There are those who believe that life here began out there

[thelordharry]

Meh, the galaxy alone is frikkin' huge. If those radio waves aren't aimed right, they'll pass right by. And who's to say they'll even be in a form we recognize?

Exactly. There could be an abundance of intelligent life out there but it's just not within our perceptual range.

[Teaos]

But if they are that advanced we'd be with in theirs. So why arent they here? I doubt they have a prime directive and we must be pretty interesting.

[Sionnach Glic]

Well, there's kinda the whole problem with not being able to travel faster than light. They're going to be stuck at STL speeds unless they're really advanced. And if they're that advanced, why bother with us primitive creatures?

[thelordharry]

But if they are that advanced we'd be with in theirs. So why arent they here? I doubt they have a prime directive and we must be pretty interesting.

Because it's not the 5th April, 2063 yet

Good point though. Just because we're not clever enough to find extra terrestrial life, doesn't mean that it's not out there and they could find us. Why they would want to is another matter

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I never found anthills fascinating. Doesn't mean they don't exist.

[Graham Kennedy]

The universe isn't infinite, but it does have something like 10^22 stars in it. I lean towards life being somewhat rare in terms of percentages... one species per million stars, perhaps. But that's still an awful lot of species. A hundred thousand in this galaxy alone!

Here's the thing, though. I lean towards that view purely because I want it to be true. It's nothing more or less than a bias.

There's no objective reason whatsoever to suppose that Earth isn't the only lifebearing planet in the universe. That would suck, but nature doesn't care too much about that.

[thelordharry]

The universe isn't infinite, but it does have something like 10^22 stars in it. I lean towards life being somewhat rare in terms of percentages... one species per million stars, perhaps. But that's still an awful lot of species. A hundred thousand in this galaxy alone!

Here's the thing, though. I lean towards that view purely because I want it to be true. It's nothing more or less than a bias.

There's no objective reason whatsoever to suppose that Earth isn't the only lifebearing planet in the universe. That would suck, but nature doesn't care too much about that.

I thought the universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding, in all of the directions it can whizz, as fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know, twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is so remember when you're feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth
and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

[Sonic Glitch]

The universe isn't infinite, but it does have something like 10^22 stars in it. I lean towards life being somewhat rare in terms of percentages... one species per million stars, perhaps. But that's still an awful lot of species. A hundred thousand in this galaxy alone!

Here's the thing, though. I lean towards that view purely because I want it to be true. It's nothing more or less than a bias.

There's no objective reason whatsoever to suppose that Earth isn't the only lifebearing planet in the universe. That would suck, but nature doesn't care too much about that.

I thought the universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding, in all of the directions it can whizz, as fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know, twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is so remember when you're feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth
and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

Actually, I think the mere fact that we haven't been contacted by an alien intelligence is proof enough. I mean really, if you were an advanced, intelligent race, would YOU want anything to do with us?

[Tsukiyumi]

I am one of us, and I don't want anything to do with us.

[Sonic Glitch]

I am one of us, and I don't want anything to do with us.

My point.

[Sionnach Glic]

I thought the universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding, in all of the directions it can whizz, as fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know, twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is so remember when you're feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth
and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

Gotta love the Galaxy Song.

When life gets you down, Mrs Brown
and things seem hard or tough,
and people are stupid, obonxious or daft,
and you feel like you've had quite enough.

Just remember that you're standing
on a planet that's evolving,
and revolving at nine hundred miles an hour.
That's orbiting at ninety miles a second, so it's reckoned,
the sun that is the source of all our power.

The sun and you and me,
and all the stars that we can see,
are moving at a million miles a day.
In an outer spiral arm at fourty thousand miles an hour
in the galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars,
it's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
but out by us it's just three thousand light years wide.

We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point,
we go round every two hundred million years.
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
in this amazing and expanding universe!

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
in all of the directions it can whizz.
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light you know,
twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.

So remember when you're feeling very small and insecure,
how amazingly unlikely is your birth.
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

[Kevsha]

This is somethnig i had though about alot growing up. I grew up watching star trek tos reruns and TNG and i also went to a catholic school and am chatholic myself. now i vaugly remember a lecture by one of priests (and no he wasn't diving the speech while fondling me ) about how there is nothing else out ther, were created in gods image and we are his children nothing/no one else ect ect ect..... then and now i can not accept that. as much as i would like there to be some kind of proof, the fact is that there are too many religious zelots out there that will... god only knows what they would do... maybe if there is life watching us, thats why they havent shown themselves. an observation of the current affairs in the world would make it pretty clear that mankind as a whole would react quite negatively to it. i may have grown up with strict religious beliefs, but i keep a very open mind to all others and thier beliefs. but there are many people in the world who do not

From a religious side, i find it hard to believe that a god with unending ablities would create this vast universe for us and only us.

From a non religious side, with so many other planets i don't understand how there COULDN'T be life out there.

[Thorin]

The universe isn't infinite, but it does have something like 10^22 stars in it.

Yes it is. Just because it has a finite amount of mass/energy (which is called the observable universe) in it doesn't mean the 'volume' of the actual universe isn't infinite, regardless of the shape.

The expansion of the universe comes from the fact that all mass/energy is moving away from each other. For that to happen, it is essentially expanding - just like a balloon as it is blown up.

[thelordharry]

Love your sig, Thorin. Have you checked out this site?:

http://www.80085.org

[Graham Kennedy]

The universe isn't infinite, but it does have something like 10^22 stars in it.

Yes it is. Just because it has a finite amount of mass/energy (which is called the observable universe) in it doesn't mean the 'volume' of the actual universe isn't infinite, regardless of the shape.

You think the universe is infinite in size? Really?

The expansion of the universe comes from the fact that all mass/energy is moving away from each other. For that to happen, it is essentially expanding - just like a balloon as it is blown up.

How does something expand if it is infinite in size already?