Life on other planets

[ftp]

That there is life is, I think, a statistical certainty. There is nothing particularly special about Earth that makes it especially conducive to life. The building blocks that make up life here are the most commonly found elements in the universe...carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. We have found life in some of the seemingly most inhospitable places, from crushing depths of freezing oceans to bacteria living off arsenic in boiling lakes. So there is almost certainly life out there. There is likely life here in our solar system, under the frozen oceans of Europa, for instance.

Intelligent life is another matter. We see how well life can adapt to just about any conditions...but so far as we know, there has only been a single successful intelligent species that has evolved here. And that's only by accident...the decidedly unintelligent dinosaurs might still ruling the planet if not or the meteor or whatever it was that took them out, giving lowly mammals their chance to rise to the top.

Still, given the cosmically tremendous number of planets and stars we have to work with, I still say intelligent life is very likely out there. But...even given that, it's still another matter altogether whether or not we will ever find it. The ray of hope here is this...we may not be able to comprehend the math and technology necessary, but neither can chimpanzees comprehend even basic human knowledge...and they really are not that far behind us genetically. Just that little 2-3% is enough to go from swinging in trees to putting a man on the moon. So an alien species 2-3% more advanced than us might likely be significantly more intelligent and such problems could be easily solvable.

couldnt have said it better.

 

[77REBELBOWTIE]

I find it impossible to believe this is the only planet with life on it. You can compare the universe to the ocean. As vast and diverse as it is life can be found everywhere. We just don't have the technology to discover it yet.

 

[bigrock44]

I think most people feel that there is life on other planets. But our fear of the unknown is what makes some say that there is no other life out there. I really wonder how the world would react if we ever did discover life on another planet.

 

[Bear44]

It's a surety that intelligent life exists. In fact I believe there is life that is much more intelligent than us. It's so sure that this thread should be in "General Discussion" rather than "Area 51".

 

[Boxer101]

It's a surety that intelligent life exists. In fact I believe there is life that is much more intelligent than us. It's so sure that this thread should be in "General Discussion" rather than "Area 51".

Wonder why such advanced race would not try yo find us? Or have they?

 

[Bear44]

Wonder why such advanced race would not try yo find us? Or have they?

A better question is why would they care enough to be interested in us? Contrary to popular belief, we are not the center of the universe.

 

[jcountry]

There is no doubt in my mind that there is life in this solar system.

I would bet big money that they discover some sort of microbial life on Mars, Titan, Io, or Europa within the next couple of decades (that is, if we don't go broke trying to pay for entitlements first-seriously.)

 

[Boxer101]

Last place to look for intelligent life would be Washington DC

 

[ftp]

what if et;s have already found us? Every native people on this planet have legends or stories about flying people and many have built structures only viewable from the air. I for one, think the technology boom in the past 60 years isnt a coincidence.

 

[napp]

Wonder why such advanced race would not try yo find us? Or have they?

I'm guessing they have already checked us out. Most likely, they lost interest when they found out we are still using MS Windows.