Life on other planets

[Xorv]

I was watching the Discovery Channel special "Alien Planet" and it really got me thinking. Not only do I believe there are other life forms out there. I wonder what kind of effect it would have on religion and out looks on life. It would really make everyone stop what their doing for a minute, and start thinking about these major life question all over again.

Then again theres.....what if we're alone? What a scary thought that is. I can't bare just thinking about it. If we were I think the atheist would be the ones with the

Anyways.....GOOD NIGHT

 

[no country for old wainds]

Goodnight Xorv.

I don't doubt there's intelligent life out there somewhere, what I do doubt is its ability to travel near enough to the Earth to make any sort of impact or even make itself known.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i believe they're out there somewhere with the sheer number of possible planets.

i don't think it would have any bearing on my personal religion, as it doesn't say in the bible that God didn't build stuff on other worlds, just that a whole lot of the story happens here.

 

[Hypnos]

i think they visited us in the past

 

[kristen83]

well einstine either proved or believed that you look at the stars that you were looking in the past because it took so many light years to reach us .so if aliens have visited our planet if might be inthe past to them but future to us. if that makes any sense to you.

 

[Kenneth R.]

what if they don't need to physically arrive here to be aware of us? surely an intelligent race would at some point develop astronomical studies like we have with telescopes and the like. they could be watching/listening to our past right now...

 

[unknown]

I certainly hope there's other, more intelligent life somewhere in the universe.

 

[Etaoin]

yes
less self-destructive
I believe we're not alone because the inifiniteness of the universe is more than our minds can comprehend

I always think of Horton Hears a Who...changed my life when I was little kid

 

[Kenneth R.]

well its not exactly infinite, but big enough to seem that way to most beings.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

well einstine either proved or believed that you look at the stars that you were looking in the past because it took so many light years to reach us .so if aliens have visited our planet if might be inthe past to them but future to us.

surely an intelligent race would at some point develop astronomical studies like we have with telescopes and the like. they could be watching/listening to our past right now...

Whoa, what a mindfuck.

 

[MasterOLightning]

If the intelligent race was far enough away, they could only see the distant past of this planet, and assume there is no intelligent life here. It would be far into the distant future before anyone could possibly see us or come across our transmissions.

 

[Mormagil]

well einstine either proved or believed that you look at the stars that you were looking in the past because it took so many light years to reach us .

Yes, except Einstein didn't have much to do with that.

so if aliens have visited our planet if might be inthe past to them but future to us.

Ah, nope, that's not what that first part means.

Anyway, I'm sure there's life and even intelligent life all over the universe but as GoD already said, it isn't likely that they have the ability to contact us, assuming they'd even want to do such a thing.

 

[Xorv]

I'm sure they would. They're probably asking the same life question we are.

Why are we here? Who made us? Are we alone?

 

[AsModEe]

Goodnight Xorv.

I don't doubt there's intelligent life out there somewhere, what I do doubt is its ability to travel near enough to the Earth to make any sort of impact or even make itself known.

My thoughts exactly. Even at the speed of light, it could take thousands of years to travel at the other side of the galaxy. It is also likely to be completely impossible to travel through black holes (worm holes).

 

[anonymousnick2001]

I like the Star Wars 'concept' of hyperspace. Use immense amounts of energy to transfer a ship into a nondimension where distances are meaningless for interstellar transport.

Proving the existence of such a thing will take some work, though.

 

[AsModEe]

I like the Star Wars 'concept' of hyperspace. Use immense amounts of energy to transfer a ship into a nondimension where distances are meaningless for interstellar transport.

Proving the existence of such a thing will take some work, though.

Hm.. I didn't know that was the concept of hyperspace. Interesting indeed. It would be the only way possible (unless we find a way to travel through worm holes if they exist) to travel from point to point in the galaxy. Meh, I wish I was born in a time where space exploration was possible.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i don't think the distances are meaningless, in New Hope they were in hyperspace for a long time, long enough for Kenobi to teach Luke a few things and R2 to play a game with Chewbacca. perhaps distances are drastically reduced, but certainly not 0

 

[AsModEe]

well huh... the important matter is that it could permit us to travel through the galaxy and maybe to other galaxies! Anyway, don't expect anything during our short lifetime.

 

[Zack]

Well, the big hype about life is that it is somewhere relatively near us. Most scientists believe that there is life out there, but definitely not anywhere close.

what if they don't need to physically arrive here to be aware of us? surely an intelligent race would at some point develop astronomical studies like we have with telescopes and the like. they could be watching/listening to our past right now...

You have to remember, they aren't ahead of us. They are where we are right now, but they are observing us as we were earlier.


Well, they would have to be pretty damn far away (or, essentialy in the future from our perspective) If the life form were in our galaxy, they wouldn't be able to use conventional telescopes because the dust of the milky way would obscure any visual observing. They could, however, use infared, but even then they would barely be able to see our sun, let alone resolve the planets. The fact is, if you were observing us from Sirius (wich is 8 light years away), everything would look like a blur, due to the oort cloud. So I doubt anyone has observed us from this galaxy. I think it would be the same from any other galaxy, since they would have to pierce the dust of the Milky way to, but from a farther distance.

 

[Kenneth R.]

good point. i forgot to take that into account in my post. they'd definitely have to be at a distance and angle that they could actually see us to make contact, assuming they are wondering if they are alone.

crazy scifi afterthought: if they had already discovered other civilizations besides themselves, they may be able to detect us by communicating with those groups and bounce/relay signals to each other around the junk that clouds a direct view. in that way, they could be closer than we thought, though this supposes a great deal.