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Current time: March 28, 2024, 10:34 pm

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Alien Life
#1
Alien Life
Today top scientists gathered in London to discuss alien life, an event organised by the Royal Society with speakers from Nasa, the European Space Agency and Professor Paul Davies, a physicist from the University of Arizona to share their ideas.

The lecture titled "The eerie silence: are we alone in the universe?" addressed those really important hypothetical questions such as 'How does one break the news of discovering Extra-Terrestrial life?' ^^

Fifty years on and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, a rather bold ambitious attempt to find alien life is still ongoing...

Speakers argued that we need to be far more expansive than our current efforts, by questioning existing ideas of what form an alien intelligence might take, how it might try to communicate with us, and how we should respond if we ever do make contact.

While I praise efforts to push our technology to its limits by locating Earth-like planets, I do object to this research that already proposes higher intelligence or life forms that exist in the first instance and that they are capable of contacting us (laughably not the other way around – aren't we out to discover life on other celestial bodies?) , it all seems like an utterly fruitless and mundane exercise when you think about it.

Firstly the definition of "life" is tangible here and open to debate, if viruses thrive on our planet, and these pathogens barely qualify as "alive" in the strictest sense how would we detect, or even recognise if there were life-forms out there, I agree that's open to speculation, and presupposing how diverse life maybe across the universe is nothing more than the by-product of science fiction. Keeps Star Trek fans happy but does nothing else. Tongue

All the noise aside - How close are we actually to finding alien worlds that can support life? Well, I'm aware the Kepler space telescope program was launched in March 2009, however its discovered planets much larger and far hotter than Jupiter. It can only detect the presence of the large planets using a transit method, which is when the planet crosses in front of its star, by identifying the tiny changes occurring in the stars brightness.

None of this can hope to confirm whether life survives and thrives on these worlds, or not, and even if it were technologically possible, space is so vast that the light that comes from these sources is hundreds to thousands of years ago, there’s no certainity if the life observed were still in existence.

What are your thoughts on these lecturers? When asking about alien life, shouldn't the more logical question be: Can we find it? Is this study one of the most important endeavours of the human race to date? Or nothing but a load of hot air?
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#2
RE: Alien Life
Well, I remember seeing a black-triangle UFO in my backyard when I was nine, and then a few months later, a similar spacecraft would be spotted in Highland.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.

[Image: harmlesskitchen.png]

I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
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#3
RE: Alien Life
Someone once said that there are 2 kinds of science. There is the "non-stick frying pan" science, and the kind of science that on first glance doesn't hold any technological benefit, but can result in very interesting developments.

I would categorize the search for ET life into the second category. It is not that finding life on other planets far away has any immediate benefit, but it would be fair to say that it might lead to other discoveries that might.

As for what other life forms might be, it stands to reason most life will not have any technological skills at all, even on Earth there aren't that many species that do. The same is true for being bipeds. But it is not inconceivable that there are other lifeforms out there that are on equal level or more advanced in terms of technology. Since we haven't found any it is hard to say. I would say that there is no harm in looking for life. I would not make it an immediate priority though.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Pastafarian
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#4
RE: Alien Life
Inconceivable? I do not think it means what you think it means.
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#5
RE: Alien Life
What do you think it means?
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Pastafarian
Reply
#6
RE: Alien Life
I was just joking because anytime I see that word I think of The Princess Bride. Your usage was fine.
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#7
RE: Alien Life
Ah, never saw that film.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Pastafarian
Reply
#8
RE: Alien Life
Dude, you should, it is fucking hi-lar-ious, and probably necessary when talking with Americans.
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#9
RE: Alien Life
We used to tell Americans in the south funny thing about Canada. The Queen can come in your house at any time and take whatever she wants. The government hands out skin cream to make it through the winter without out faxes cracking off. One girl asked me if the polar bears are scary, and I said 'no they stay out of town, but the penguins are very dangerous,' she said 'Penguins, but they are so cute!' and I said 'Not when 30 of them are pecking at you legs'. She believed it, so I just walked away.
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#10
RE: Alien Life
I love the penguin bit. Big Grin
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Pastafarian
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