Life in Space

[Mel-o-rama]

Okay, what do you all think of this:

Is there life on other planets? If so, are they humanoid?

There's a lot of space out there. As Carl Sagan says, if there's no life out there, it is a lot of wasted space.

What say you? Since we're not on the WC, feel free to bring up scientific fact and religious views.

[General Kenobi (ret.)]

Why would it be wasted? Just because we don't see its purpose doesn't mean it doesn't have one. (Yikes. A triple negative.)

Fermi's Question looms large: If they exist, where are they?

[Mel-o-rama]

If there is no other life in space and all that space is not wasted, do you mean to imply that all of space exists for our benefit? For example, Polaris exists solely for us Earthlings to know which way is north? Likewise, do the stars in the Southern Cross exist only to point the way south? I know that the old Catholic Church strongly believed this in the past. Do they still hold to it?

As for Fermi's question:
[Carl Sagan mode] We know there are other stars in space. That's the first step to locating other life forms. To find beings like ours, we must first find stars that are like our sun. We know these exist. Then we must find which of those suns have planets. We are recently discovering that other suns have planets orbiting them. Next we must find planets that form within the habitable zone (for our sun that would be from Venus to Mars), and these planets must have the right ingredients for life. We haven't found any of these yet.

The chances of any one solar system producing life as we know it are very slim, but the chances of at least one of an astronomical number of systems producing life are pretty high.[/Carl Sagan mode]

I think we'll find life. We've already found DNA on Mars. Now how did that get there?

[Pseudolus]

I think we'll find life. We've already found DNA on Mars. Now how did that get there?

The Mars-rock evidence is unconvincing in the eyes of most scientists. The original team is still mostly true-believers, but other supporters have fallen away. The features used to support the life hypothesis were circumstantial (magnetite crystals and bacteria shaped possible fossils are the ones I recall), and never involved DNA.

I'll see if I can dig up internet sources to support the above, but that's what I recall from my readings.

[General Kenobi (ret.)]

I am not saying all of space exists for our benefit. Psalm 19 gives the reason that everything exists. Isn't it a little arrogant to assume everything is for us just because we don't see anyone else using it?

I will be very surprised if your statement about the Southern Cross is correct. Do you have a source for it?

I think you missed the point of Fermi's question (blame it on my poor presentation). If the universe is teeming with life, as Sagan et al. would have it, why have they not found us? Why have the SETI projects to date all come up empty?

Note, BTW, that I do not have a problem with the theoretical existence of extraterrestrial life. I merely want evidence.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Obi-Wan Kenobi on 2001-12-13 16:03 ]</font>

[Pseudolus]

Here's one news story on the Mars rock.

[Polly Nomial]

I once heard it said that giving a typewriter to each of an infinite number of monkeys would eventually turn out all of Shakespeare's works. The problem is that the universe does not appear to be infinite so there is no certainty that other life exists. So my thoughts are maybe there is and maybe there isn't. The odds of the life being humanoid are considerably less.

As for the monkeys, I'm not convinced. Anybody have any thoughts on whether or not we could expect Shakespeare? Cannonball, you're our Shakespeare expert!

[Cynical Realist]

Yes there is life on other planets, next question.

Polaris - humorous reference. Actually the Earth wobbles in it's rotation, so while Polaris is the "North Star" today, it has not always been the North Star. The wobble creates a circular motion that is known as a Plutonian year (25,600 earth years), to complete one circut. I believe Alpha Centari the brightest star in Cephus was the "North Star" at the time of the birth of Christ.

http://ms.essortment.com/northstarastro_rmdz.htm

[Phil]

"...if not, then it's just a lot of wasted space."

Maybe Earth is the wasted space, and God (or whoever) is just using us as a test project to see how we work out on Earth. If we succeed, then God (or whoever) will begin a full production of life on all the other, better, planets that he has been saving up till now.

[Lee Mellon]

You rock, Mel. How long before you spring the news that you and your co-worshipers are destined to be demi-gods to all the beings on those other planets?