extraterrestriallife

posts about #extraterrestriallife more →
Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
Life On Mars? "Maybe," Says NASA
Boiling-Hot Planet Has Building Blocks Of Life

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twophrasebark
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
It's true there aren't a lot of bids for Earth on GalaxyBay. The Osoob just bought the planet for about 7 Jeorbs.

They'll be here next Tuesday.
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Cory Gross
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
I'm fascinated by the philosophical transition here... It used to be that life in the universe was so improbable that Earth was the only possible place it could be. Now, life in the universe is so probable that it's making life on Earth look more and more impossible. Of course, I say this is all philosophical because, regardless of your speculations, Earth is still the only place we know of with life.
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Blue_Thark
08/13/09

@Cory Gross: Yeah, it's sounding like instead of a "Goldilocks Zone" we're in more of a "Rumpelstiltzkin" situation... Locked in a tiny room, a power-mad king (hot sun) breathing down our necks, trying to spin straw into gold while tiny dwarf-creatures mock us from afar.

The dwarves, of course, are aliens who evolved in much higher gravity-- hence their short stature.
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brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there(
08/13/09

@Cory Gross: What's this we you talk about human?
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j.blo
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
Am I really going to be the first person to point out that the dude talking about stars is named Guinan? On this site?
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Blue_Thark
08/13/09

@j.blo: Well clearly he's been alive for centuries, and/or is from the future... Otherwise how else would he know so much about alien worlds?
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kolacek
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
Look, honestly? With lip service and apologies to all of the experts we hear from every week:

Given the immense frigging size of this universe we live in, I would not be surprised...no, actually let me rephrase that: I will bet cash freaking money on the fact that there is a damn-near-duplicate copy of this rock we live on with people who look exactly like us.

Write a "1" on a billboard sized piece of paper and then start writing zeros next to it for about 3 or 4 months. Look at that number. That probably doesn't cover the number of planets out there. How could it not be possible?
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Moonlighter
08/13/09

@kolacek: Actually, A more recent estimate of the number of stars in the universe has it around 7*10^22 ([www.space.com]). If our solar system is average in having 8 or 9 planets but only one or two of which may be in a 'habitable zone' you're still only looking at somewhere around 10^23 potentially habitable planets in the universe. The number is absolutely gigantic, but not as long to write out as you make it seem. Here, let me do it for you: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Even if we turn out to be a small-ish solar system and most had far more planets than ours, or larger habitable zones, it's unlikely we'd see any number larger than adding one more zero to that figure.
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Blue_Thark
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
More radiation = better for life... how?

Oh I think i get it. Life, like super powers, can only arise from the primordial ooze due to the side effects of a Cold War. If those stars hadn't been competing against one another for universal supremacy we wouldn't even be here.
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ParryLost
08/13/09

@Blue_Thark: I'm not sure, but I seem to recall radiation being important in the early stages of evolution or some such. >_>
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Bill-Lee
08/13/09

@ParryLost: Radiation causes mutations. If the mutation is a benefit (helps the organism out compete its neighbors in finding food or other resources), the individual with that mutation lives to pass the mutation on to its offspring.
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simonbarsinister
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
How ridiculous.

All of the actual evidence we have says that RIGHT HERE is the best possible world for life. It's the ONLY EXAMPLE we have that has worked.

Go back to your ivory tower until you have a second sample to base your ideas on.
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L3G10N
08/13/09

@simonbarsinister: How dare Scientists make assumptions about life on other planets! The fact is we have have not even scrathed the surface of understanding the universe, all we they have is speculation.

Let's see here, "The Sun does not SEEM like the perfect star for a system where life might arise. Although it is hard to argue with the Sun's ‘success' as it so far is the only star known to host a planet with life...."

Also "Jean-Mathias Grießmeier of ASTRON's research similarly suggests that the Earth may not be an ideal planet for the formation and development of life. Grießmeier examined planetary magnetic fields, finding that a planet with a stronger magnetic field is less likely to have its atmosphere blown away..."

Those are two examples, did you not read the article?? Ivory Tower, really? When you get your PhD in Astronomy or AstroPhysics Let's hear what ideas you come up with.
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ilves
08/13/09

@simonbarsinister:

Ivory tower? It seems to be you're on a much higher tower than they are. Why are you so upset about speculation that other types of suns might be more conducive to producing life than ours? Is that somehow offensive to you?
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Cory Gross
08/13/09

@L3G10N: I think simon is simply noting the disconnect between the hypothesis that the Sun is a relatively poor and unlikely sustainer of life compared to other types of stars and the observed fact that the Sun is the only star we know of to have sustained life. Until we have enough samples to calculate probability based on observed fact, this sort of hypothesizing comes across as angels dancing on the head of a pin.
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
08/13/09

@simonbarsinister: The ivory tower of "positing theories that can then be tested" you mean?
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SnehalMarten
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
It's quite possible that the laws of physics simply won't allow the human race practical large scale interstellar technological means of transportation. The Speed of Light limit will never be broken and that is the biggest problem,
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postretro
08/13/09

Small scale interstellar travel would suffice.

