Author Topic: Are we alone in the Universe? (Read 9492 times)

sangyo soichiro · « **on:** February 09, 2010, 04:24:50 PM »

Just curious what you folks think. I imagine we all have pondered this question at one time or another.

I made the poll so you can change your vote.

I think I covered all the bases with the choice options, but if not, feel free to chime in.

The last choice in the poll was just for fun. But hey... if that best answers the question for you, then by all means....

Markcb750 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2010, 04:40:16 PM »

Insufficient data.

There are 200,000,000,000 stars in our galaxy, most seem to have planets, some have planets about the size of the Earth. Last week I read about one approximately 6 times the Earth's size, very close to its parent star, which is much cooler then our medium sized star.

Potential is there, proof is not.

Opinions are useless.

Frank Drake developed a formula that Carl Sagan used to estimate "The number of technological civilizations" for his show Cosmos. His opinion was there are 10,000 worlds with intelligent life...

ev0lve · « **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2010, 06:34:47 PM »

Maybe one more. Dolphins are intelligent but, you know, no radios. So almost certainly there's something out there. Whether it can pony up the brain power to make machines or not is the problem.

I'm hoping we break the ice on Europa and find some microbes or there's something brewing on Titan. That would just make my life

bucky katt · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2010, 09:09:46 PM »

ok i have to make this statement first. i was stone cold sober, i hadnt even had a single beer in the last 24 hours. when i lived in greensboro VT on Lake Eligo, a friend and i were laying out in the front yard one night stargazing when i saw what i thought at first was a shooting star then maybe it was a satelite, when it stopped dead in the sky, shot really quickly to one side of my field of vision, then off in the other direction just as fast then shot off and disappeared in an instant. i know i saw what i saw unless my buddy dave (a non drinker or drug user) saw the same exact thing. we kind of looked at each other for a second, shook our heads than ran like hell for the house. this was like a huge shot of adrenaline going into my system at once. i know theres someone else out there. it would be pretty concieted of us to think that we are the only intelligent (and i use that term loosely) beings in the universe. i am a believer and have been since that night.

Blasbo · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2010, 08:25:42 AM »

My choice is maybe there is, but I don't know. Insufficient data.
Unlike Bucky, I haven't seen anything that proves it to me. I know there are lots of people that have seen things, but if they are out there, why don't they make themselves known?

sangyo soichiro · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2010, 08:41:23 AM »

I read the following book not that long ago. The authors, Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, a paleontologist and an astronomer, respectively, make a case for why intelligent life may not be common in the Universe.
http://www.amazon.com/Rare-Earth-Complex-Uncommon-Universe/dp/0387987010

Wikipedia has a summary of the book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_hypothesis

I must say that I found their arguments compelling.

I suppose I fall into the category of thinking intelligent life is probably out there, but that it is probably not too common. On the other hand, I'd bet that the Universe is teeming with microbial life.

I spent two weeks at the Arecibo radio telescope in 2001. SETI uses it from time to time. That is an awesome piece of equipment. I even got to go inside the Gregorian dome, the thing that hangs above the dish. I have also met Seth Shostak of SETI. It would be cool if SETI succeeds.

Markcb750 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2010, 09:09:00 AM »

I ran the SETI screen saver for years. Interesting how the data was analyzed for "information" tagged and evaluated. There was a report on one of the science news services that the system they used for years would not be able to separate true data from noise. Nothing was found, so the sceptics could be right.

Given the rapididty of conversion to digital transmission, which has much lower energy at transmission, I wonder how looking for radio evidence has any practical hope of sccess.

I believe the evolving extrasolar planet finding telescopic systems have a better chance of at least identifying extrasolar planets that have water & O2. Oxygen in particular implies a chemical process to replenish what is captured in oxidation processes... which implies "life" as we observe.

sangyo soichiro · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2010, 09:19:57 AM »

The odds that SETI will see something are pretty small, and I think they know it. I think their only hope is to detect a signal that was purposely sent for others to detect. Eavesdropping would be extremely difficult, for lots of reasons.

