Are We Alone in the Universe?

[sealybobo]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

 

[deanrd]

Before I start this, this is my personal only opinion of studying this topic for over 35 years now. And though, off record, over 89% of NASA people and affiliated enterprises agree also with what follows, this is strictly my own take and stand at this time on this topic.

First, you must get very familiar with this link and data below, concerning the Drake Equation. It is the most compelling math tool and anyone can use it and it is fabulous for this subject. Here it is:

http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/SETI/drake_equation.htm

Ok, for me and over this 36 years interfacing with NASA and assorted agencies, I have come to the conclusion then, and now, that our universe, or closer in, our Galaxy, is host to lifeforms on a level of Star Trek-The Next Generation. I think it is a swarm of life, intelligent and everything in between.

ST-TNG, the federation, is 8000 Light Years (LYs) in diameter, and look at the life that is entailed in that fictional quadrant of our galaxy. I truly feel that whole world of grand fiction will play out in the near future to not only be true, but more so, conservative by numbers.

Here's why:

1. Our sun is a class C type star and is found to be the most common star type in the cosmos.

2. These star types tend to be the most stable and longest lived.

3. They last upwards of 6 billion years.

4. They have multiple planets, with at least one in the "Goldilocks Zone", where liquid water is present on the surface, thus the right distance from the home star.

5. And on carbon based planets, this is the condition for life, as we know it.

Further, like the movie, "Start Trek: First Contact", we are going to leave our home place. We will do so when we have developed something that is SoL+ or, a WARP drive if you will. From that, we are free.

And if we are free to explore out beyond our local solar neighborhood, we would obviously be able to reach out to other Class C worlds, for no other reason than to see if we are right.

And, aside from the darker psychopaths that post on all these myriad of boards to the contrary, NASA and all other space agencies around the planet is pushing the technology to "see" out there what is there. And it reasons well, if we are not alone, others out there are doing the same, looking back.

If we don't "see" each other at some point, or we get out there and then run into someone else, the treasure chest is open.

So, categorically, WE ARE NOT ALONE!!

In the not so near future, in our lifetimes even, we are going to get a message, anything, that will simply be "Hello. Are you there?"

Behold.

Comments encouraged greatly.

Robert

I thought you were being serious. Then it turns out you don't know much.

Red Dwarfs: The Most Common and Longest-Lived Stars

Sure, the star counts, but it's as much about the distance from the star and the consistency in the rotation.

Try to figure out why. If you can't figure it out, say so and I will explain it.

 

[mhansen2]

I sure hope not. To think that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are the most important beings in the universe is beyond depressing.

 

[deanrd]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

 

[deanrd]

I sure hope not. To think that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are the most important beings in the universe is beyond depressing.

They are. In their own minds, there is no doubt.

Trump has the greatest memory ever.

He's like really, really smart. A genius.

He know's words. Lots of words.

Only Trump can fix problems.

And his base knows he's completely honest and never lies.

 

[Montrovant]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I don't know if calling the 13 billion year age of the universe a fact is accurate; for one thing, the estimates are actually closer to 14 billion years old, for another, given the limits of our knowledge and ability to "see" the universe, there could well be data which would change that estimate. Based on what we have observed, 11 billion years is apparently the youngest the universe can be. How Old is the Universe?

I think people often forget just how vast both the time and distance involved in these sorts of discussions is. There is so much universe, and it has been around for so long, that everything humanity has directly observed is a figurative drop in the ocean. There could be numerous examples of intelligent life throughout the universe right now, and we would have no idea. There may have been many intelligent life forms before humanity arose, and we would have no idea. Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

 

[westwall]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

No, we don't. It is a estimate that leaves a lot to be desired. The more we look at the Universe, the older it seems to be. Current estimates are 13.8 billion years old based on the life cycles of stars, and the speed of expansion. The problem with the second variable is it is variable The speed of expansion seems to change depending on where you look. It isn't a constant.

My personal belief is the Universe is much older than it is thought be. I base this on the amount of metals in our solar system. Based on current theory I don't think 14 billion years is a long enough time for the stellar enrichment to have occurred. I also don't think that the estimates for the expansion of the Universe are accurate save in a very general way. The theory of the Big Bang I fundamentally agree with, but the mechanism afterwards is not well thought out. Galaxies colliding with one another is a significant problem IMO. We know they do, but no explosion I have ever seen would allow them to occur.

 

[deanrd]

13 or 14 billion years. Who cares?

If you can tell the direction of the stars, which you can. And the speed of the stars, which you can.





One thing all explosions have in common. At the beginning of the explosion, the speed of the particles is increasing. We know from the light shift of the stars the speed. As the telescope looks farther and father away, the color shifts. From that we can figure out the speed and the direction.

So we have speed. We have direction. And from that, we know the galaxies are moving apart and still speeding up. So we know the explosion was so great, we are still in the early stages meaning it was a really big explosion.

Once all that information and data is collected, we can figure out how long it took to get here.

And with the next generation of telescopes, there isn't an overall new theory of the movement of the universe, there is verification.



So if you are really interested, there is much more information available. Your current source is seriously out of date or comes from one of those idiot creationists.

