Million, Billions or Trillions? Do you think Alien life is abundant?
http://www.alienlife.info
2007-04-25 15:47:38 · 10 answers · asked by Wayne S 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There are about 100-200 billion stars in our galaxy, but only a fairly small percentage would have earth-like planets. My guess on this would be in the hundreds of millions to billions range.
However, even planets that are 'earth-like' may not have life. Even if they have life, they might now have anything more advanced than bacteria. In fact, the Earth didn't have anything multi-cellular for about 85-90% of the time since it formed.
Even if there is multi-cellular life (or an equivalent), there need not be intelligent life. Again, the legth of time that humans have been around is less than .05% of the time that multi-cellular life has been around. So humans have been around less than .005% of the time the Earth has.
Even if there is intelligent life, it need not have agriculture. Humans have had agriculture about 5% of the time they have existed.
Even if they have agriculture, they need not have technlogy like radio. Humans have only had radio for 1% of the time they have had agriculture.
2007-04-25 15:57:54 · answer #1 · answered by mathematician 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't be surprised if it were in the millions. They've already discovered a handful all within 50 light years of us. Given the density of stars and the size of our galaxy, it is likely that a million worlds are out there.
Life is probably abundant, but intelligent life may be less so. You have to consider that by th time a civilization reaches the point where it can destroy itself, what's the likelihood that it will.
Other civilizations could have been obliterated by some catastrophe. Others by some disease. Others could have existed millions or billions of years before ours, and we'd never know it.
There's even some likelihood that there islife other than our own in this solar system.
We're just barely beginning to explore space. There's a lot of stuff that we just don't know.
~X~
2007-04-25 15:57:00 · answer #2 · answered by X 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One for sure. Only one that we definitely know about. Only one that we have any slight knowledge of. There may be many, but we don't know about any of them. I think there could be millions, but none would be exactly the same, so the number would depend on how close to Earth like it had to be to qualify in your mind. Not trillions, there are not even that many stars, and probably not billions either, IMO.
2007-04-25 15:53:53 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think there is alien life. I am sure there is more than one planet that has life. Are they flying to earth, no. It is impossible to give a specific answer to the number of earth-like planets. The other life will probably be absolutely nothing like life as we know it. There are zero (0) planets exactly like Earth. but there are other planets that could possibly support human life, and other life forms.
2007-04-25 16:00:03 · answer #4 · answered by Jared W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the Drake equation(look it up) says around 600 billion. With this many earth like planets, it would seem impossible that there could not be other intelligent life.Then with the number of galaxies being unlimited, it would seam nearly impossible that there is no life except here. How vain.
2007-04-25 19:18:40 · answer #5 · answered by Dan N 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There could be millions, there could be just a handful, could be just ours.
Life will be anywhere it can find a way to survive - but could be as simple as amoeba, bacteria, or primitive plants. It could be multi-celled organisms, could even be something we don't recognize as life. There will likely not be "life as we know it" such as human beings or mammals or birds, but there is very likely some kind of living creatures out there somewhere.
2007-04-25 15:55:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Extra terrestrial life is Not abundant, contrary to popular opinion and wishful thinking.
If life on earth was an accident, and so random, as many scientist say... odds of it occuring on other worlds are slim to none.
When you consider all the factors neccesary for carbon based life...
Scientifically, no other life other than carbon based... can be concieved or imagined...
Here are the factors neccesary for life... but even if you have all these factors... it doesn't mean that life would exist there.
A type of Sun, like ours... which produces the correct light waves neccesary for photosynthesis.
One in which would be large enough and bright enough for life.
The planet must be the perfect distance from that planet.
The planet must be large enough to support a think enough atmosphere.... oxygen amosphere... for life.
It must generate the correct amount of gravity to support life, and hold the atmosphere from escaping into space.
It must spin on its axis... so that one side will not boil and one side will not freeze.
It must have water...
The solar system where the planet resides must have a gas giant in it... to protect potential life on that planet from destruction...
It must be located mid range, from the center of the galaxy... where most of the iron based planets are...
It must be away from gas clouds... so that potential "intelligent life=[another giant factor]" can observe their position in the cosmos... and so that we can be aware of it.
Having all the perfect odds for life and all the perfect factors... would be astoundingly rare... especially one in addition to the planet earth...
Having all these odds doesn't garuntee life whatsoever...
Much less intelligent[Self aware] life... [ which not neccesary for Darwinial survival ]...
Even in the perfect senario where you do have another earth with intelligent life....
... we would never be able to get there...
even if we could go the speed of light... the trip would outlast our lifespan...
All this is saying that if this pure miricle of odds occured within our own galaxy.
We would never know if it happened in another galaxy, because the fathoms of distance are so indane... billions of lightyears...
Now unless our scientist can harness the energy of a black hole... in order to warp space time.... lol...
We ain't getting to our little miracle of a destination any time soon.
Now say when we get to this 1 in an infinitum chance of a planet....
What is to garuntee that the carbon based life is humanoid in shape?
Lol a startrek Senario is really a joke, when compared to reality...
all the aliens are humanoid... they all have a mouth and 2 eyes and they all can talk...
some even look like humans, except for a forhead alteration here and there....
Now if life happened on this miricle planet... the same evolutionary process would have to happen.... parallel to earth's....
that means that there would have to be alien primates... lol
according to evolutionary science...
So alien life, would truly be alien.
and who is to assume that they are more advanced that us?
DNA can last but for so long... that means eventually... it deforms so much... that reproduction is impossible....
so aliens having millions of years of technology ahead of our time is even more oddless...
no form of life could endure such time... they would die out....
What if these aliens are more primitive?... which is more of a probability...
the further we go, the more improbable it seems, the more like Fiction it becomes...
Hey, call me negative person,
all I do is view science is a more realistic manner... more facts than speculation...
More shuttle space craft than... warp capable ships...
I view science as what is possible now, and in the near future...
Anyway, I pretty much showed everyone how much fiction there is in this concept, and how slim the odds actually are...
I made my point...
Live long and prosper,
-Splinter_In_Finger
2007-04-25 16:14:39 · answer #7 · answered by Mr. Agappae 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Probably billions, since we have 200 billion or so stars. I'm sure there's life out there, but it's definitely not visiting us.
2007-04-25 15:53:37 · answer #8 · answered by eri 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
How far can you count..? Million..........Billions..............Trillions.......and so on........
2007-04-27 00:55:34 · answer #9 · answered by nilanka k 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
3,875,208.7
2007-04-25 15:53:17 · answer #10 · answered by Karl 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