Although I have to admit, Carl Sagan's Contact is one of my favorite movies, and the book is pretty darn good too.

Really? · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2010, 11:02:01 AM »

Quote from: Blasbo on February 10, 2010, 08:25:42 AM

My choice is maybe there is, but I don't know. Insufficient data.
Unlike Bucky, I haven't seen anything that proves it to me. I know there are lots of people that have seen things, but if they are out there, why don't they make themselves known?

Because they know we have Jack, Carter, Daniel and Teal'c from all the broadcasting of Stargate SG-1. Oh yea, they prolly saw them defeat apophis, know that we have access to Atlantis and would not want to mess with us!!!!

But then, if they have been here, why bother making themselves known to anyone they would not want to know them. It might create more galactic debt.

Seriously though, in this big place, how would we be so lucky to be the only living intelligent life?

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2010, 10:50:20 PM »

Here we are out in the boonies of our own galaxy.

With 200 billion stars in our galaxy and then billions of other galaxies with their billions of stars you gotta think something else is out there. Will we ever know? Probably not, the distances are just to huge. I don't believe UFO's have ever visited.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #10 on:** February 13, 2010, 05:36:25 PM »

If you go out on a dark night with no moon and know where to look you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye. This is 2.5 million light years away and the furthest object you can see with the naked eye. It won't be quite this clear.

CycleRanger · « **Reply #11 on:** February 13, 2010, 10:33:59 PM »

Quote from: srust58 on February 12, 2010, 10:50:20 PM

Here we are out in the boonies of our own galaxy. With 200 billion stars in our galaxy and then billions of other galaxies with their billions of stars you gotta think something else is out there. Will we ever know? Probably not, the distances are just to huge. I don't believe UFO's have ever visited.

Yeah, billions of stars just in our galaxy is almost comprehensible.
Billions of galaxies, that's really pretty much impossible to fully grasp.
The vastness of all that exists. We are just a speck in cloud of specs in a cloud of specs.
Wait, now I'm feeling insignificant...

Certainly there is other life out there.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #12 on:** February 13, 2010, 11:27:42 PM »

I can lose myself or hours on this site. One of the finest creations of science. This picture is a deep field shot of a tiny portion of the sky near the Big Dipper and was taken over a ten day period. Almost everything you see is a galaxy, the furthest 10 billion light years away. Looking at this photo you are looking back in time 10 billion years.

http://hubblesite.org

ev0lve · « **Reply #13 on:** February 13, 2010, 11:40:09 PM »

I'll see your deep field and raise you an ultra deep field. Everything in the photo is in the little red box in the lower left. Right click and open it up - 3100px square

Wow.

Oh hell, I'll do it

ev0lve · « **Reply #14 on:** February 13, 2010, 11:56:20 PM »

Quote from: srust58 on February 13, 2010, 11:51:35 PM

Awesome, my CB750F1 and I are but an insignificant speck of dust. Here is one a little closer to home that I, the speck of dust, took with a Nikon 35mm W/200mm lens. Mounted on my telescope to track the 20 minute exposure. Comet Hale-Bop.

Here in the city - and Seattle besides - we hardly ever get a good view of anything up in the sky. That is awesome!

Ichiban 4 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 13, 2010, 11:57:11 PM »

Well..
Here's an interesting proposition..from a Buddhist and Hindu cosmological point of view..regarding possibilities of "intelligent life on other planets"..

According to these metaphysical systems (especially Buddhism)..everything is interrelated in the realm of "mind"..regardless of the time-space situations (which also relates to the notion of "dimensions"..other than the three we usually associate with our experience of the world (and no..I'm not stoned..or drunk as I write this). So theoretically..or metaphysically we are not alone in this universe..in the realm of consciousness @ any rate.

