Your thoughts about other habitable planets and alien life

[Astro-Nova]

Obviously we see a lot through our scopes and binos, but what about the space beyond our views?

What are your thoughts about Alien life if we find a planet like ours where water and other life features exists (think big, not bacteria and little cells I'm talking about)? And how do you expect it will look like? 3 points for you,

is there other life out there?

how would that look like?

how intelligent would alien life be?

Obviously feel free to add your own points if you wish.

My Views:

Is there life out there?

I definitely think there is Alien life out there, purely based on that we are only one tiny planet in 1 galaxy out of billions of other galaxies, each existing out of billions of stars/moons/planets, why would we be the only planet with life on? If we are the only planet with life, planet earth would be the most unique planet in the entire universe with a bunch of brains crawling along the surface.

I know plants or cells are also life but that is not what I'm aiming for, I meant proper alien creatures. How would they look like?

I got no idea, I don't think they look like aliens as we see on TV and as people described. They could be like us including animals that live on this planet, however we got to remember before us millions of years ago there were dinosaurs, extinct by whatever the cause was. So if they did not survive on this planet they might have on another. Really no one could know how they would look like, maybe my statement above was wrong and they do look like aliens we see sampled on the TV flying around in UFO's, we will never know until we find them, investigate them and proof that they exist.

Are they intelligent like us?

Could be, could be smarter, maybe less smart. Aliens could be on the same mission as us to find alien life, maybe their transmitting something for us to pick up or the other way around that they receive what we are transmitting. That is if they got the science to develop any machinery, let alone even one little screw....

All a mystery and that is why I'am so obsessed with astronomy. Astronomy fascinates me big time, discovering and solving the mysteries of the universe even more.

It would be awesome if you would share your thoughts, share basically your thoughts about alien life but of course try to be realistic....

[topdude]

I think we are probably alone as a fairly advanced technological species.

Yes the Universe is big, simple life will be fairly common, more complex life will be less common, intelligent beings like us are probably very rare if not unique.

I always feel that we are here asking these questions because of a series of accidents and coincidences that are unique to this Planet.

We would not be here but for :

That early collision with a large planetoid,

The steadying influence of the Moon,

Our liquid / solid Iron core giving us the protective magnetic shield,

Snowball Earth,

Tectonic plate movement,

Bacteria giving us Oxygen allowing more complex life,

The meteorite that cut off the Dinosaurs and gave Mammals a chance to flourish,

The changing climate that brought Apes out of the trees and on to the savannah.

I think we are alone and that is an awesome thought !!

[franco]

...also if the dinosaurs wernt wiped out then we may have not evoled in the same way

i am pretty positive that there is life out there but again to what degree of "intellegence" i wouldnt like to say.

But as topdude poited out the chances of another planet having the exact same conditions (water content, the moon, planet size, sun size, earths axis etc) as us must be much smaller chance than another planet just being in the habitable zone. even in a billion planets the chances are probably quite small indeed.

[kenmyers]

I have seen another planet on the tele. Meh. (jk)

[sologuitarist61]

When you take into consideration the size of the universe and the likihood of there being many (probably) hundreds of thousands of habitable planets i.e. water and a decent atmosphere, then the likihood has be very very high that we are not alone.

The real question is what will the quality of alien life be? Microrobes and the like are the most likely, then, less likely, animals, intelligent life, super intelligent, to a lesser and lesser degree.

Another question is, are we likely to recognise it if we find it? Lets be truthful we are only just beginning to understand that we might be sharing our planet with other forms of possibly intelligent life, chimps, dolphins, whales etc. If we don't recognise intelligence in the life we share the planet with, are we really going to recognise it in the depths of space?

Man is very egocentric and we tend to thinks that we are what intelligent life is and that anything that doesn't reach our standard is a lesser form - lets hope that if we do find intelligent life out there that they are not super intelligent and treat us in the same way as we treat possibly intelligent life on out planet.

[sanmatt]

I don't really have strong feelings one way or the other, but I think it would be kinda cool if there was intelligent life elsewhere. Space is such an expanse that, well, why not?

Why should we be the only ones to have a series of coincidences that led us to today? Perhaps it would be a little bit snobbish of the human race to suggest we're the only ones capable of this sort of thing? Intelligent life.

