No one knows. Most people say that there must be others but I think in some way this is like the existence of God. Most people have to believe in something and I think it´s the same with this... we have to beleive that there are others because we know that the universe is enormous and it would be scary if we were the only beings. We think that there are so much planets that there must be somebody else. But we can´t even imagine how these new "people" would be if they existed. Maybe we couldn´t see them or hear them... maybe they´re not even solid bodies. Or maybe they are green little persons with antennas but I don´t think we´ll live to see other life forms.

This post has been edited by Sprnknwn: Sep 3 2006, 10:59 PM

i bet there is life outside in teh universe...its crazy how big it is...there really is no ending of space...is so hard to imagine itll hurt your head..lol

There most likely is other life out there, but I doubt it is as we imagine it (Films portray it). If we do find life in this solar system, it is most likely to be bacteria, or some sort of small organism.
I doubt we will manage to find a alien race outside are Galaxy in the near future, and even if (by sheer fluke) we did, we would have no way of getting there while their race still existed.

I doubt I will live to see an alien.

Just my opinion….we can’t help but relate everything to “our reality of time”
Time in the realm of the universe we of course are just barley a flicker!
The odds of anyone showing up in that immeasurable flicker must be incredible!
There is life out there!

Y'know what? This has probably got to be the most relatively original idea here. People keep talking about alien life, intelligent alien life and the like, assuming humanity will eventually find them, oftentimes without bothering to consider if life even existed at the same time as us.

Oh, and while we're considering time as an important factor, a book I've read once has a humorous take on intelligent alien life. Even assuming that they can travel faster than the speed of light, they won't see us like we are now. For all we know, what they probably see on their home planet are humans clothed in crinolines, waving feathered fans, holding balls (no, the other kind of "balls"), dancing waltzes and carrying about in carriages. Even if they were to come here right now, they will probably address us with "Good day, dear sir," instead of the cliche, "We come in peace."

Our planet is a paradise for life. But it wasn't always this way. There are two mass extinctions that are fairly well known to most people. The Permian and Cretaceous Mass Extinctions. The Cretaceous is the most well known. It's the "Dinosaur Killer Asteroid" event. The Permian could be due to several factors: Glaciation, Volcanic Eruptions, Possible Impactor, Continental Drift etc.. However, there have really been at least 8 Mass extinctions of life on Earth. There have also been around 3 minor extinction events.

Yup. Eight Mass extinction events. Some of these effected life-forms in certain environments such as the oceans. Others were truly destructive, killing life down to the microbial level. The mechanisms behind all of these are not completely understood. However, even though the severity of some of these is hotly debated, the implications are well understood in my opinion: Life is tenacious and very hardy. However, only within a certain, limited, range of environmental conditions. Change these conditions and life will cease to thrive. Any dramatic change has catastrophic implications. "Life" may very well be a "paper tiger." It may appear all-pervasive and tenacious. But when faced with sever and rapid global change, life may not be able to adapt.

So, while life is certainly vibrant and hardy, it does require a narrow range of conditions. How do we apply that knowledge to extraterrestrial life? It's difficult, but I suppose it can be done. Exobiologists seem to enjoy trying at least!

If we look at Mars we see a dead planet. However, recent evidence points to a dynamic planet which may have had abundant reserves of liquid water. We believe, as evidenced on Earth, that liquid water is required for "life." (The truth is, thinking about life without water is, well, very difficult. Let's go with what we know.) Other recent findings suggest that life on Earth developed rapidly. Far more rapidly than was first thought. There is good evidence to suggest that life took hold on Earth over 3.9 billion years ago. It's very possible that life developed on Earth over 4 billion years ago. Basically, as soon as the house was ready, life may have moved in.

What would this say about Mars? Well, if Mars had a history which included liquid water, it is possible that life took hold. We know from our own history that life seems to grab at the first chance it gets. (We have a humongous representative sample of "1" ) If Mars' life-giving environment was stable enough, for long enough, then life should have taken root.. somewhere. But, there is a catch. Mars has problems. It doesn't have the gravity to hold on to it's atmosphere. It does not have a protective magnetic field similar to Earth's. Radiation from solar winds could cause problems. (Mars does not exhibit the "dynamo" effect that Earth does. It's mag field is different. This is fairly rare planets in our system.) These factors combine to make Mars, presently, an inhospitable planet. The water seems to either have frozen underground or been vaporized due to low pressures and leached out into space. What could have happened to life?

Life could have developed on Mars. But, it would have been fated to die. As conditions slowly changed, the very small range within such life could have survived would have been drastically effected. As we know from our own history, if such changes last long enough or take place quickly enough, life can neither survive nor adapt. We only survived 8 mass extinctions and 3 minor ones because conditions on Earth stabilized rapidly enough or environmental changes did not cover a large spectrum. If that hadn't of happened, we wouldn't be here.

It is possible that there could be some form of life left on Mars. If there had ever been any to begin with that is. I agree that it is somewhat difficult to destroy all life on a planet. However, Earth has never been subject to the conditions that Mars exhibits. There could very well be a "breaking point" where life is doomed to oblivion. If life still exists on Mars, the best bet, imho, would be microbial life beneath the surface. Beyond that, I would say that Mars may be a dead rock. If liquid water existed on Mars long enough for life to take hold, then I believe that there is a 100% chance that we will discover evidence for life when/if the Mars Mission gets there.

To think that we are alone is just ignorant. There are galaxies upon galaxies upon galaxies and millions of light years of space. We haven't found much of anything but then again we don't have capabilities to REALLY look. There's gotta be life out htere. It doesn't need to be walking around space men.......but maybe some plants or water or bacteria. Some scientist was saying htat the Mars expedition could have possibly killed some form of life when it landed and that's interesting to say the least.

I don't think we'll witness life on other planets/galaxies in my lifetime.......but someday we will.

I would love it.how facinating will it be to find a life on another planet??.it would be awesome.I really love that kind of stuff no wonder I was a fan of xfiles LOL!!I think that if there's life on another planet it must be mars its not too close of the sun and I hear that its pretty big.almost like here.if people can go there I guess a life a grow there too.

I'm assuming you meant Is There Life Anywhere Else In The Universe
Otherwise we'd be talking bout beings larger than our entire universe O.O

@juice


Great example I had something similar said to me, and still find it ironic how great the percentage of people fit that profile .

Anywayz..

@Sentress
Though I agree with the majority of your post (pretty nifty facts I might add ) I can't help but comment on.

That's only subject to opinion. Personally I believe there were only 3 normal weather events, and 4+ global shifts that we know of. I'd like to know on what you're basing your statement though. different fields have different data to work with .


The same can be said about us. First off we don't know how mars' inhabitants (if there were any) met their end. Secondly there are various possible reasons for their downfall (if the they didn't leave the system at all). Thirdly we don't know when they actually existed, so the planet's conditions could've been very different back then

Yeah, I believe that logic alone dictates that life should exist out there. Then again deductive reasoning is flawed, ultimately we'll never know till we actually come in contact with extra terrestrials. Till then I'll keep my shotgun loaded

This post has been edited by Lethe: Mar 31 2007, 12:06 AM

The pale blue dot in this photo taken from Voyager is our planet:

This little dirtball we live on cannot be the only source of life. Considering this picture there is bound to be more life somewhere in the universe - I mean, IIRC, this photo taken from Voyager isn't even out of our solar system.

This post has been edited by Tetraca: Mar 31 2007, 12:42 AM