Life beyond Earth

**Ojibwa** · 24-Apr-07, 22:07

Thought this was an interesting article.

What do you think, are there other planets out there that support life or is it just sci fi.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...exoplanet.html

**Rheghead** · 24-Apr-07, 22:56

Mars could yet reveal a few secrets so let us not forget that one. There is another probe due to land either 2008 or 2009. The circumstantial evidence for life is massing year by year on the red planet. What with those fossils, methane and evidence of running water in very recent times. Let us not forget the positive test on the Viking expedition as well! It is almost tantalising to say that there is life on Mars.

I must admit to having Faith in there being life on other worlds but it is better to have Faith where the odds are stacked in it being true.

**DeHaviLand** · 24-Apr-07, 23:09

I think its inconceivable that life doesnt exist elsewhere. There are thousands of millions of planets, and millions of solar systems. The odds against life existing on another planet are too big. We might never get to meet them, but they're out there.

**sweetpea** · 24-Apr-07, 23:16

It says it's about 50 times bigger and 5 times more massive, maybe we should ditch this one and move there. Richard Branson are ye listening? Take me to the....
I think there is every reason to believe that there is life elsewhere, what form it takes is another matter, I think.

**Jeemag_USA** · 24-Apr-07, 23:28

Its a subject you could ponder on for hours and one I have had many lengthy conversations over after too many beers

When you take into consideration the vastness of the night sky when you look up, consider the amount of different solar systems there are, its very hard not to believe there are more inhabited planets out there.

Its probably highly possible there are solar systems out there that have more than one planet in the system that is inhabited by life forms, maybe more than two in the same solar system, maybe they are friends and trading with each other, maybe they are blowong each other up?

Thinking about it can conjure up all sorts of ideas, if you think of how different parts of our own world have advanced and the how some more modern cultures on this planet have discovered less modern lands and had a pretty profound and sometimes damaging affect on other cultures. Imagine what it might be like if we were the most advanced in the universe and managed to travel to another inhabited planet before anyone else did and we found some less advanced human or animal species and tried to teach them what we know. All of a sudden we turn up and give them fire, beer, guns and telly

Or what if it was the other way round and we were the leat advanced and somebody turned up here and said you shouldn't do that like that, you should do it with this. Oooh sometimes I don't like to think about it.

Rather concentrate on how to perfect our own wee ball so everyone is happy and safe.

**Rheghead** · 24-Apr-07, 23:38

If we discovered for sure that we are alone in the Universe, that would be equally as surprising as discovering for sure that we aren't.

(I think it was Carl Sagan that said that first.

)

**North Rhins** · 24-Apr-07, 23:47

Can you imagine the wee grey men looking down on our planet today? ‘Sod this let’s keep going.’ (In an alien accent of course).

**Jeemag_USA** · 25-Apr-07, 00:03

Originally Posted by North Rhins

Can you imagine the wee grey men looking down on our planet today? ‘Sod this let’s keep going.’ (In an alien accent of course).

Aye it might be like all those people who pass through Caithness to get to Orkney. We might be able to sell them dylthium crystals though for the rest of their journey

**North Rhins** · 25-Apr-07, 00:05

Originally Posted by Jeemag_USA

Aye it might be like all those people who pass through Caithness to get to Orkney. We might be able to sell them dylthium crystals though for the rest of their journey

Aye but would the engines take it Capn'?

**sweetpea** · 25-Apr-07, 00:11

Originally Posted by Jeemag_USA

Aye it might be like all those people who pass through Caithness to get to Orkney. We might be able to sell them dylthium crystals though for the rest of their journey

The Crystals would be for the Caithness part of the journey, surley. Once you get to Orkney you can relax, Cptn

**Tristan** · 25-Apr-07, 00:15

Originally Posted by Ojibwa

Thought this was an interesting article.

What do you think, are there other planets out there that support life or is it just sci fi.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...exoplanet.html

There will be other planets that support life.

Is there life out there? I would be very surprised if there wasn't.

**sweetpea** · 25-Apr-07, 00:16

For me this has a danger of turning into a music thread!

**JAWS** · 25-Apr-07, 00:29

I too am of the opinion that due to the size of the Universe there not being some form of life elsewhere is inconceivable. In truth, I doubt if we are even anything approaching the most intelligent form of life in the Universe.

Will it have two arms and two legs, visit Earth and speak English via a Universal Translator? I very much doubt it unless they have their version of Hollywood as well!

**sweetpea** · 25-Apr-07, 00:32

In my experience we are definately not the most intelligent. Far from it. I'm gonna get slagged for this but I like to think there is a parrallel universe

**Metalattakk** · 25-Apr-07, 01:35

Originally Posted by Jeemag_USA

Aye it might be like all those people who pass through Caithness to get to Orkney. We might be able to sell them dylthium crystals though for the rest of their journey

Originally Posted by North Rhins

Aye but would the engines take it Capn'?

Ye cannae change the laws o' physics...

**Jeemag_USA** · 25-Apr-07, 01:38

Originally Posted by Metalattakk

Ye cannae change the laws o' physics...

I am wonderin if Sweetpea is waiting for someone to break out in either "Star Trekkin" or "Life on Mars"....

sorry..back to topic

**gleeber** · 25-Apr-07, 07:42

Just because the universe has hundreds of millions of solar systems doesn't mean there needs to be life in any of them.
Although the fantasy corner that exists in the corner of my skull cannot avoid the possibility of life on other planets, there's another corner in there that sees everything around me as just pure chance.
Until some more tangible evidence turns up, other than the fantasy lubricating thoughts of human scientists, I am happy to live in the knowledge that man is ultimately alone in the whole wide universe.

**George Brims** · 25-Apr-07, 21:58

Originally Posted by sweetpea

It says it's about 50 times bigger and 5 times more massive, maybe we should ditch this one and move there. Richard Branson are ye listening? Take me to the....
I think there is every reason to believe that there is life elsewhere, what form it takes is another matter, I think.

It is supposedly 50 *percent* bigger, or at least that is the diameter it would have if it's of similar rocky composition to Earth, given that it's about 5 times as heavy. I think that calculation also includes some assumptions about the size of the core vs the lighter outer bits, since 1.5 cubed is only 3.375. Interestingly this one was found by the same team that found the very first extrasolar planet. A rival California based team has found far more of them but these guys scooped both the first one and the first one comparable to Earth.

**sweetpea** · 25-Apr-07, 22:57

. Interestingly this one was found by the same team that found the very first extrasolar planet. A rival California based team has found far more of them but these guys scooped both the first one and the first one comparable to Earth.[/quote]

Yeah but it gets to me that they won't find anything in my lifetime, it always annoys me when they say things like... not in our lifetime but certainly within the next 100 years.