Live in Space?

[youjustcomplain]

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-189623-5-.htm#189623

Did we find life? I'm far from being in a position to say one way or another or even speculate. I remember though, about 20 years ago, someone I knew was taking some university courses and their instructor had told them that given all of the required variables to be just perfect enough to support life, that there is a ZERO chance that there is another planet, in the universe, that can support life. I remember, at the time, thinking, "how could an educated person make such a claim??" Whether the instructor was right or not, I'm very glad we're still looking and are making amazing discoveries; perhaps leading to a planet with life, or capable of supporting it. You know, so we can finish trashing this one and then move on.

Thoughts? Is there life outside of Earth? Did we just find it? Will our species ever get there?

[HP]

Live in Space?

Heh... we're doing it just fine by ourselves. Living in space. Making mistakes. Spiraling around in the dark.

that there is a ZERO chance that there is another planet, in the universe, that can support life

Based on the available information 20 years ago, I'd have probably been inclined to agree. That's the beauty of the scientific method - it allows for constant revision and enriched understanding as new information becomes available.

Did we just find it?

Odds are - no.

Will our species ever get there?

I think so. We're a very goal-driven species. There would be little motivation for us to find ways to cruise around the universe were there no possibility of finding anything other than another uninhabitable rock circling another hot ball of helium. If that's the case then we could save ourselves a lot of frustration and just bop around our solar system with our rockets and focus inwardly on destroying (or not) the rock we have. The possibility of an inhabitable world elsewhere creates the extrinsic motivation we need to direct research and effort.

At 39 light years away we're looking at a bit of a commute but in cosmic terms it's in our neighbourhood. As things stand today, if we sent a wireless message (Is anybody Out there), we'd have to wait about 80 years to hear back. 40 years for the message to get there then, assuming it was received and replied to immediately by a civilization that speaks whatever language we choose to send the message, 40 years for the return trip if they return the message with the same technology (which they presumably would because the other end couldn't be certain how our technology would evolve). It's a bit of a weird problem.

Even if we never get anywhere except where we are I think we are all better off for the effort of understanding where we came from. I guess I'm optimistic that trying to find ways to solve the extremely macro problems will help give us the tools to solve the very micro problems.

[Bsuds]

Based on the available information 20 years ago, I'd have probably been inclined to agree. That's the beauty of the scientific method - it allows for constant revision and enriched understanding as new information becomes available.

Even more than 20 years ago there were many Scientists who would have agreed that we were not the only intelligent life in the Universe.

The Roswell incident was in 1947 and many believed and still do that it was Aliens. That's 70 years ago!

[youjustcomplain]

Based on the available information 20 years ago, I'd have probably been inclined to agree. That's the beauty of the scientific method - it allows for constant revision and enriched understanding as new information becomes available.

So, I was a kid at the time, but it struck me as an odd thing to teach in a university. (It was 3rd party information to me, so I don't know if this professor actually lectured that there was zero chance in life outside of Earth). Assuming that was the message being taught, I'd agree that given our technology at the time, we couldn't "know" that there was, but we also couldn't have known that there wasn't. It's a place of higher learning, I think it's a bit troubling that anyone would teach a message of certainty around something unknowable.

As for present day, I have little doubt that there is life outside of Earth. I don't know there is, but we do know that the conditions that created life once did happen. (no reason to assume a god had anything to do with it either). However it happened, it happened here, and there is no saying it couldn't have happened elsewhere.

At 39 light years away we're looking at a bit of a commute but in cosmic terms it's in our neighbourhood. As things stand today, if we sent a wireless message (Is anybody Out there), we'd have to wait about 80 years to hear back. 40 years for the message to get there then, assuming it was received and replied to immediately by a civilization that speaks whatever language we choose to send the message, 40 years for the return trip if they return the message with the same technology (which they presumably would because the other end couldn't be certain how our technology would evolve). It's a bit of a weird problem.

39 light years? bah. That's nothing once we have a Dilithium chamber with a quantum flux modulator... Oh I wish Star Trek were more real, mind you, I think we'd end up a bit more like the Ferengie than we'd like to admit. :P