Space and stuff

[evilwebby]

Its the oldest question in the universe, isnt it?

personally I would not rule out the possibility that we are actually alone in the cosmos. There has actually been nothing to suggest otherwise, despite the scientific community getting their knickers in a twist about every single new discovery. All we have are theories that other planets could support life, but the origin of life itself is a mystery, otherwise you could conceivably reproduce it in a laboratory, at which point have we become the Gods that our ancestors used to worship? Its a philosophical issue as much as it is a scientific one.

 

[canuckblue]

I know of one planet where the creatures there are based on silicon and travel through solid rock using a secretion of very powerful acid.

 

[tsubaki]

I know of one planet where the creatures there are based on silicon and travel through solid rock using a secretion of very powerful acid.

 

[roydo]

Its the oldest question in the universe, isnt it?

personally I would not rule out the possibility that we are actually alone in the cosmos. There has actually been nothing to suggest otherwise, despite the scientific community getting their knickers in a twist about every single new discovery. All we have are theories that other planets could support life, but the origin of life itself is a mystery, otherwise you could conceivably reproduce it in a laboratory, at which point have we become the Gods that our ancestors used to worship? Its a philosophical issue as much as it is a scientific one.

I tend to agree with you on us being alone. If you just think of the precise conditions that conspired to allow life to thrive on Earth, with just one being a bit off, it is mind bogglingly improbable to happen twice.

For example, just one. In cosmos terms, Earth and Mars are millimeters apart. But we are just the right distance from the Sun, and Mars is just too far away to allow the chemical reactions needed for live to develop past microbes and the like. And as luck would have it, our atmosphere has just the right mix of gases to enable us to breathe it safely. Too much or too little of just one would be fatal.

Amazing really. Its almost like someone made it just right for us isnt it............

 

[Del]

I tend to agree with you on us being alone. If you just think of the precise conditions that conspired to allow life to thrive on Earth, with just one being a bit off, it is mind bogglingly improbable to happen twice.

For example, just one. In cosmos terms, Earth and Mars are millimeters apart. But we are just the right distance from the Sun, and Mars is just too far away to allow the chemical reactions needed for live to develop past microbes and the like. And as luck would have it, our atmosphere has just the right mix of gases to enable us to breathe it safely. Too much or too little of just one would be fatal.

Amazing really. Its almost like someone made it just right for us isnt it............

Nope

 

[Fuleco]

We are made to fit the universe rather than the universe being shaped perfectly for us.

 

[roydo]

We are made to fit the universe rather than the universe being shaped perfectly for us.

Oh sure, still amazing though.

 

[Fuleco]

Oh sure, still amazing though.

Aye, space is boss.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

here is a thought to ponder, and hopefully get some opinions back on.

Right so we are on one planet in a possible endless amount of them. so any galaxies/universes/solar systems and we only have experience of our own little planet. We all think there is life out there somewhere else and it is true. Clearly there are enough planets to harbour an intelligent life form somewhere else apart from here, otherwise how scary would that be?

anyway to my point. We refer to life as bacteria or an animal, or walks on two legs, or the worst of us refer to the life as green/grey men in flying saucers. But what if the life out there was something we cannot comprehend? We think of things in the basis of what we know but in an infinite possibility that is space, surely intelligent life out there could be completely different to what we know as a human race on planet earth. Cue speculation about it here...... but we don't seem to accept on this planet that we don't actually know everything and as such, intelligent life out there may be far more intelligent or physically better than we will ever encounter in a thousand lifetimes.

Opposable thumbs mate, that's what set us aside from beasts, as we could create things. Any sophisticated life form would need to be able to do the same.

 

[Ashtonian]

But consider this, if we go 'the conditions are perfect for life here', they are perfect for us. doesn't mean other planets have life forms that are perfectly suited for their own environments.

but i just think the whole perception that we have is amazing and is why we arent more advanced as a race. I don't trust 'experts' in the field because all they basically do is guess. They can tell us about a tiny dot in the telescope with what it is, what it does, how far it is away....etc. But they don't know that. Elements that we know on this planet, there could be a billion others out there and the possibilities of their advantages are endless.

Even saying saturn has sulphur on it, jupiter (i think) rains diamonds etc but we don't know that. they could be something completely different that we are yet to discover. We just assume that what we know is law and go from there. Only the greatest of minds think outside the box and that is where the amazing finds and discoveries are made.

I just consider us as a primitive race in the whole space thing and until we are exploring and finding these things out then we will always just guess at what is out there.

 

[Fuleco]

In the quantum universe everything that can happen does happen, so we can't rule anything out.

 

[evilwebby]

I tend to agree with you on us being alone. If you just think of the precise conditions that conspired to allow life to thrive on Earth, with just one being a bit off, it is mind bogglingly improbable to happen twice.

For example, just one. In cosmos terms, Earth and Mars are millimeters apart. But we are just the right distance from the Sun, and Mars is just too far away to allow the chemical reactions needed for live to develop past microbes and the like. And as luck would have it, our atmosphere has just the right mix of gases to enable us to breathe it safely. Too much or too little of just one would be fatal.

Amazing really. Its almost like someone made it just right for us isnt it............

Our understanding of the universe owns as much to the work of Albert Einstein as anyone, yet it amazes me (well, not really) that laymen and hacks are so willing to accept and further his scientific work while at the same time dismiss the fact that he himself also believed in a higher entity.

There's no right and wrong here, but to dismiss any possibility or set of results because it doesn't fit in with your hypothesis is the very essence of bad science.

 

[Brownie86]

I think it would be more likely to find animals on other planets like our own rather than other human-like species like ourselves.

However much Star Trek makes me wish otherwise...

 

[Brownie86]

A good site to visit daily guys if you like space and stuff:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

 

[Fuleco]

What are the best space apps? Cheers.