Are we alone in the universe?

[cmac]

Anyone who has ever seen the movie or read the book 'Contact' should remember the famous line,

I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

That said, I will ask a question: are we alone in the universe? Are there other beings on other worlds in other galaxies with solar systems just like ours? Or are we unique, the only planet with life just like ours?

 

The movie/book brought up some deep and provocative questions, especially originating from quotes like the one above, as well as the quote

So what's more likely? That a mysterious, all-powerful god created the universe, and then decided not to leave a single evidence of his existence? Or that he simply doesn´t exist at all, and that we created him, so that we wouldn't have to feel so small and lonely?

I must say that I am lead to believe that we are most certainly not alone. That seems to make sense: Earth was created under specific conditions, and can only function as it does at a proper angle to the sun. It is logical that, in the infinite space of the universe, that the conditions that spawned this planet must occur an infinite number of times. It's almost mathemetical:

 

A certain effect, created under x conditions will be repeated an infinite number of times, given an infinite amount of space and am infinite amount of time.

 

One popular argument for the religious side of this matter relates to the 'formula' stated above. According to Christians, because the planet and its its inhabitants can only exist because of conditions that are astronomically small, then it must be the work of a god.

 

I find that to be as factless, petty and ridiculous as much of Christianity's explanations for pretty much everything, including the Creation myth. Even though the conditions under which this planet were created were incredibly minute (degree of planet's tilt, ambient temperature, gases present, etc.), there must be an infinite number of other planets exactly like ours. There might even be planets whose denizens rely on other gases for their processes, such as methane or carbon dioxide, rather than oxygen and nitrogen. It has been proven by the heterotrophic bacteria that can survive in deep-sea vents that they can adapt to adverse conditions and rearrange their internal mechanisms to rely on the current conditions, such as sulfer and high temperatures. So there could be other planets of beings who are like us, or differ only in that their planet's ambient conditions are altered.

 

 

All that said, what are your opinions?

[surian]

The answer to your questions, and indeed the answer to life, the universe and everthing is: 42.

 

Hope that helps.

[valdir]

You're crushing my brain with this question.

 

I strangely doubt we're alone, because as the quote said "...seems like an awful waste of space."

 

So, yes. 42.

 

~Valdir

[Malchik]

Keep off the religion please, Dark0ne's orders!

 

I find it hard to believe that there haven't been conditions suitable for the development of life elsewhere in this huge universe. But whether the life is anything like ours I doubt.

 

I would not expect to find little green aliens, although they might be green. But even if life as on this planet exists, it may well be that it is at a different stage. Maybe they will be at the dinosaur stage? In fact with so much 'space' it seems highly possible that at least one world is like that.

 

But the chances of our visiting such a world is zero with present technology.

[Icefiddell]

I love topics like this :D (yes i know geek lol)

 

What i dont understand is that if you ask most people do they think where alone they say just that well its a obviously big place so there must be something more out there. But in the movies and such a slight mention of alien life is shunned and laught at.

 

To be honest i think they will be life at all stages of development out there, i mean what are the odds that there all less developed than us and that we really are the centre of intelligent life :blink:

 

I mean there is substantial evidence that Mars was once a planet quite like ours millions and millions of years ago, but whether there was inteligent life on it is another question. But there must of been some form of life up there and thats just the planet next to us.

 

But whether or not there is things like Star Wars and all those other movies and programs i dont know lol but then again we may just think like that because that is seen as Fiction and where all brought up to think like that, so who knows.

[Eiade]

I think that if we are alone, then it's defying insane odds. Think about it. We are one planet in one solar system. In our galaxy, there are billions of other solar systems. In the known universe, there are billions of other galaxies. I think that it just can't be possible that we are alone. There are just way too many chances for life to sprout up.

[_it_]

we are 1 planet with a good atmosfeer there are 3 other plantes with a atmosfeer that have been will be or are suitible for living

 

mars

venus

titan (titan is one of the moons that belong to saturn)

 

so we are definetly not the only ones in the entire universe

[Brighid]

I do believe life exists elsewhere. If that life is intelligent, I'm not sure I believe it has, or would try to contact us.

Its most intelligent act would most certainly be avoiding us like the plague.

[Arrow_Diet]

There must be another planet out there that has intelligent life. Just because we haven't seen them, doesn't mean they're not intelligent. There are so many planets and so many stars, it'd be nuts if there wasn't intelligent life out there. Besides, even at the speed of light, it'll take years to make any kindof discovery of intelligent life else where.

[Maquissar]

Curious to find this post here, just after I created a post about distances in the

universe. I suggest you take a look at it, to at least try to IMAGINE how big our

universe is.

 

Let us try to make a pessimistic extimation:

 

- The extimation of the number of galaxies in the universe is about 100.000.000.000. Let us say that the real number is ten times lower than that,

it's still 10 billion galaxies.

 

- The extimation of the number of stars in the Milky Way is roughly 100.000.000.000. Again, let's think that this number is wrong , and there are

just 10 billion stars in our galaxy, which is an average one.

 

- Let's imagine that ALL the other galaxies have the same number of stars as

ours - although we know that Andromeda, M31, is about twice as bigger as the

Milky way. That's still 10 billion times 10 billion= 100.000.000.000.000.000.000 stars in the Universe.

 

- Not every star system has planets, although there are probably stars with many more planets - and satellites - than ours. Let's imagine that our star system is big,

and that the average is, let's say, 5 planets and 15 satellites= 20 bodies.

 

- Although there technically COULD be planets in binary and triple systems, let us

say that the radiation level would be too high for life to form, and let us say that

half of the star systems in the universe are binary. Let's divide the number by two: 50.000.000.000.000.000.000 stars.

 

- In our system, only the Earth is able to have Life As We Know It. Of course, Mars

could be inhabitable by other lifeforms, and basic lifeforms could have evolved in

Titan as well. As far as we know, there might even be lifeforms that thrive in the diamond-melting atmosphere of Venus. But we mean to be pessimistic, so let us say that ONLY 1 planet every 100 bodies (planets+satellites) can have life.

 

- 50.000.000.000.000.000.000 stars * 20 bodies = 1.000.000.000.000.000.000 bodies in the universe / 100 = 10.000.000.000.000.000 INHABITABLE bodies in

the universe.

 

- Now, let us say that, even if a planet has the requirements to have life, this only

happens 1 time every 1000. Let's divide the number by 1000: 10.000.000.000.000

planets in the universe in which life has actually formed.

 

- Let us say that only 1 time every 10000 life achieves sentience: that's 1.000.000.000 planets that have hosted, will host or are hosting sentient lifeforms,

and this is a pessimistic scenario.

 

This said, I just add that, in my opinion, that Earth is rather unlikely to be the only inhabited planet in the universe and that no intelligent and informed person should believe that, unless he has religious motives for doing so.

 

And, of course, 42.