Aliens Poll

[Queso]

when you consider how unfathomly gigantic our universe is........i think intelligence seems likely.

[Fishteacher73]

Life chugged along quite nicely before anything even remotely resembling intelligence arose (for that matter eukaryotic single cell organisms). If there were a planet that had the precise conditions as the Earth and events happened along the same timeline (meteor impacts, continental drift, etc.) then yes, inelligent life would evolve, but any altercation in the timeline develops a very different world, one that perhaps intelligence is not needed, and therefore not selected for.

[Queso]

i agree there are probably many worlds like that.

[Buffy]

Life chugged along quite nicely before anything even remotely resembling intelligence arose ... any altercation in the timeline develops a very different world, one that perhaps intelligence is not needed, and therefore not selected for.

You betcha. I always thought there'd be a big ratio in the Drake equation of "planets with life" and "planets with intelligent life" but I also believe we underestimate the intelligence of animals. Just because they don't build things doesn't mean that dolphins for example aren't more highly evolved or more intelligent than we are ("so long! and thanks for all the fish!")...

 

There's also the notion from Babylon 5 and a bunch of other SciFi that there might be "waves" of progression: the "Original" civilizations of Bablyon 5 might just actually be us! I'm convinced though that "civilization" is a frequent occurrence, although, not an inevitable one for every planet that evolves life.

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[paultrr]

One thing even SETI has begun to see caution on is exactly earth like worlds. What we have begun to find out is nature seems to have a wide variety of planetary systems in its brush work, so to speak. We've also begun to discover that life seems to find a way even in harsh conditions. At the same time I think it is safe to say that intelligence itself needs a bit wider definition. Human's, as intelligent as we are, are not the mold when it comes to defining either life or intelligence. We are simply just one of many molds out there.

[Qfwfq]

I'm sure that around some other stars there are planets where there are dolphins, gorillas, dogs and many other highly intelligent creatures. Unfortunately I fear that these creatures may also be subject to the utter nuissance of beings somewhat like us.

 

I am, however, skeptical about travel between Sun and other stars.

[niviene]

I voted There's intelligent life in the universe and they've visited. :Alien: I think that it's kind of arrogant to assume we're the smartest things in this universe... I feel that in all the space, there are more than one intelligent life forms, and I wouldn't doubt if one of them at least knows we are here. ...Perhaps one of them is where we came from.... *Twilight Zone music..*

[IMAMONKEY!]

OK niviene... i think its highly improbable that they visited. but what i mean by that is that i dont think they visited when we were intelligent. I said there is intelligent life out there because it is extremely selfish and arrogant to think otherwise. Howver, they have not visited Earth for the same reason we havent visited them. The Universe is too... stinkin big!!!! There are probably life forms elsewhere, in fact i think the probability of that is extremely high. I just think they are too far away to visit us. People that think aliens constantly visit us are ignorant and stupid. I cant believe anyone would agree to such bull! Those rumors have been around for... what... 30 years?!?! NOw if u think about it... an alien race advanced enough to cross the galaxy and find us and do it within their lifespan, would have to be advanced enough to finish their tests within 2 days! i mean come on! seriously... and theyd be advanced enough to know that it would be smart to reveal themselves and then stay unless threatened or provoked... and if i get any bull about them being shy... ill shoot the person that says that!

[Tormod]

People that think aliens constantly visit us are ignorant and stupid. I cant believe anyone would agree to such bull! Those rumors have been around for... what... 30 years?!?!... and if i get any bull about them being shy... ill shoot the person that says that!

 

Admin warning: This kind of language will get you banned from our forums. Please watch it and show some respect for our members.

[IMAMONKEY!]

sry... forgot this is a science forum not a gaming forum... im so used to that... geez i have to stop playing the computer... lol... it wont happen again.. note any posts after this from hereonout will not do that... pls dont hold any others before this post agianst me! :(

[Queso]

heh. it's been a lot longer than 30 years, i'd say at least double that. wasn't it 1945 when the UFO craze hit america? that's just a guess, but i believe it was around there.

[Fishteacher73]

Roswell occured on July 5, 1947 (my mom's birthday....and she was adopted...That would explain a lot).

[Queso]

haha nice, i was close.

from my understanding that was all just a weather balloon.

the shiny material, the pink symbols, what do you guys think?

