Aliens

[Sam]

Definitely a possibility, but not sure that the probabilities are very high.

One may think extra-terrestrial life is likely because there are so many stars out there. On the surface this seems reasonable, but when you look deeper into the issue, there are many conditions that need to met for life to get a good foothold, some of which include:

1. Star type (Giants or Supergiants are not good choices as they don't last long enough astronomically speaking for life on planets around them to develop)

2. Position of the star system relative to the host galaxy's centre (near the galactic arm for spiral galaxies are better since most galactic centres harbour supermassive black holes)

3. Planet type (planets with strong gravity stand a better chance as they can hold onto their atmospheres better)

4. Planet core type (the core type affects the existence and strength of the planet's magnetic field, which is vital for keeping out harmful radiation from the host star)

5. Presence of large neighbouring planets (this is helpful for "taking hits" from asteroids for the planet which life develops on)

6. Distance of the planet from the host star (too close = too hot, too far = too cold)

7. Presence of a moon for the host planet (this helps offset the side-effects of the gravitational pull of large neighbouring planets)

Not saying that life on a planet cannot develop without these characteristics, but it will be harder. Life can be quite hardy and survive in the most unlikely of places, so the attitude I take is "keep an open mind, but also look at the evidence".

I think so far there has been more than 200 extrasolar planets discovered, but all of them have been deemed to be most likely unsuitable for life.

And by the way... the presence of water does not mean there is life.

Regarding UFOs, from memory, when I did research on this, there were around 2% of all sightings in the world that could not be explained despite scrutiny and analysis by experts (astronomy, aerial phenomena, etc.). In number terms, that translates to over 10,000 sightings (conservative estimate).

UFO research authorities such as Jacques Vallee tend to think that this means there is something to the sightings than just "fluff" or mistaken identity.

Me, I've never seen a UFO before, and probably never will. But, I remain open to the possibility that UFOs are indeed evidence of other lifeforms (either extra-terrestrial or the inter-dimensional type). At the moment though, there isn't enough evidence to convince me there is.

I personally don't get too hung up on this ... doesn't affect really my life.

[Demonac]

Don't forget that life is fairly fragile.
Look how many extinction events we have had on Earth alone.
These are things that can't be protected from.
Who knows how many alien civilizations were wiped out with a GRB or a Supernova.

[klystron]

Personally I think it is beyond question that life exists outside our solar system. Due to the sheer volume of stars (granted, not all of which hold a planetary system) there must be countless planets out there on which life could exist. It does not have to be (to quote some quasi-famous doctor dude) "life as we know it."
There could be organisms in the methane seas of Titan for all we know.

Of course in order to develop into a more complex species (like ourselves) the planet in question must be able to allow the development of a wide range of species; a food chain for want of a better description. Man couldn't survive on this planet if there were no animals and plants (even though we seem to be trying hard to disprove this by ridding the planet of these things!), much less have developed into what we are today. So I guess that makes the required conditions a little more unique.

Another aspect is whether you believe in faster than light travel. (With regard to contact rather than existence). No matter how advanced a species may be, if we can't travel FTL than visiting another intelligent species will just probably never happen. (Unless we're interstellar neighbours, which is possible, but still a logistical nightmare. We can't even get a single human to Mars much less to Alpha Proxima).

Of course many other intelligent species may have come and gone already. Lots can happen in 10billion years, and I don't reckon mankind will be lucky to last another couple of thousand.

And a final thought: Are we debating the possibility of intelligent life existing only within our galaxy? Cause there are more galaxies out there than there are stars in the Milky Way and Andromeda combined. Some of which make our little spiral look like quite insignificant.

Interesting thread.

[Autocon]

Ah, Event Horizon - I absolutely love that movie!

On the possibility of life outside of our Solar System? - There is and there is no question about it, the better question is: What exactly constitutes life? what is life's definition?

On the question of Alien beings visiting us? - I'm not sure of the scientists name but he put it very eloquently:


Personally, I believe if we are ever to come into contact with an Alien Species, then we're not going to live long enough to even know about it.

But what if we are rare ants? or one of only a few ant colonies? I think they would be visiting us not to say Hi but to study us and keep an eye on our progress. What if we suddenly learn to fly lightyears like them?

