What is Digg?174 Comments
- Stratochief66, on 04/18/2008, -3/+38Of course the evolution of intelligent life is extremely unlikely, even on a planet with just the right conditions. This is already built into the Drake equation, with roughly the same odds as the article gives.
The argument for other intelligent life existing is the shear number of planets in the shear number of galaxies out there. It may be a long time until we shake hands with one of them, face to face, but rest assured that there is a solid chance that we are not alone in the universe. - noknockers, on 04/18/2008, -2/+24Thinking that we are alone is very ignorant.
Does an ant have any concept of the earth (or even humans)? i think not. Just like we really have no concept of what is out there. Everything we can predict is just wild guesses. There are thousands of variables relating to life which we cant even being to comprehend. There is no point in really even making a guess because it will not effect anything. There is either life out there or there is not. It doesnt matter what we 'think' or 'believe'. - billllyboobs34, on 04/18/2008, -3/+21Carl Sagan would beat this guy senseless for saying that if he were still alive! I miss Carl...
- DarkSpan, on 04/18/2008, -2/+19'Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.' Carl Sagan
- SQLserver, on 04/18/2008, -0/+16I disagree.
Deep time is incomprehensible to humans. The vast time periods are so large they are hard to understand, so, we are likely to underestimate them. There are billions and billions of years. With the trillions and trillions of planets, most of which we've never seen, there are trillions of possible places, and billions of years to life to evolve elsewhere.
Heck, there may be/was life in our own solar system!(Europa, Mars) The odds of that should be a hell of a lot less then life being anywhere in the vast universe. - s1ade, on 04/18/2008, -1/+15Exactly, 0.1% of infinity is still infinitely probable.
I would tell you just how probably, but i need a good strong hot cup of tea. - Steven8890, on 04/18/2008, -3/+16“At present, Earth is the only example we have of a planet with life." So he based a scientific study of the probability of other life intelligent being found off of 1 example when we don't even know how life began and how exactly evolution works? Buried. We don't know *****.
- Scrigel, on 04/18/2008, -0/+13Or maybe something that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
- rantianhui, on 04/18/2008, -2/+13I have to agree with most of the comments especially ReeferChiefer42. To me is is pure human arrogance to state that life only exists here. It amazes me that while watching the Discovery Channel or other programs how many times scientists find life here on earth in some of the most inhospitable environments. But even with this evidence we still package all the criteria for life in some unstable box that’s seems to burst every few years.
1. Our only experience is our own. Although we have accomplished much, our discoveries are still regulated by our logic and senses. We see in a certain spectrum hear at a certain frequency and think a certain way based on our biology, environs and our experiences. Just like there is a variety of life on earth there is a variety of perception of reality.
2. Communication: Alien life alien form of communication. You can write all the equations until you’re blue in the face but if the alien life form speaks in magnetic pulses or goose pimples it’s going to be difficult to get your point across. What if the universe itself is an intelligent life form and we are seen as bacteria. We look at bacteria and say 'Hey they can't communicate or are intelligent'. Haven't you seen 'Horton hears a Who', we may be so off the radar that they are not even noticing us, let alone communicate.
3. Perspective: As has been stated before time seems pretty infinite. The right mix of our understanding of life is may seem rare. But based on its size and the fact that the universe has not been thoroughly explored what reliable criteria can we base these findings really? It's like seeing clouds and saying they are giant floating cotton balls, because that is the only familiar thing you can come up with.
There are two ways you can go. You can be open and uncertain or ignorant, comfortable. - Kyderdog, on 04/18/2008, -3/+12After we created him....
- EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -1/+9Given the span of time that we see on Earth, yes, it is unlikely. However, scientists are estimating our planet to be 4 billion years old, which doesn't even cover half the time there has been since the Big Bang. Other life forms may have just received a head start sometime in the 8 billion years since the first galaxies formed and the Earth formed.
- Kyderdog, on 04/18/2008, -1/+8I have a hard time believing that there is intelligent life on earth...
- Abomonog, on 04/18/2008, -1/+7There is an 0.00000001% chance of intelligent life on another planet.
That being said there must be at least 99 other planets in the universe with intelligent life on them.
Forgot who actually said that quote but it's a nice reminder that the universe contains more planets than the average calculator can count. - NYC10004, on 04/18/2008, -2/+7Is the human race really so stupid?
You may not believe that little grey aliens with big eyes are running around (that's fine), but not to believe that its probable that other intelligent life exists is just unforgivably arrogant.
There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on every beach on this planet. And around these stars are other planets. The sheer massiveness of it all could make your head explode and they have the balls to say it isn't likely? - Jimmyy, on 04/18/2008, -0/+5Carl Sagan said that himself... The odds of finding *intelligent* life in this specific time frame of human existence is extremely low... this story is nothing new on the "extraterrestrial life theories catalog".
