jef

iTrader: (13)

SN clearly has a a fair amount of people with strong beleifs, that are not shy to air there veiws, and profess science as the reasoning behind there beleifs.

so it would be interesting to see what people think of extra terrestial life forms and the the form that they may take.

my thinking is human beings currently represent the pinnacle of evolutionary development as a dominant speices, we know this changes throughout the ages, and there are and have been many many speicies that have outlived us by a significant amount of time

so human beings are bound by the effects of gravity, the reliance on a very specific volume of oxygen in the atmosphere, along with the fine balance of other elements. we have the basic need for sunshine, and for water to survive. basically we are here in the frm we take because we have developed to suit the enviroment presented to us. do people think life could go in different directions based on the enviroments presented to them? what could be there form and why?

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

prodriverules

iTrader: (52)

Bubba po

Too big a subject. The only definite things about any kind of extraterrestrial life-form are:

1. That it will be based on carbon.

2. It will almost certainly involve some kind of nucleic acid in its reproduction.

3. It will have evolved by Natural Selection.

hodgy0_2

And acid for blood

Jamz3k

A better debate would be why would ET waste his time coming to visit a savage race like our own?

jef

iTrader: (13)

how are they definite?

Bubba po

Well, first of all there is no other element which has the ability to form an infinite number of complex compounds, which is what life requires.

Secondly, I said ALMOST certainly nucleic acids, because no other molecule is known that could fulfil the essential properties of information storage, information copying and protein synthesis.

Lastly, there is only one known process that can build up complexity from simplicity, and that is Natural Selection. There isn't even a theoretical alternative contender, other than Intelligent Design. Or to put it another way, divine creation.

jef

iTrader: (13)

i understand that, but by no stretch of the imagination do i think thats definite.
the thing is we apply reverse engineering to explain our situation, im almost positive in the vastness of the universe we are not exposed to the entirity of its elements, we are just to small for this to be taken as definite.
yes we have great understanding and can apply it to our immedite surroundings for the prurpose of local travel and to better our own survival, but i really dont think our understanding encompasses the entirety of all knowledge.
thats why i would question why youd consider your points to be definate.

but its just my opinion mate, and im willing to accept its wrong if need be

Bubba po

Jef, the known elements occur as a natural consequence of the physical laws of our Universe. It's either pointless or deliberately obtuse to believe that there are places in our Universe where these laws don't hold. That deals with point #1. It's got to be carbon, nothing else will do.

No. 2 is not certain, but overwhelmingly likely.

No. 3 is certain, in my opinion.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

No intelligent life out there imho, it's just us. Also imho you need conditions exactly like earth for intelligent life to occur (over billions of years of course) & the chances of that are so small for it to be impossible.

Even if it were possible we'd never see them due to the length of time that it takes to travel through space vs the distance involved.

TX.

JohnSmith

How many more planets are there just like this one trying to do what we are trying to do (explore space and think that its looking like we are the only ones)

I don't believe for one minute we are the only planet in the entire universe with life, But we we do only seem to concentrate (or expect) on life being the same as us

We still haven't finished cataloging (sp?) every single species on our own planet and more recently we have discovered extremophiles which don't conform to our original understanding of what is needed to live

BULLITT

Surely thought that information is only based on the findings we as human beings have discovered in the very small, insignificant area of space that we have managed to explore.

I do not believe that we are the only intelligent life form in this universe, quite the opposite in fact and my opinion and belief is until we actually meet a life form from another world, every idea about who or what is out there is pretty much speculation. Yes we can use the information to hand to give us a rough idea but who knows what's out there.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

It's fair to say that there must be life on other planets albeit simple life such as the extremophiles mentioned above as they can survive in "extreme" conditions. Humans on the other hand need a pretty un-harsh environment & for that to remain stable over a long period of time. The Earth is an amazing planet as it's remained stable for a very long time which has alowed complex life to develop ... chances of this elsewhere are close to zero.

