Anyone got excited by the Life in the Universe article?

[Sylvain]

Hi all :),

So I was reading the last Aussie sky & telescope and came across the Life in the Universe article by Allie Ford. I got really excited by the idea of life in the universe. It isn't new of course, but reading the article really got me thinking...will we witness the discovery of life somewhere in the Universe in the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years?

I can't even begin to imagine what I would feel. It would be something incredibly strong, a real defining moment for humanity. We would learn about our place in the universe, and be exposed to how life has developed in other parts of the universe in a completely independent manner. Just thinking about all this is huge already.

I secretly hope this day comes tomorrow.
Is it only me or are others here dreaming also? :question:

I'm keen to hear what you have to say and strongly encourage you to read this article! :thumbsup:

[CraigS]

Hi Sylvain;

I, for one, would be really excited also.

Not wanting to sound too negative but I wonder how it would be if we didn't find any new life.

I guess exactly the same as we feel now. Motivated by the emotions you expressed in your post, exploring with whatever resources we can afford and living into the hope that there might be other life out there.

The chances of finding new life out there, at the moment, are the same as not finding it.

The only thing separating the two alternatives is the hope of finding it.

Cheers
PS: oh yes .. and the need for funding the technology to find it. Technology which can be used for other purposes.

[AdrianF]

I haven't received my copy of AS&T yet but I will read the article.

Adrian

[Roobi]

i haven't read the specific article your talking about but i saw this the other day:
Scientists spot a new Earthlike planet http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11013519/

I'm definatly excited by the prospect of life out there. I only hope that it happens in my time (tho thats a big ask lol) The sheer mathematics of it say to me that there really has to be something out there, somewhere. We couldn't possibly be the only life (could we?)
Ceratinly something to think about.

:earth::question:

[CraigS]

Sorry Roobi .. the sheer mathematics (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=66430) says that the chances of life occurring out there, and the chances of life not occurring out there, are the same.
(The link is a thread we had in the Science Forum the other day on this very topic).

The only difference is faith. Ie: a positive spin, (as opposed to a negative one).

This all alters dramatically however, if life IS actually discovered somewhere out there.

:)

Cheers & Rgds.

[Roobi]

lol i didn't realise there was a whole thread on that :(

[CraigS]

Its a great topic for discussion.

I learned heaps in our other discussion on it.

And I'm looking forward to reading the article.

I'd love for something to come along to change my view on this .. so far, I haven't found anything I can get my teeth stuck into (ie: of substance).

Cheers & Regards

[Max Vondel]

I'm sure there is plenty of life out there.
However the chances of contact are vanishingly small.
Certainly no little green men in UFO's!

Let's try and be friendly with other lifeforms here on this planet.
Before declaring war on the Universe!
:D

[Sylvain]

Thanks for the links!
Fascinating topic!
What stood out from the topic was that we pretty much have to go out there to be sure of anything....this isn't gonna happen anytime soon i'm afraid! :(
We would need some kind of much much much faster transportation :/

I wonder to what our horizon are going to extend to in the next 100 years....if technological development maintains its increasingly fast development....things could change tremendously!
In fact we are just at the very very begining of a techonoly "advanced" life. In universe time it has just happen a micro instant ago.

[astroron]

I am reading the a biography of the Great champion of extra terrestrial life
Carl Sagen , he went to his Grave convinced that there was other life forms out with some being inteligent, I hope he is right:thumbsup:
It would be fantastic if it happens in my limited time left on this mortal toil:D

[CraigS]

Hi Sylvain;

As Ron has indicated, Carl Sagan was probably one of the greatest scientific visionaries in this area.

There's a tv documentary series doing the rounds presently called "Visions of the Future" - the presenter is Michio Kaku.

Supernova1965 (Warren) did another thread (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=64978) about this in the Books & Media Forum. The show was only fairly recent. There may be repeats floating around out there in TV land, if you're interested in more visionary material. I found this one good because it wasn't pitched so far out that it became Scifi.

Cheers & Rgds.
PS: AstroPhysicist Lawrence Krauss also wrote a book about "The Science of Star Trek" .. Brian Greene (my favourite) gets into the reality of time travel in Fabric of the Cosmos (the best book ever about the real Science part of Cosmology .. Michio Kaku's book "Parallel Worlds" is also a good fairly light read. Cheers.

[casstony]

Then there's the theory that intelligent life destroys itself. It could be that life is common but intelligent life is rare. The aggressive, competitive nature that served us well in early human development might kill us through misuse of weapons, environmental degradation, artificial offspring that turn on their creators, etc.

Does human nature need to change in order to avoid destruction of civilisation? Do we need to kill all the men? Do we need to genetically alter ourselves? Or will we squeak through, with our behavioural development catching up to our technological development?

[Liz]

Yes, would be amazing!! Something we have all/most dreamed about, in agreeing with Carl Sagan.
Though after watching the latest series of 'V', maybe it could happen after my lifetime. :face:
Perhaps some forms of bacteria/microscopic lifeforms, before the big scary ones. :rolleyes:





Adrian, Adrian ... what is the go with your mail out there!!



Wouldnt that be wonderful. :sadeyes: Never going to happen, or not in my lifetime.

What was that movie years ago, when ailens landed and they were no happy with the situation on Earth, and gave the ultimatum that Earth had to change or be destroyed.
After much talk/drama etc earth was finally at peace - then the aliens said they wanted us to be at war, not peace, and .. think they destroyed us anyway. :help:

[Suzy]

Are we talking about simple life or complex life? :question:

Simple life I'd like to find, but complex I say, leave it alone. I'm with Hawkins on this one. I can see nothing good coming out of this - our greed will eventually take over and strip their planet for every resource we can find - if they don't do it to us first. We're flat out keeping our own planet at peace, what makes exploring a new planet any different? I have a lot more to say but I have held back on political grounds.

Keep that genie in the bottle I say.;)

[shelltree]

I think I'm continually excited by everything I learn each day about our universe but the search for life in the Universe has definitely got me giddy. Of course, I'll be happy if we find life even on a microscopic scale because then that poses the question "what else is out there?"

I'd like to think that if we ever stumble upon intelligent life somewhere in the Universe that it will be an amazing and rewarding experience but who is to the say they'll be any different from us in regards to how we treat each other? If you found the first intelligent life in the Universe would you welcome them or see them as a threat?

Craig, I bought "The Physics of Star Trek" not long ago but haven't read it yet. I've been reading Krauss' book "Hiding in the Mirror", I'm really enjoying it so far :) I started reading "The Fifth Essence: The Search for Dark Matter in the Universe" but I found it a touch complex and because of that it wasn't really holding my attention. Maybe I'll come back to it in a few years time when I know a bit more about it :)

Anyway, excuse my rambling... :P