[sanmatt]

When you take into consideration the size of the universe and the likihood of there being many (probably) hundreds of thousands of habitable planets i.e. water and a decent atmosphere, then the likihood has be very very high that we are not alone.

The real question is what will the quality of alien life be? Microrobes and the like are the most likely, then, less likely, animals, intelligent life, super intelligent, to a lesser and lesser degree.

Another question is, are we likely to recognise it if we find it? Lets be truthful we are only just beginning to understand that we might be sharing our planet with other forms of possibly intelligent life, chimps, dolphins, whales etc. If we don't recognise intelligence in the life we share the planet with, are we really going to recognise it in the depths of space?

Man is very egocentric and we tend to thinks that we are what intelligent life is and that anything that doesn't reach our standard is a lesser form - lets hope that if we do find intelligent life out there that they are not super intelligent and treat us in the same way as we treat possibly intelligent life on out planet.

Whatever appears on Jeremy Kyle is most defintely a lesser form!

[sologuitarist61]

Whatever appears on Jeremy Kyle is most defintely a lesser form!

Very good! I like that!

It does make you wonder though why there is such a spread of intellignece in out race from the not so bright to the extremely clever.

[sanmatt]

Very good! I like that!

It does make you wonder though why there is such a spread of intellignece in out race from the not so bright to the extremely clever.

It does indeed but that would be a different thread altogether. Although there does seem to be a direct relationship between the number of onesown teeth and overall intelligence and there seems to be an relationship between the more fugglier and gappy they are, the higher number of family members they have unzipped their DNA with. There's a PhD project in that I'm sure.

[Islander]

Given the numbers involved, it's highly unlikely that we're not alone in the universe. We're a product of a particular set of circumstances - if we hadn't evolved then something else would have. Remember that 99.9% of all species that ever existed on this planet are extinct and that the average lifespan of a single species is a mere 1-2 million years.

What would alien life look like? Well, anything from a simple single celled organism to a multicellular sophisticated form. The bodyplan would depend on what succeeded in the local evolutionary system. On Earth the tetrapods came to the fore - who can say what would be elsewhere?

As for intelligence, before we can even consider that we need to decide what consitutes intelligence. Human intelligence, as previously stated, isn't the be all and end all and there are aspects of the human brain function that are flawed. Many animals possess intelligence suited for their ecological niche and possess specialised senses and functions we can only dream about - take a dog's extraordinary scent discrimination as an example or a shark's ability to sense other life through it's electrical activity, we've evolved into a more generalised animal and that brings it's own particular limitations - think 'jack of all trades' we're not that special really.

[sologuitarist61]

Interesting to see that all, so far, are going for the possiblity that intelligent life exists elsewhere, I expected a few, at least, to be saying 'humans are the supreme beings'

[pel]

Given the recent reports of the amount of earth like planets out there I believe even more that there is intelligent life out there.

Having to drive a long way into work each day I believe less in intelligent life here :-)

[Pug]

I think given the number of galaxies/stars/planets out there, we're almost certainly not alone. As for the intelligence, who knows.

Why does life have to be carbon based or need liquid water?

[lawsio]

Why do we assume that water and an atmosphere similar to ours is necessary for life. It's necessary for life as we know it, yes, but can there not be a type of life out there than has a totally different set of necessities?

[Mr Spock]

To me you are all aliens...

[sanmatt]

Why do we assume that water and an atmosphere similar to ours is necessary for life. It's necessary for life as we know it, yes, but can there not be a type of life out there than has a totally different set of necessities?

Yeah Ive always thougth the same, just because we need oxygen etc why should another life form need it too? Maybe they're adapted for another gas. Maybe we're the odd ones out and we're the only ones to totter about needing Oyxgen, and everyone else is laughing at us as they puff in and out Chlorine gas which is very normal for them etc

[sologuitarist61]

I am sure that others can explain it better than I, but water is a very good solvent and is especially useful because it is in liquid form at normal temperatures. I know, I know, what if others don't need to use water, but what other choice is there? Any other substance that has a liquid form is usually only in that form at extrememly cold temperatures, conditions that are not especially good for life of any form. This is mainly because as things get colder and colder, any metabolism would get slower and slower. So, assuming that there are aliens existing in such conditions their life processes, compared to ours, would be extremely slow. Who would deem a creature than takes twenty years to answer a simple question to be intelligent?