TX.

CRAIGFIN

The Drake Equation suggests that the likelyhood of some form of life being out there is quite high. The numbers / sheer volume of other galaxies point in favour of this.

Bubba po

Well, no. The absorption lines in the light spectrum of every single star we can see in the observable universe conforms to that which we know from the Periodic Table of Elements. It's safe to assume that no alternative Periodic Table of Elements exists in this reality.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Not sure measuring the whole universe by our own yard stick works. I'm pretty sure we don't know a fraction of what we think we know.

Bubba po

So we should just give up and believe in God? What I'm saying is, there are certain facts of chemistry and physics which appear to hold true across the whole of our observable universe (which is observable to a pretty ******* large distance, BTW). These facts make it extremely unlikely that forms of life which don't conform to these rules exist. What I've noticed so far is that no-one's challenged me factually on any of these points, just the tired old "We May Never Know" bullcrap or "There are more things in Heaven and Earth" get-out clause. Man up and challenge me properly or I'll go back to the knitting forum, you bunch of numinous tribesmen.

JTaylor

Silicon?

stedee

iTrader: (4)

what i was going to say

Bubba po

CORNER!! you barstards.

Not reactive enough. It has many similar properties to carbon, but just cannot provide the wealth of compounds that carbon does.

stedee

iTrader: (4)

do i believe in aliens , too right i do, to me its an impossibility they dont.

the question for me is "what kind of reality do we exist in?" alot of the top brain boxes think we are actually in a simulation.
if you think about what we would be capable of in 100 years time with computer programmes as in ai of computer game characters, would it be possible that they would be self aware and believe they are living in that cgi world, afterall everything we sense is translated from electrial signals.

JTaylor

Silicon based 'life' forms (developed by carbon based life forms) who've reached technological singularity. It's a bit of an event horizon, but meets part three of your criteria.

stedee

iTrader: (4)

to bubba our understanding of classical science does lead to the 3 rules you have stated but the mysteries of quantum physics i think will change those dramatically in time.
i think there are other forms of matter (not dark matter or dark energy)that we cant comprehend yet that do exist

Bubba po

I see what you're getting at, and I have no doubt at all that, barring the destruction of us all by our own means, true silicon-based intelligence will come to pass. But it will not be life unless the means to propagate its own existence and evolve without the intervention of man becomes part of its "genome".

JTaylor

Which recursive self improvement says is probable.

Leslie

It would be silly to deny the likelihood of other forms of life elsewhere in space somewhere.

I think that we also cannot say for sure what that life is based on and our own case is purely one example which definitely works of course, but I reckon there is no good reason to say that another form of life has to be based on one thing or another.

Our form of life has evolved to suit our own surroundings and a completely different style could well have developed to suit a totally different spot in Space. Who knows, maybe even our own scientific laws could be modified significantly to fit in with the place in question.

Les

jonc

The recently discovered bacteria, GFAJ-1, uses arsenic, a chemical element that is deadly to all other known living organisms, to build it's DNA, RNA, proteins and cell membrane. The adaptations of this bacteria shows that life finds a way in environments that until recently was thought to be impossible.

EddScott

I believe there is life on other planets. I also would not be surprised if there is other intelligent life on other planets. What would not surprise me even more is that they are bound by the same constraints as ourselves.

We are more likely to discover a signal from another planet and maybe even converse with them but neither species will have the ability to physically get to each other.

It would not surprise me in the least if it hasn't already happened and theres some uber conspiracy about keeping the population calm and not completely ruining our ideas about god and all that guff. Possibly having JJ Abrams in a consultancy role.

ChefDude

I would say, until we can travel at 'warp 9', probability of finding ET life is pretty slim.

Think about our planet's life of 5 billion years and we are a small speck on a smaller speck in that time frame.

okay, there are billions of solar systems, but that number becomes very small when you consider inhabited life in the same time frame as us.