But really though, if you believe you will never do something than you most definitely never will.
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transbastard
08/13/09

@SnehalMarten: Faster than Light travel is not a necessity for interstellar exploration. Two alternative possibilities are cryogenics or simply artificially enhanced life spans. A less relevant alternative, at least in my opinion, are generation ships.
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tetracycloide
08/13/09

@SnehalMarten: perhaps the aliens with faster than light travel have evolved different theories?
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Dr.Quatermass: I have to say Dr. You are once again spot on with that oberservation and anything I am about to say that contradicts this statement is strictly for humor sake.
08/13/09

@SnehalMarten: It is quite possible that interstellar travel will not be done in a physical way. The Speed of Light applies only to things with mass. So sidestep mass. You're not thinking with portals.
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brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there(
08/13/09

@SnehalMarten: Physical matter cannot break the speed of light rule but information can and does. The universe can instantly transmit information across the universe regardless of distances involved. All we have to do is translate our physical selves into information and then we can be sent anywhere in the universe where the technology exists to reassemble the information. This is a fact proved by experiments and not some wild eyed speculation. I can't remember all the details, but the experiment involved splitting a particle (or something) in half, which caused those two new particles to move away from one another on a mirrored path and, here's the cool part, if one particle is influenced by a gravitational force that alters its trajectory the other particle immediately corrects its course so their trajectories remain mirrored. That can only happen if the information itself wasn't localized and not limited by the restraints of time and space.
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Ben Babcock
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
"...leading to a runaway greenhouse effect in less than 2 billion years."
There you have it, proof that global warming isn't caused by humans and that there's nothing we can do about it! No use going "green" if it's futile in the long run.

/sarcasm.
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The Curse of Millhaven
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
So, we are not the best of all possible worlds? Then again, for intelligent life as we know it there may be other factors. For instance, some kind of closed circulatory system may be needed (some kind of blood, rather than the open system of insects). Higher gravity might make that harder to achieve. Or maybe a better magnetic field slows down the mutation rate. If I could learn things from the future, the laws of xenobiology would come a close second to the fate of humanity in general.
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Mathmos
08/13/09

@The Curse of Millhaven: Of course this is the best of all possible universes, Candide. We just need to cultivate our garden.
Actually you have a good point. Lauren's story discusses conditions favoring development of life but not those favoring development of complex or intelligent life. Certainly gravity is more of a problem for larger life forms and land dwellers.
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Shokract
08/13/09

@The Curse of Millhaven: Hehe, I like your Leibniz reference (Best of All Possible Worlds.) I myself can not help but to drop the reference "we are not unique snowflakes" from the movie Fight Club.
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Gann
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
The earth's not perfect, but its not a bad starter planet. We're still young. When we're all grown up we'll move into a nicer solar system in one of the good parts of the galaxy.
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♠ Final ♠
08/13/09

@Gann: But what do we do when Lizardmen try gentrifying the neighborhood?
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johnnyichiban
08/13/09

@♠ Final ♠: We'll pop a cap in 'em 'cause we're from the streets.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
08/13/09

In reply to Other Suns and Planets May Provide Better Conditions for Life than Our Own
Maybe that's because nobody has messed them up yet.
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/27/09

In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
There's life out there - I know it - but we won't be able to reach or contact them (in my lifetime), so it's kind of a bummer to even look for Earthlike Planets, imo.

Say we find LOTS of them - we'll know they're there and won't be able to do anything about it. It's like dangling a carrot on a stick attached to a rabbits head. So cruel.
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Mathmos
02/27/09

@BeccaSaurus Rex: I'll die a little more content knowing they're there. And perhaps we'll be able to detect spectral signatures characteristic of life or some such.
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rufustfyrfly
02/27/09

@Mathmos: Or maybe we'll figure out where to point our satellite dishes so we can watch some awesome alien reruns
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/27/09

@rufustfyrfly: HOPEFULLY those things will happen, but unless they started sending transmissions in our direction millions of years ago, we're not going to get them anytime soon - if light takes that long to travel to where the closest Earthlike planet MAY be, any other signals really don't even have a shot. Maybe they're more advanced than we are and can reach us though... who knows?
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Mav
02/27/09

In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
Too bad we'll all be destroyed the year before so won't be able to enjoy this.
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Grey_Area
02/27/09

In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
About time we start finding some smaller, cooler planets. The big doofuses so far are really annoying. Mouthbreathers, everyone of them.
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Dormouse: Corporate Tool
02/27/09

In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
many of these Earthlike worlds could turn out to have our alien cousins on them.

What? I can't have sex with my cousin!
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
02/27/09

@Dormouse: Corporate Tool: If it's your second cousin (or third or farther), it's okay.
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