 

plus...how could you have an alien spacecraft made out of shiny thin material like that?

 

i kind of feel bad for the hardcore believers....

[Fishteacher73]

This an obvious situation of the US's policy on disinformation. While it was wise to deny any alien incedent, it helps to have the possiblity of a gov't obtaining alien technology. Basicly it was a mindgame to keep the powers that be uneasy. Much like the US funding of such concepts as remote viewing and psychic powers. This was a symptom of the cold war.

[niviene]

OK niviene... i think its highly improbable that they visited. but what i mean by that is that i dont think they visited when we were intelligent. I said there is intelligent life out there because it is extremely selfish and arrogant to think otherwise. Howver, they have not visited Earth for the same reason we havent visited them. The Universe is too... stinkin big!!!! There are probably life forms elsewhere, in fact i think the probability of that is extremely high. I just think they are too far away to visit us. People that think aliens constantly visit us are ignorant and stupid. I cant believe anyone would agree to such bull! Those rumors have been around for... what... 30 years?!?! NOw if u think about it... an alien race advanced enough to cross the galaxy and find us and do it within their lifespan, would have to be advanced enough to finish their tests within 2 days! i mean come on! seriously... and theyd be advanced enough to know that it would be smart to reveal themselves and then stay unless threatened or provoked... and if i get any bull about them being shy... ill shoot the person that says that!

 

Your post started out being a good input to the forum, but went downhill. I don't think anybody gets anywhere by saying that what someone believes is ignorant and stupid.

 

Since we don't know anything about any alien races at all, it's not wise to assume that we can figure out what they would do while visiting; how long they would stay, what kinds of things they would study, or even how far away they would have to be to "observe" us. We don't know their lifespan... it may be exponentially longer than ours. We may even exist inside or as a part of them. Think about it - they could be here among us now (sounds like War of the Worlds!) but exist in a dimension or medium that we can't detect at all. Who knows? When dealing with the unknown, all we can do is keep an open mind.

 

Yea. the UFO "sightings" craze started right after 1945 - there is some speculation that someone had created an aircraft and was testing it.. or that it was scare tactics, all attributed to the cold war, as Fishteacher said.

[Smokinjoe9]

Well, I voted that there is intelligent life and they abduct us all the time, but that is because there are alot of people who believe that. As for me, I am not so sure, not that I think we are all that, but alot of really precision things have to happen for a planet to wind up like ours.

We proved that the universe isn't static, that time isn't infinite. It's finite. The age of the universe is only 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 seconds (10 to the 18 th power).

We also discovered that we do not have an infinite supply of building blocks. In fact, we discovered that it takes exquisite design to get any building blocks at all. Molecules, without which, life is impossible.

Atoms must be able to assemble in the molecules in order to gain sufficient complexity for life chemistry to proceed. That applies to any conceivable kind of life.

Unless the force electromagnetism takes on a particular value, molecules won't happen. Take the nucleus of an atom. There's an electron orbiting that nucleus. If the force electromagnetism is too weak, the electron will not orbit the nucleus.

There won't be sufficient electromagnetic pull to keep that electron orbiting the nucleus. If electrons cannot orbit nuclei, then electrons cannot be shared so that nuclei can come together to form molecules. Without molecules, we have no life.

If the force electromagnetism is too strong, the nuclei will hang onto their electrons with such strength that the electrons will not be shared with adjoining nuclei and again, molecules will never form. Unless the force electromagnetism is fine-tuned to a particular value, the universe will have no molecules and no life.

We also have a problem in getting the right atoms. Now take a neutron and a proton. Protons and neutrons are held together in the nucleus of an atom by the strong nuclear force, which is the strongest of the four forces of physics.

If the nuclear force is too strong, the protons and neutrons in the universe will find themselves stuck to other protons and neutrons, which means we have a universe devoid of Hydrogen. On and on it goes....

[wrong]

I voted There's intelligent life in the universe but they've never visited Earth.

 

I haven't seen any compelling evidence of a visit.......but who knows?

I wouldn't be surprised if when man is able to visit other planets in this and other Solar systems that we find life everywhere as a natural response to matters fact of existing,then again we may be unique but the Universe is rather large.

With extra Solar exploration though we may have to be open to adjust our interpretation of what "is " life.It would be a pity to miss other life forms due to our ignorance or arrogance of what constitutes "life"