 

[Moonglow]

This necrothread is like a banned hall of fame.....
Alone in the Universe, well there is God, Jesus,Mithra, Zeus, Ra, well you know, those guys.

But humanoid life? That would be iffy..at best...

 

[westwall]

13 or 14 billion years. Who cares?

If you can tell the direction of the stars, which you can. And the speed of the stars, which you can.





One thing all explosions have in common. At the beginning of the explosion, the speed of the particles is increasing. We know from the light shift of the stars the speed. As the telescope looks farther and father away, the color shifts. From that we can figure out the speed and the direction.

So we have speed. We have direction. And from that, we know the galaxies are moving apart and still speeding up. So we know the explosion was so great, we are still in the early stages meaning it was a really big explosion.

Once all that information and data is collected, we can figure out how long it took to get here.

And with the next generation of telescopes, there isn't an overall new theory of the movement of the universe, there is verification.



So if you are really interested, there is much more information available. Your current source is seriously out of date or comes from one of those idiot creationists.

I've been studying it for fun for longer than you've been alive and had the great fortune to speak with people far, far smarter than I, Feynman and I talked about cosmology on many an occasion. Picture an explosion, now picture it many many days after it has occurred, now try and figure out how one dirt clod, can crash into another dirt clod, at right angles.

 

[sealybobo]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

100% agree.

And aren’t all the galaxies getting farther and farther away? So 7 years later we’re actually farther from finding life than we were then.

I also heard most solar systems have two stars and life can’t take hold until one of those stars eats the other one

Also it’s rare that we have a big moon that is attached to our planet.

I totally get why people say must be god but that answers nothing. As thinking intelligent creatures we should want to live until the last star burns out. We should live in the black universe consisting of all black holes. The only light coming from our spaceship. Then when the last black star explodes we can see what happens next. Maybe then we learn what was before the Big bang

 

[sealybobo]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I don't know if calling the 13 billion year age of the universe a fact is accurate; for one thing, the estimates are actually closer to 14 billion years old, for another, given the limits of our knowledge and ability to "see" the universe, there could well be data which would change that estimate. Based on what we have observed, 11 billion years is apparently the youngest the universe can be. How Old is the Universe?

I think people often forget just how vast both the time and distance involved in these sorts of discussions is. There is so much universe, and it has been around for so long, that everything humanity has directly observed is a figurative drop in the ocean. There could be numerous examples of intelligent life throughout the universe right now, and we would have no idea. There may have been many intelligent life forms before humanity arose, and we would have no idea. Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

When I see the size of earth compared to our sun. Then I see how small our sun is compared to larger stars. And when I realize how far the nearest star is for us micro organisms. It would take our tiny spaceship 80,000 years. Then I realize we are micro organisms. Tiny

 

[sealybobo]

Do you guys know what tardigrades are? I would love to find a planet where the humans are huge and wouldnt even notice us. We could take as much of their natural resources and they wouldn’t even mind. We would have armor and weapons so we couldn’t be eaten by some little creature on this planet. Kevlar and titanium

 

[sealybobo]

This necrothread is like a banned hall of fame.....
Alone in the Universe, well there is God, Jesus,Mithra, Zeus, Ra, well you know, those guys.

But humanoid life? That would be iffy..at best...

I know a lot has to happen for humanoid life to happen but the odds say there are anywhere from zero-thousands of other humanoids out there. I refuse to believe it’s only one. Maybe not thousands but probably not zero

 

[sealybobo]

13 or 14 billion years. Who cares?

If you can tell the direction of the stars, which you can. And the speed of the stars, which you can.





One thing all explosions have in common. At the beginning of the explosion, the speed of the particles is increasing. We know from the light shift of the stars the speed. As the telescope looks farther and father away, the color shifts. From that we can figure out the speed and the direction.

So we have speed. We have direction. And from that, we know the galaxies are moving apart and still speeding up. So we know the explosion was so great, we are still in the early stages meaning it was a really big explosion.

Once all that information and data is collected, we can figure out how long it took to get here.

And with the next generation of telescopes, there isn't an overall new theory of the movement of the universe, there is verification.



So if you are really interested, there is much more information available. Your current source is seriously out of date or comes from one of those idiot creationists.

I've been studying it for fun for longer than you've been alive and had the great fortune to speak with people far, far smarter than I, Feynman and I talked about cosmology on many an occasion. Picture an explosion, now picture it many many days after it has occurred, now try and figure out how one dirt clod, can crash into another dirt clod, at right angles.

There must be a massive growing black hole in the center of that cluster of galaxies

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

The Bible Is Right As Far As Emphasizing Significance

People who believe that tend to be bitter and vindictive misfits who want to belittle the human race for rejecting them. True humanists prefer the proportion of 6,000 years for humans and 6 days for the rest of the universe.

 

[tycho1572]

Knowing what I know, I can’t see how anyone could think earth is the only planet with intelligent life.

 

[Montrovant]

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

The Bible Is Right As Far As Emphasizing Significance

People who believe that tend to be bitter and vindictive misfits who want to belittle the human race for rejecting them. True humanists prefer the proportion of 6,000 years for humans and 6 days for the rest of the universe.