- w3weasel, on 04/18/2008, -1/+6Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial life is a mathematical certainty.
(gross approximations used... but you'll get the point)
In an infinite universe:
1% of all space is occupied by a star.
1% of all stars have orbiting planets
1% of all orbiting planets have an atmosphere and water
1% of planets with atmosphere and water have life (evidence: earth)
1% of planets with life have evolved to societal intelligence
so thats, what... .000001% chance of a world supporting intelligent life.
and .000001% of infinity is.... INFINITY.
Therefor there are an infinite number of worlds sporting intelligent life.
Thanks to Douglas Adams. - betacmag4u, on 04/18/2008, -1/+6Paul Horowitz (a U.S. physicist) stated SETI has found 37 signals "which survived all our cuts" and cannot be positively identified. On September 10, 1988 the university's 84-foot radio dish detected "an enormous spike which was 750 times noise. If you converted the radio signal into audio it would sound just like a tone. It would sound like a flute." All 37 signals, however, have been single events which have never been heard again.
- Absurdum, on 04/18/2008, -1/+6People of Earth send a signal into space:
WE SEEK ALIEN LIFEFORMS
After forty years they get a reply:
WE TOO. LET'S SEEK TOGETHER - auto98, on 04/18/2008, -1/+5No, we existed before we discovered any scientific laws - they still existed even if we didn't know what they were
- EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -2/+6That is, of course, assuming that the live we meet has hands. Or a face. I hope they all look like asses with eyes on stems like in The Far Side.
- zetsurin, on 04/18/2008, -0/+4Don't be so depressed, as the human lifespan isn't long enough to appreciate even a small fraction of what we could see in the universe anyway.
Hmm, on second thoughts, as you were... - Albion01, on 04/18/2008, -0/+4Define ideal conditions. Scientists talk about the habitability zone that earth resides in, but isn't that habitability zone based around earth based life forms? Why is it that science assumes all life must be carbon based with self-replicating DNA? The universe is a rather large and unpredictable place of which we know a very little about. Molecules could have formed in any number of weird and unique ways given different gravities, radio-activities, pressures, and temperatures. There are 1000 billion stars in the VISIBLE universe. With those criteria, 0.01% becomes a rather large number. Maybe science needs to start thinking outside the box.
- Gusbob, on 04/18/2008, -0/+4Or maybe we are too primitive to communicate with them
- moletimer, on 04/18/2008, -0/+4"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
It's from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip by Bill Watterson. - SpacePoet, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3That's the point. We are very, VERY unique as is our planet. That's no reason to be depressed, if you are you are wasting your existence. The best thing about being alive is that you are, enjoy it, who knows what else there is. But don't think about that either, because most people can not deal with the thought of nothingness, hence the reason religions are so popular...
- MrKraut, on 04/18/2008, -3/+6I don't know who said it, but it applies: "I think that the best evidence for intelligent life in the Galaxy is that it hasn't tried to contact us."
- Ne007, on 04/18/2008, -3/+6This is an extremely limited view of existence. This guy obviously has no understanding of dimension, therefore he doesn't understand that there is an unlimited number of universes and there is an infinite history of "time."
This is not the only universe to exist, many many have come and gone in the infinite time/infinite space continuum. - shortyjacobs, on 04/18/2008, -1/+4If the odds of life are 0.01% over a billion years, then with 100 trillion earth like planets, or 1x10^12 planets, 1 hunded million, (100,000,000, or 1x10^8), will have life.
It's called math. - EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -2/+5The facts are that we know life exists in the universe, so it's logical to speculate that it might happen again.
- abuelos84, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3I agree, the mere suggestion of the non-existance of extraterrestrial life is laughable. If you have any doubt, go out in an open field at night, and look up...
- Cyberen, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3Only one example of a planet teeming with life has been found, ours.
So to make any sort of guess of how likely/unlikely it is to find another planet with life on it is a silly waste of time.
We'll know when one is discovered. Otherwise, we won't. - Talphin, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Lets not forget that Earth has been hit with a few mass extinctions already. Imagine what could have been had it not been for those. There may have been an entirely different species of intelligent beings that looked and acted nothing like humans. Hell, they might have even already gotten over all of their superstitious and insignificant differences, worked together and made it off of this planet already if it weren't for those mass extinctions. We can be thankful for those mass extinctions though, because otherwise humans may never have evolved.