[Autocon]

I think ufos fall into 2 catagories

1. government/mililtary aircraft
2. aliens

[SkyWarp91]

I'd like there to be aliens, so long as they're not the Zerg OR the Flood.

[GoktimusPrime]

The majority of life on Earth is unicellular micro-organisms... so odds are that the majority of life in the universe may be the same. The odds of finding complex life (i.e. multicellular organisms) is even more remote. Then the odds of finding intelligent life is more remote than that. But ya know, considering the vastness of space, I'd say it's definitely a possibility that life exists.

Regarding the ant colony analogy - this was discussed in the Transformers and Philosophy thread. Hence why the way the Decepticons view humans as nothing more than insects actually kinda makes sense. The Autobots' idea of defending humanity would be like humans trying to protect the lives of ants (and going through the expense of waging a war to do so).

Btw, we technically can't classify UFOs into any categories other than being UFOs or possibly sub-categories of UFO. Because by its very definition a UFO is an Unidentified Flying Object. Once it's identified as a military aircraft or alien spacecraft then it's no longer unidentified now is it!

[Demonac]

I think ufos fall into 2 catagories

1. government/mililtary aircraft
2. aliens

Actually, the vast majority of 'UFO' sightings is the planet Venus.
Other things I'd put above aliens: wildlife, commercial aircraft, shooting stars, satellites, drugs.

[Hursticon]

Actually, the vast majority of 'UFO' sightings is the planet Venus.
Other things I'd put above aliens: wildlife, commercial aircraft, shooting stars, satellites, drugs.

LOL - Mostly drugs IMO.


Personally,
I'm of the opinion that no human on Earth could possibly formulate an accurate opinion on what constitutes life or it's environment as even the most intelligent person on the planet really knows absolutely squat on a Universal level and therefore couldn't accurately fathom what another form of life could be comprised of or it's environment.

Unfortunately we humans are, at present, condemned to only understand that which is immediately around us and that which has come before - Even the most open of minds is limited by the overwhelming mass of closed minds that populates this planet as it is only something in the vicinity of 5% of the world's population that is actually doing any actual thinking, the other 85% just live off of what the others come up with.

@Autocon: They could indeed be studying us but I IMO doubt this because what could they possibly learn from us? - Just by visiting they will of displayed how vastly superior to us they are, so it would be more likely that they'd be visiting a zoo of sorts.

@SkyWarp91: I hear that, or the Xenomorphs or Borg!

@Klystron: Ah, Light's speed - That old chestnut , that is easily the biggest hurdle any life form would have to overcome and if it happens to result in anything like Event Horizon, count me out!

[GoktimusPrime]

Personally,
I'm of the opinion that no human on Earth could possibly formulate an accurate opinion on what constitutes life or it's environment as even the most intelligent person on the planet really knows absolutely squat on a Universal level and therefore couldn't accurately fathom what another form of life could be comprised of or it's environment.

Have you seen or read Ghost In The Shell? I think you'd like it. It aired on SBS earlier this week. If you haven't seen it I recommend picking it up from a comic store or on DVD. I'd lend you my comic book, but it's in Japanese.

Unfortunately we humans are, at present, condemned to only understand that which is immediately around us and that which has come before - Even the most open of minds is limited by the overwhelming mass of closed minds that populates this planet as it is only something in the vicinity of 5% of the world's population that is actually doing any actual thinking, the other 85% just live off of what the others come up with.

We haven't even fully explored our own planet, let alone space. e.g. the ocean depths still remain a mystery to us - it's not uncommon for people to discover new species. We know so little about species like the giant squid -- most of the specimens we've seen have been juveniles. Sightings of full grown adults have been rare.

They could indeed be studying us but I IMO doubt this because what could they possibly learn from us? - Just by visiting they will of displayed how vastly superior to us they are, so it would be more likely that they'd be visiting a zoo of sorts.

The immense resources and cost required to even travel to Earth from the nearest galaxy would make occasional visits impractical unless they were able to profit from coming here (e.g. conquest, plundering resources etc.).

Imagine if we discovered the existence of an intelligent but primitive alien species in Alpha Centauri -- say with the cognitive level of chimpanzees. Would we bother to spend zillions of dollars to send a mission to study these creatures if there were nothing to gain? If they had something we wanted, like say Unobtainium, then we'd colonise them. If they resisted, we'd happily displace them (or even annihilate them).