You seem to have gotten a mixup in the quotes, your post is listed as a quote from me.

 

[task0778]

Knowing what I know, I can’t see how anyone could think earth is the only planet with intelligent life.

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I don't know if calling the 13 billion year age of the universe a fact is accurate; for one thing, the estimates are actually closer to 14 billion years old, for another, given the limits of our knowledge and ability to "see" the universe, there could well be data which would change that estimate. Based on what we have observed, 11 billion years is apparently the youngest the universe can be. How Old is the Universe?

I think people often forget just how vast both the time and distance involved in these sorts of discussions is. There is so much universe, and it has been around for so long, that everything humanity has directly observed is a figurative drop in the ocean. There could be numerous examples of intelligent life throughout the universe right now, and we would have no idea. There may have been many intelligent life forms before humanity arose, and we would have no idea. Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

True, IMHO anyway. I also think there is a possibility of more than one universe in existence, but that's a bit off topic.

Right now the prevailing theory is that the universe is expanding and will keep expanding until everything pretty much goes to hell. Figuratively speaking. But I also wonder if eventually there will be some unknown force that stops the expansion and draws the universe back into that single dot that explodes all over again. Not talking God here, although that isn't out of the question either.

As for life elsewhere in this universe, I'd put my money on life all over the place and some of those places could very well evolve into intelligent life. My guess there have been intelligent species that evolved, prospered, and died out before our solar system was born. Might not have been humanoid either.

 

[sealybobo]

Knowing what I know, I can’t see how anyone could think earth is the only planet with intelligent life.

If this has already been brought up, I apologize, I didn't have time to go through the whole thread tonight.

These questions of life, and intelligent life, other than our own in the universe usually center on life as we currently know it. There's also the possibility to consider that life or intelligence might occur in some completely different form than ours. Perhaps the things we think are needed are not; perhaps some kind of life might form without water, or without 'breathable' atmosphere, etc. We have such a limited perspective, having only seen an incredibly small portion of the universe and over such a small amount of time, I wouldn't be surprised if some form of life arose totally outside our expectations.

Also, even if there is intelligent life, and it were within the range of how far radio waves will have traveled from Earth, it's possible that the life forms would not realize they originated from an intelligent source even if they saw them. Perhaps they have adapted entirely different forms of communication and the idea of using radio waves to broadcast signals never occurred to them; by the same token, it may be possible that we've received signals of some sort from another intelligent life form without realizing that is what they were.

I am a sci-fi fan, and would dearly love for humanity to encounter another intelligent life form in my lifetime, but the distances and time periods involved make me very skeptical that we will. I consider it very likely that there is/has been/will be other intelligent life in the universe, just not that we will interact with them.

Oh, and I love the early Star Trek references I feel the need to say that I was not a big fan of First Contact (or any of TNG movies), I thought the better movies based on the original series were far superior. I attribute that to the time between; TNG movies seemed too much like long episodes.

7 years later and nothing has changed. No closer to finding life. I believe it exists but our ability to see that far is limited

Or not. Remember, the Universe is 13 billion years old. We know that for a fact looking at the speed of the expansion of the Universe.

So how long will a civilization last? There could have even been one on Venus. It's the same size as the earth and made out of the same material and millions and millions of years ago, when the sun was younger and cooler, it was probably very much like earth is now.

In cosmic terms, it won't be long before the earth becomes too hot to support life. Then it will turn into another Venus. It's unavoidable.

There could be civilizations all around us that we "just missed" by a million years.

The really big odds are two civilizations both developing close enough, and having technology at the same time.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I don't know if calling the 13 billion year age of the universe a fact is accurate; for one thing, the estimates are actually closer to 14 billion years old, for another, given the limits of our knowledge and ability to "see" the universe, there could well be data which would change that estimate. Based on what we have observed, 11 billion years is apparently the youngest the universe can be. How Old is the Universe?

I think people often forget just how vast both the time and distance involved in these sorts of discussions is. There is so much universe, and it has been around for so long, that everything humanity has directly observed is a figurative drop in the ocean. There could be numerous examples of intelligent life throughout the universe right now, and we would have no idea. There may have been many intelligent life forms before humanity arose, and we would have no idea. Humanity is the tiniest speck within the area and the history of the universe.

True, IMHO anyway. I also think there is a possibility of more than one universe in existence, but that's a bit off topic.

Right now the prevailing theory is that the universe is expanding and will keep expanding until everything pretty much goes to hell. Figuratively speaking. But I also wonder if eventually there will be some unknown force that stops the expansion and draws the universe back into that single dot that explodes all over again. Not talking God here, although that isn't out of the question either.

As for life elsewhere in this universe, I'd put my money on life all over the place and some of those places could very well evolve into intelligent life. My guess there have been intelligent species that evolved, prospered, and died out before our solar system was born. Might not have been humanoid either.

Eventually every star will die and turn into black holes and eventually those black holes will die. The universe will be completely dark. The time between that and the next Big Bang might be quadrillion years later.