Point seems to be..that whether that consciousness or life forms exist on other planets..in other universes..or simply in other dimensions along side what we normally perceive..it doesn't make much difference. The more important concern (again from a Buddhist cosmological perspective)..is that there is a broader or some would call "cosmic consciousness" that we all tune into from time to time. So recognizing or maybe acknowledging this larger perspective on who we are as human beings..i.e. all connected in our consciousness to some degree..AND with all other conscious beings (animals..plants..other life forms also)..is all that's actually relevant for us to be concerned about.

Maybe someday..if/when we humans make contact with other beings/extraterrestrials..the specific details between us will be of greater relevance??

Just a few other far-out ideas to ponder further..

Al/Ichi

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #16 on:** February 13, 2010, 11:59:13 PM »

Same problem here too Iggy. I drove 75 miles west of Minneapolis to get a dark sky for that shot. Just for the heck of it I tried from my backyard and the light pollution washed out the sky after just a minute or so.

bucky katt · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2010, 11:24:22 AM »

my guess is they know how dangerous we are just to ourselves that they dont want to chance being blown out of the sky. the human race really sucks sometimes.

Frankenkit · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2010, 11:51:50 AM »

I would guess that the universe is too large for us to be the only things occupying it. However, in all likelihood, if these creatures are intelligent enough to study us and our civilization they would either avoid us like the plague considering our warlike nature, or destroy us all for the good of the universe. People do a lot of good, but considering how we tend to take over areas and do what's best for us at the moment... I shudder to think of what would happen should we start interacting with other intelligent species.

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2010, 12:31:09 PM »

Quote from: Kit on February 14, 2010, 11:51:50 AM

I would guess that the universe is too large for us to be the only things occupying it. However, in all likelihood, if these creatures are intelligent enough to study us and our civilization they would either avoid us like the plague considering our warlike nature, or destroy us all for the good of the universe. People do a lot of good, but considering how we tend to take over areas and do what's best for us at the moment... I shudder to think of what would happen should we start interacting with other intelligent species.

If they are studying us it would be from our electronic broadcasts. Given that some of the earlier ones on a large scale were of I Love Lucy, Milton Berle, and Sid Cesar they might just think we are some real funny life forms and would be fun to hang around with.

Frankenkit · « **Reply #20 on:** February 14, 2010, 12:36:25 PM »

...until they start seeing stuff like Dora the Explorer and Barney the Dinosaur

CycleRanger · « **Reply #21 on:** February 14, 2010, 01:48:52 PM »

Quote from: Kit on February 14, 2010, 11:51:50 AM

I would guess that the universe is too large for us to be the only things occupying it. However, in all likelihood, if these creatures are intelligent enough to study us and our civilization they would either avoid us like the plague considering our warlike nature, or destroy us all for the good of the universe. People do a lot of good, but considering how we tend to take over areas and do what's best for us at the moment... I shudder to think of what would happen should we start interacting with other intelligent species.

The Hollywood/literary myth is that the confirmed existence of aliens, be they friendly or not, would finally unite humanity.
The truth is the aliens won't contact us until we unite ourselves....

seaweb11 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 31, 2010, 09:45:24 PM »

No, well, maybe

Hasenkopf · « **Reply #23 on:** March 31, 2010, 09:59:37 PM »

The Greys are us from the future.......

ieism · « **Reply #24 on:** April 01, 2010, 01:49:08 PM »

Interesting poll....

Let me start by saying that I realize the universe is big. So big in fact, that it's very likely that there is some form of life somewhere besides earth.
But what really baffles me is all these people seeing UFO's. What are the chances that aliens will be anything like us, and will fly their saucers to our galaxy just to have a look at some dude sitting on his farm.
And did you ever notice that they always land their spaceships in some redneck town in the desert, or near a trailerpark or something..... And then they abduct some farmer's wife, and read her mind.

If these aliens are so damn superior, wouldn't it make more sense to land the thing on the lawn of the whitehouse and abduct the president's wife?

just a thought

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Are we alone in the universe? What do you think?

Author Topic: Are we alone in the Universe? (Read 9492 times)

Markcb750

Markcb750