as were looking into million of years at there past, as the light takes so long to reach us, could it be possible that we are looking at places that hold intelligent life already? just seeing the light that comes from them at millions of years past when they were at there dinosaur age. if so do you think it could be the same visa versa?
2007-12-17 21:16:18 · 13 answers · asked by H 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
How do you know they are at their dinosaur age?
The Universe is a lot older than the Earth
2007-12-17 21:20:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No one in the world knows for sure! We say there is a possibility, for there is no reason to say there couldn't be life elsewhere.
The equation dealing with your question is called
the Drake Equation, N = R x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
To understand it is much simpler than the looks suggest...
It expresses the number N of "observable civilizations" that currently exist in our Milky Way galaxy as a simple multiplication of several, more approachable unknowns.
R is the rate at which stars have been born in the Milky Way per year
fp is the fraction of these stars that have solar systems of planets
ne is the average number of "Earthlike" planets (potentially suitable for life) in the typical solar system
fl is the fraction of those planets on which life actually forms
fi is the fraction of life-bearing planets where intelligence evolves
fc is the fraction of intelligent species that produce interstellar radio communications (so we can seek them)
L is the average lifetime of a communicating civilization in years (imagine nuclear wars and global warming)
The equation was made in 1960 hoping that it would make our search simpler, but these variables which were supposed to be easily determinable, really aren't. As it turns out, it's simpler to search for and find aliens than solve Drake's Equation!
So really, your question doesn't have a true "Answer". The search is on, headed by an institute called SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). If you really feel about it, you may contribute to the search by letting some of the spare processing time of your computer to be used for analyzing signals from space. It's fun - all you have to do is go to http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ and download a small software called BOINC. Millions of people are helping the Search through this.
2007-12-18 05:39:51 · answer #2 · answered by Ankur TG 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course. There's even a chance that they hold intelligent life how we see them. Most of the planets we know about are quite close to us - in terms of how many light years they are away isn't the amount of time it takes an intelligent species to evolve. Also it's worth bearing in mind that alien life may bear no resembelince at all to our own. Just think what a starfish might evolve into in a few billion years!
I think the real question is, are we looking at intelligent life in our government offices or is it just a trick of the light, as evidence would suggest.
2007-12-18 05:23:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jut because there is thinking life on earth, does not imply that it must exist elsewhere. It may exist, or it may have but only in the past, or it may never have been possible elsewhere.
No one really knows, but it is entirely possible that worlds like the Earth are extremely rare. The conditions here are just right for life, and they have stayed that way continuously for billions of years. It is possible that technological life is so unlikely and so fleeting that there is generally only one civilisation in our part of the universe at any particular time.
Yes, other beings may have looked our way and examined our sun and planets millions of years ago but where are they now?
Another interesting possibility is that another civilisation looking at the Earth today may not consider life here to be particularly advanced at all! Perhaps we ARE dinosaurs to them.
2007-12-18 20:32:21 · answer #4 · answered by Quadrillian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life, yes probably. Intelligent life, possibly.
There has to be life other than that on Earth out there in the vast Universe. What type of life is any ones guess. If you assume there is intelligent life, is it more intelligent than us? or visa versa. If we ever meet intelligent life from another planet then one or the other will probably plunder the resources of the other. You only have to look at our human history to see that.
2007-12-18 05:38:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes - and that is one factor that makes contact with alien intelligences more difficult, not only are we separated in space, but also in time! Civilisations could have risen and fallen before life evolved on earth. Supposing, for example, we recieve a radio transmition from a system two thousand light years away. The culture that sent it could already be extinct!
2007-12-18 05:24:18 · answer #6 · answered by Avondrow 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Each star (like our own sun) probably holds planets. In our galaxy, there are millions of stars. Then there are millions of galaxies in the universe. I think it makes sense that there could be some intelligent life elsewhere. Why do we keep on thinking we own the whole universe?
2007-12-18 05:36:36 · answer #7 · answered by ako 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe, maybe not. we don't posses the technolgicl capabillity at this time to know. There will be new telescopes being launched starting in 2014 that are more powerful then Hubble. There specific mission will be to search nearby stars for Earth size planets. These are too small for hubble to detect. There is that saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
2007-12-18 05:46:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of all the uncertainties we have the likely hood that intelligent,technological life does not exist anywhere but here is the least.
We may never get any proof that they exist but they must and they,no doubt ask the same questions about us.
2007-12-18 17:14:36 · answer #9 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask Kevin Spacey
2007-12-18 05:19:32 · answer #10 · answered by FoundMyStar 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