of photons, neutrinos and other subparticles...once the black hole evaporates, all the information within would be lost. But now, according to his latest revision, Hawking argues that eventually some of the information about the black hole can be determined from what it emits..."

 

[Manabanana]

There is definitely life out there, and the odds prove it. If you assume that space on a whole is infinite, then the chances of anything happening are absolute, at least theoretically.

Isn't there some theory/equation that states within the lifetime of our civilization there are going to be 1000 civilizations capable of communication in our galaxy alone?

 

[Phoenix]

Isn't there some theory/equation that states within the lifetime of our civilization there are going to be 1000 civilizations capable of communication in our galaxy alone?

Well you can take the same equations and apply them to the milky way because its just about as old as the universe (few hundred million years younger), so there could be forms of intelligence multi-billion years old "right here in river city".

 

[3phemeral]

Isn't there some theory/equation that states within the lifetime of our civilization there are going to be 1000 civilizations capable of communication in our galaxy alone?

Drake's Equation

Drake's equation

N = R * fs * fp * ne * fl * fi * fc * L

N is the number of intelligent civilizations able to communicate within our own galaxy.

    * R = average rate of star formation in the galaxy, equal to about 20 stars per year
    * fs = fraction of stars that are suitable suns for planetary systems, approximately 0.1
    * fp is the number of suitable suns with planetary systems
    * ne is the mean number of planets that are located within the Continuously Habitable Zone (assuming liquid water is necessary for life).
    * fl is the fraction of such planets on which life actually originates
    * fi represents the fraction of such planets on which, after the origin of life, some form of intelligence arises
    * fc is the fraction of such intelligent species that develop the ability and desire to communicate with other civilizations (e.g. they construct radio telescopes or laser systems).
    * L is the mean lifetime (in years) of a communicative civilization ... the most uncertain factor in Drake's Equation

 

[Crow]

Um, sure it can be proven. Just by finding some.

Perhaps you meant that it's not likely to be proven in our lifetimes. I agree with that.

Yeah I meant it can't be proven atm, because we haven't found ET.

 

[Ghost]

Life? Almost certainly, i mean the mars ice stuff suggests there might have even been life on other planets in our solar system at some point in time.


Shame we'll all be dead before they find it.