take a look at this article and tell me your opinion? Its very interresting...especially towards the emails part....sorry i asked this question a few seconds a go...and how impractical of me...I forgot to include the article.
http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_thursday_060720.html
2006-07-22 13:09:43 · 13 answers · asked by poetic_lala 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It seems unlikely we are alone in the galaxy.
Chemistry seems quite capable of creating the basic substances for life and as it is likely that there are billions of moons and planets to work with it seems likely SOME kind of life is out there.
However, the odds of intelligent life happening to be both currently alive (an not extinct by some means) and anywhere close enough for us to detect with even future technology seems pretty remote.
By some basic numbers
300 billion stars in our Galaxy
Assume half are old enough to have formed in the metal rich clouds to have life sustaining chemical reactions 150 billion
Assume half of these may have planets capable of supporting life 75 billion
Assume further that half of these worlds actually have life on them currently (it is relatively easy to generate mass extinction scenarios) 37.5 billion
Assume these life forms live on land and not in water (most life on earth is aquatic, and will never develop beyond most rudimentary technology without fire) Say 10% of previous number or 3.7 billion planets
Sounds promising so far?
Assume the collosal odds of evolution, chance, mass extinction survival, sufficient material wealth, species adaption to develop
technology. 1% of 3.7 billion or 37 million civilizations
Assume life expectancy of an average technological society at 1 million years? Why? just because. Humans have managed about 10 000 years, call me an optimist and we last for 1 million
Now how many technological civilizations are currently in the galaxy? If they have existed on and off for roughly half the age of the galaxy (7 billion years) 7 billion years divided by 37 million civilizations or 189 currently existing technological societies
Now what is the average distance between them?
Imagine the galaxy is a circle (it is not) approximately 300 000 light years across and sprinkle our 189 technological civilizations more or less evenly around it.
I come up with a ball park estimate of 1 civilization per 375 million "square" light years, or put another way, each technological alien civilization is no closer than 20 million light years.
These numbers are far from scientific, but give an indication how rare extraterrestrial life is even to optimists like me.
if humanity survives a million years, we would be lucky to meet one!
2006-07-22 13:50:06 · answer #1 · answered by aka DarthDad 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I honestly believe that we are the most advanced life form in the galaxy, at present. Microbial life may be common in the galaxy, but there are so many coincidences and good luck fortunes that led to our species that the prospects for any sort of duplication are nearly zero. Read the book "Rare Earth" if you want a serious discussion of this topic. I'll give you just three out of many examples. 1) If Venus had formed where Earth is today, (a far more likely event) with a similar amount of water, temperature, etc. then there would only be as much land area as the British Isles, and a smattering of small islands. This is not nearly enough land mass for intelligent life to evolve. 2) The formation of our very large Moon was an exceedingly rare and lucky event. Without the moon, sea tides would be nearly nonexistant, resulting in life remaining perpetually in the sea. I suppose intelligent sea life could someday evolve, but there is no sign of that happening at present. 3) Approximately 7 million years ago, the forests of East Africa dried up into a semi-arid wasteland. The chimanzee-like creatures who lived there should have gone extinct, but a few of them were just barely able to hang on. Had they gone extinct, the most intelligent life currently on Earth would be the chimpanzees and gorillas of central and west Africa.
In the year 2020 the first mission to Mars will occur. In another 100-200 years we will be launching our first starships to Alpha Centauri and beyond. And in the next few thousand years, we humans will spread out across the galaxy. Any other intelligent race would do the same, and yet they haven't. If they had, their presense would be obvious to our instruments. We are the first, and perhaps the only, at least in this galaxy.
2006-07-22 14:12:24 · answer #2 · answered by Sciencenut 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are a noisy little planet on the outer edge of our galaxy. We are not "in the thick" of the galaxy, and therefore may be in one of the most difficult places to be spotted by other life. However, the bad news is: if we are discovered by another race of beings that means they're more advanced than us and that likely we will be in grave danger rather than a state of excitement and goodwill. I've always believed that it's better that we're alone until we are ready to discover other worlds ourselves...then we'll have the upper hand.
2006-07-22 15:27:21 · answer #3 · answered by baridiana2001 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think we are alone, the universe is such a gigantic place that if we were the only ones in it would be an awful waste of space...I want to believe that someday we will make contact with a life form which perhaps will be superior than us or not...who knows, only time will tell.
2006-07-22 15:50:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that there are another forms of life out of our universe. For example, our galaxy is a small element of another big universe or galaxy. And you know what, the atoms have neitrons, and the neitrons have also a life within it.
2006-07-23 02:27:28 · answer #5 · answered by maria k 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This does not prove that there is no other life. We havent crossed yet. Every ones believe that there is life beyond earth including the creationists.
2006-07-22 15:22:44 · answer #6 · answered by Dr M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i do believe there is intelligent life out ther. there is a quote i like on that subject. " the most persuasive evidence that there is intelligent life in space is that they haven1t tried to contact us." and yes that is saying that humans are stupid but we r so i take no offense.
2006-07-22 13:19:25 · answer #7 · answered by alamari 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am certain that there is life all through the universe. Look at this site to see what our neighbor next door has to offer.
http://xenotechresearch.com/marsgal2.htm
2006-07-22 13:20:05 · answer #8 · answered by aichip_mark2 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ghosts are spirits that do stay and walk between us. there is info and info that they exist yet some people do no longer purchase it till they get haunted killed or damage. some people can surely see and pay interest to them. maximum ghosts are spirits that do not opt to depart yet or only would not comprehend it is genuine purpose yet.
2016-10-15 02:22:03 · answer #9 · answered by alim 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no life like us humans or any aliens you've seen in media,, other lower forms of life, yes like microscopic life
2006-07-22 15:29:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