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Topic: Alien life before you die: do you have hopes? Post Reply | Post New Topic
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Eric Ladd
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Joined: 16 August 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 4506
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 4:21am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

In my lifetime I’ll settle for some proof or even evidence to hang a hypothesis on that life exists elsewhere. The distance between us and them makes meeting a pipe dream. It would Hopefully validate much of the scientific wonder our species has had over the centuries and perhaps diminish the close minded thinking that has held us back.
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Carlos Velasco
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Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 5:43am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Once the chemicals for life are discovered in a remote planet's atmosphere, we could be in a situation where we know there are plants and oceans somewhere but we have no way of taking a peak and we can only use our imagination (as usual).

Fortunately, simple lifeforms will be found in some Solar System frozen moon's oceans. Some fossils in Mars would be cool too.

I wonder if we will find a way to take pictures of those without killing them by Earth bacteria attack.


Edited by Carlos Velasco on 30 June 2020 at 5:43am
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Christopher Frost
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Joined: 24 October 2016
Location: Canada
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Posted: 30 June 2020 at 5:50am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I think one of the fallacies we fall into with regards to life in the universe is the assumption that it has to follow the basic rules of life as we know it on this planet with regards to what we perceive as the building blocks or other requirements. Life may take on other forms than just what we know with our own limited science and I think we limit ourselves when we apply Earth standards to the rest of the universe. If we assume that life on Earth developed due to a random mix of chemicals and environmental conditions, who is to say that a slightly different mix elsewhere might not have produced something similar, yet different.



Edited by Christopher Frost on 30 June 2020 at 5:50am
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Philippe Negrin
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Joined: 01 August 2007
Location: France
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Posted: 30 June 2020 at 5:55am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Life on a planet or sattelite within our solar system, yeah I'm pretty sure we'll find it in my lifetime. Probably lichens or bacteria or small water creatures. But evolved intelligent life that could be eother hostile or benevolent from beyond our system ? Surely not. it's just too far away.
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Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 8:07am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Christopher F. - Fascinating idea. My thought about that is, if it's life as we don't know it - could we recognize it as life? It would be a crime if we exterminated a race of geological life because it moves so much slower than we do.
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Carlos Velasco
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Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 11:10am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Christopher F. - Fascinating idea. My thought about that is, if it's life as we don't know it - could we recognize it as life? It would be a crime if we exterminated a race of geological life because it moves so much slower than we do.

That reminds me of another great sci fi shot comic book story by Alan Moore: Brief Lives, appeared on the pages of Omega Men (1, 2, 3, 4).


Edited by Carlos Velasco on 30 June 2020 at 11:15am
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John Byrne

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Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132131
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 11:19am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

An amusing element of this question lies in the fact that within my lifetime thus far, I have seen the question of alien life go from something no "legitimate" scientist would even consider, to something that is held up to serious study.

When I was in fourth or fifth grade (so, 1960 or so) we were taught that the circumstances that created the Solar System were entirely unique. Not only was it highly unlikely that there were planets beyond the Sun's influence, but it was actually IMPOSSIBLE. And no planets meant no life.

There was still some clinging to the remote possibility of life here at home, Mars or Venus maybe. Speculation sometimes suggested that the heavy cloud cover on Venus, in fact, was due to the planet being covered by thick jungles. It was an idea with very little life left in it.

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Carlos Velasco
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
Posted: 30 June 2020 at 12:10pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Exoplanets have changed our view of the Universe, that's for sure.
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Carlos Velasco
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
Posted: 01 July 2020 at 5:45am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

One thing I find depressing is that interstellar travel is technically impossible. If God exists, he must be cruel. Let's examine the possibilities:

1) Using fuel from Earth. That would run out before you know it.

2) Using solar energy. Then we leave the solar system and...

3) Using hydrogen particles or some other fuel in space. This is the only real option, but I doubt those particles can produce enough energy to travel 10 years at light speed.

It looks like the human body can survive traveling at light speed, but those particles in space would be so hard to repel for several years at those speeds, fuel needs are even higher with the equipment to repel those installed.




Edited by Carlos Velasco on 01 July 2020 at 5:46am
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John Byrne

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Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132131
Posted: 01 July 2020 at 5:56am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

It does seem like some kind of "warp" technology is our only option. Folding time and space. Theoretically possible--but that's a long way from being practical.
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Joe Zhang
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
Posted: 01 July 2020 at 9:07am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Finding life on Mars would be very cool. Indirect clues on exoplanets would be neat. Radio signals would be awesome. Anything beyond that, I dunno. Life did not get better for the Aztecs when they met the Conquistadors. 
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Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
Posted: 01 July 2020 at 10:33am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Joe, that's a good point about the Aztecs and Conquistadores. We have to hope that any explorers we met A) wouldn't try to battle and/or conquer us, and B) wouldn't be subject to OUR tendencies to fight and conquer.

Of course, Aztecs and Conquistadores were both human; they had a hell of a lot in common. We might have very little in common with alien visitors.
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