- thecoolestguy, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Intelligent life, once it's reached the singularity, will expand outwards at the speed of light. Given this and the fact that we haven't been engulfed by a singularity level civilization yet, there is obviously not any intelligent life nearby, but the universe is young (13 billion years, and during the first 3 billion it was too hot to allow any sort of life), and very large (93 billion light years across), so there's is still a lot of time to wait and space to explore before we find another civilization.
- LargeTrout, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2I got a Trojan alert from AVG Don't click this site.
- EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3I guess. Although rumps with stem-eyes still make for cooler aliens. I can already tell you what it would shake!
- SpacePoet, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Ah, found it. Wrong name,, it's TERENCE MCKENNA, don't know who the heck Steve McKenzie is.... He died of brain cancer or something but his thoughts were amazing. Here is the website: http://nepenthes.lycaeum.org/McKenna/alien.html
- nlee23, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3This is ridiculous. The drake equation is much more comprehensive of a "theory," and of course there's all kinds of unpredictability involved with the Drake equation. However, the biggest unknown is how long any intelligent life exists (where intelligent = being able to send signals into outerspace). At worst, if intelligent life only exists for ~40 years (about how long we've been intelligent), then we expect one intelligent life form per galaxy at any given point. BUT, this only accounts for our own galaxy, which means that somewhere in the universe, even given the most pessimistic view of how long our own species exists, there are multiple forms of intelligent life. This obviously doesn't prove there is intelligent life, but i seriosuly doubt there's "no" intelligent life anywhere.
- nickzed, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2those arent the only requirements for life though, it goes way beyond just having a planet revolving close to a habitable star. while i do believe there is other life out there, its no doubt rare.
- EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2You must also take into consideration that the discovery of extraterrestrial life is a sure way to unify the planet. Given that we don't get Spock for first contact, I think there will be a lot of come-togetherness as a species.
Of course, if we do get Spock, there will be war. - ricree, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Sure, everyone loves a common enemy, don't they?
- abuelos84, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2good for you.
- hidromatic, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2I just read something similar on BBC.co.uk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7351428. ... - EpicSelekta, on 04/18/2008, -2/+4That we exist is no miracle. It's science.
Number of miracles that have been proven true: 0. - shortyjacobs, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3yeah, 1 hunded. It's 2 times fiddy!
- MiddleOfNowhere, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Also, it seems rather unlikely that a technical/spacefaring civilization (once it has survived the risk of nuclear self-destruction) would stick to one planet or fragile biological bodies, so they could outlive their planet and their biological lifespans; thereby making their survival/near-immortality more probable. Frankly I think that the most probable form of alien life forms would be "uploaded" beings in ultra-compact space habitats. Being software would also allow them to scale (subjective) time at will, which comes in handy when travelling slower than light ... Greg Egan has written several ultra-geeky novels on the subject.The math will make your head explode, but it's still great fun. :)
- Intercon, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Which God would that be? Again, these stories that humans create about the nature of God are very limited in scope and child-like, coming from the minds of the primitive peoples of anitquity. Evolution is a description of how life on planet Earth adapts and changes over time, increasing in complexity. I certainly agree with your sentiment that evolution does not exclude the existence of God, however I think at this point we can agree that our current rigorously investigated description of the behavior of the Universe and our small corner of it, definitively trumps the simple and often politically motivated descriptions of our ancestors and their rather cartoonish and child-like (though often poetic) descriptions of our life on this planet and its origins. Taking the Judeo-Christian religions at face value now seems a rather wrong-headed and willfully ignorant thing to do. As we evolve, I would hope that our concept of the creative force would evolve as well.
- Frostek, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Devil's Advocate - (who didn't even bother reading the article) Since we cannot calculate the probability of life appearing even given ideal conditions, we cannot therefore predict the odds of intelligent life then evolving from it. Life could be abundant or incredibly rare. We just don't know enough yet. I hope it is out there though.
Also, even if it is out there, the universe is so amazingly huge it's likely we will never encounter intelligent life. We might get lucky and find microbes in our own solar system. - hardoff, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2i once showed an ant about the concept of humans....
it didn't survive to tell the other ants though. - tHePeOPle, on 04/18/2008, -1/+2For a truly fascinating look at just how mind bogglingly improbable intelligent life is, read Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life by Nick Lane
It will change how you look at everything. Mitochondria, which used to be an independent organism basically formed a parasitic relationship with single celled organisms millions of years ago. Over time, the relationship became symbiotic and complex multi cellular life became possible due to the energy production capabilities of the mitochondria. Mitochondria basically has it's own dna of sorts. It's own genetic line. In a grand sense, it's almost like humans are two separate organisms merged into one.
Anyway, read the book. It's ***** amazing.
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Sex-Suicide-Mitochondr ... - RabidFurby, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Isn't "Is there anybody out there" lyrics to a song...
-
Show 51 - 100 of 171 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is