Odds of other life in the Universe  Wireclub Admin: I actually can't even conceive an universe where life isn't abundant. It simply does not compute  marlon: i realy think that life is out in space and i think its more than bacteria on earth i just dont think they are advance more than we here on earth. if they were. we would be contacted already by them. Wireclub Admin: Considering the size of the universe, there is the real possibility that even much more advanced lifeforms would not have the means to travel far enough to establish contact. We assume that one day FTL travel might be possible but we also have to accept the fact that it might never happen. If that is the case, not even a super civilization would be able to easily contact other lifeforms. Now, that is a scary thought!  Fred: Timing would seem important, we are at a technological peak just now, "they" would only have to be out by a century or millenia, I think?  lucyhaswings: I won't believe whoever is more advanced than whoever else. Those comparison standards were made on the earth, not for the universe.  Goran: There are two theories, one that considers Earth just an average planet with odds of millions of Earth like planets in Milky Way alone. The other says Earth like planets are very rare, possibly as rare as 0 to 1 per galaxy. Second theory is supported by claim that since Solar System is relatively young comparing to other stars in our galaxy, other civilizations would have sufficient time to advance and develop sophisticated interstellar travel. If there are millions of Earth like planets, or other planets which could support life, odds of these other civilizations visiting Earth several times over are high. Wireclub Admin: Hey Goran, The odds of visitors would be high if FTL travel and/or communication is indeed possible. Otherwise, the time to scan for life-supporting planets using lightspeed sensors and then traveling to those planets at sub-light speeds would make the venture quite prohibitive. I sure hope we are not alone - and wouldn't be great the be alive during the time of first-contact?  joskirin: THe first contact?? ..thay said its gonna be on 14 oct.. ..rumours are everywhere in the web.. i hope they come in peace..  Goran: Jos, I thought you believed in Bible and book of Genesis. That's not compatible with extraterrestrial vision of the universe. joskirin: well...i'm have a science background...and sometimes my science knowledge and my belief colides...cant avoid it... ..this one for example..also...when we learn the Darwins Theory...man evolves from apes..yeah..really different from Adam and Eve story... i'm in the middle of junction!! Goran: I know what you're going through. I was at the same juncture when I learned that thunder is not god being angry as my grandma used to tell me. I don't take 14th of October any more seriously than my grandmothers explanation of thunder. Goran: The odds in favor of flourishing life throughout the galaxy, let alone the whole universe, are too great to think we are alone. Yet, even without the ability to travel near or at the speed of light they could still have traveled to just about every part of the galaxy. Milky way is about 100,000 light years across. If they were able to travel 1/2 the speed of light it would take 200,000 years from one side of the galaxy to the other. That's nothing for planetary systems that could be as much as 10 billion years old. But the chances are that since we are at very fringes of Milky Way, sort of in backwater of the galaxy, there is no incentive to travel such large distance for sparse stars when so much more action is available towards the center. I would imagine that if we had the technology we would be much more interested in what's towards the center then the outer edges. Thatcdnguy eh!: Maybe a silly question but how do we define life...in our terms? In terms of the universe? ok...that's two questions eh but what the hey eh!! Goran: That's excellent question. It's very difficult to have some kind of all inclusive definition of life when we only have our planet to work with. It's a big question mark. Thatcdnguy eh!: So for arguments sake we could define it solely on those terms.. Capacity for reasoning,reproduction,technical skills,Spirituality...what else Kinda always wondered how we could make the cpmaprison so I figure this is a great topic to define life in the universe based on our own interpations of life eh...assuming anyone else is game fer it eh!! Nosferatu: Well if they are more advanced than us I can understand why they have decided not to contact us. If they looked at our politics that is reason enough to ignore us for hundreds of years until we get our shit together. Goran: I pondered this a bit. I think the lowest common denominators of all life on Earth are ability to consume energy needed for survival, and reproduction. I think these two criterias would have to be met for something to be considered life. Goran: Particulars of evolution would depend on the environment. For example changing parameters such as gravity, length of a day, tilt of the planet, proximity to star, etc. would all result in very different evolutionary paths. But it would be reasonable to assume that bacterial life would have to develop first, then plant life which feeds on energy from a star, then other life which depends on plants, etc. Thatcdnguy eh!: So true,Life could be so different from what we perceive.Even an energy only based life form is possible... Wireclub Admin: Another shot at it: life is a self-perpetuating pattern of whatever building block that would be able express patterns. Wireclub Admin: It might be too simplistic tho, based on that definition some creatures from John Conway's Game of Life would be actually... alive? http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/ | Science Chat Room 2 People Chatting Similar Conversations |