Why oxygen? I have no idea other than it is a very reactive gases (it combines readily with other substances), does anyone else have any ideas?

[sanmatt]

Thanks solo (very nice avatar btw). I'm cool with the chem sides of things, but really why? Just because its what we need, why should it be what 'they' need? So all of the chemistry is right for our physiology and oxygen exchange and all that stuff, but thats for us.

Anyway , stuff the aliens, its looking nice out and I just have a quick peep at Venus while dinner's cooking

[sologuitarist61]

Anyway , stuff the aliens, its looking nice out and I just have a quick peep at Venus while dinner's cooking

Lucky girl, cloudy with drizzle down here! Glad you like the avatar - it is the only picture taken of me that I don't cringe at!!

[ronin]

Given the recent reports of the amount of earth like planets out there

Check the facts, what people keep claiming as earth like,and thus get a headline in a newspaper or on the internet, are actually very un-earth like.

The last I heard, 4 days back, we cannot detect an exoplanet that is less the 3x the mass of the earth.

[Novarius]

If organic life emerged on this planet, it WILL have happened elsewhere in the Universe.

What would it look like? It depends on the environment it evolved in. Live evolves to take advantage of it's surroundings. As much as I and allot of others would hope it really IS like Stargate or Star Trek, I doubt everything is bipedal, and has a surprisingly strong grasp of the Human language and measurement system.

Intelligence wise.... hard to say. If the 'Alien' is intelligent enough to develop FTL travel, would it be a wise move to interact with us here? Regardless of how you feel, we, Humans, exist only to destroy ourselves. Until all the conflicts are done with (which while we rely on Oil, will never happen, Hydrogen/Fusion is the way), they should stay clear.

I just wish NASA/ESA etc would stop wasting money on more and more probes for Mars. We've been there, why spend another $3 bil on ANOTHER probe for Mars, we already have two there! Team up, get the money, and get a probe designed and built to explore Europa. It's the best chance we have of finding life in our solar system.

Would love to see an event like happened in the film Contact happen in my lifetime, we can but hope. (only recently discovered that film, very very good watch).

[sologuitarist61]

Check the facts, what people keep claiming as earth like,and thus get a headline in a newspaper or on the internet, are actually very un-earth like.

The last I heard, 4 days back, we cannot detect an exoplanet that is less the 3x the mass of the earth.

I think there have been finds that are almost earth sized, I refer to Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, both of which are earth sized, see Astronomy magazine February page 8. Kepler-20f is speculated to have a thick water vapour atmosphere.

[dtr42]

I actually think maybe we are some kid's science experiment at school [hope he/she gets good marks for it:)] we are constantly chasing the boundaries of this planet/ space /the universe yet for all we know we are the smallest microbes in the largest petri dish in a school science lab. We could never imagine the human race as being anything else but superior in every way when compared to other organisms /fauna /animals that live here . I always remember this

and think it could happen to us or else the kid who runs this project gets fed up and will turn of the batteries:)

[Astro-Nova]

I just wish NASA/ESA etc would stop wasting money on more and more probes for Mars. We've been there, why spend another $3 bil on ANOTHER probe for Mars, we already have two there! Team up, get the money, and get a probe designed and built to explore Europa. It's the best chance we have of finding life in our solar system.

Thats a good quote. Why exploring something that we have already explored, and if we do find microscopic life on Mars, what will happen, probably gets entered on a data base and not much will come out of it but the message 'there is life on Mars'

I therefor agree, we need to explore something where we have not been, Id say we shoot a spacecraft into space with massive speed to explore beyond hubbles view or at least go somewhere what we have discovered by hubble. Attach a load of cameras so we be able to spot something interesting and breathetaking. Weve seen our solar system, now I want to see what else is out there, does not even need to be life, just something different, dont get going around in circles.

[gooseholla]

No, I don't believe that there is - and even if there was, due to the great distances involved, you'd never know, nor would you ever reach it to see what it is like.