28 Nov '11 17:04>
80% of the Universe has been looked at so far, so chances are the other 20% has no life.
Originally posted by RBHILLWe haven't even ruled out life on the various planets and moons in our own solar system. As for planets and moons around other stars, we have not yet imaged a single one clearly enough to even rule out a thriving civilization.
80% of the Universe has been looked at so far, so chances are the other 20% has no life.
Originally posted by joe shmoWhy do you think fear is involved? Are you afraid of being alone in the universe?
What are you afraid of?
Originally posted by WoodPushThere is an important distinction to be drawn between life in the universe, and in our galaxy.
Why do you think fear is involved? Are you afraid of being alone in the universe?
Granted, the O.P.'s question is phrased in an awkward manner. Perhaps he's trying to pose Fermi's paradox.
I must say, it does seem a little odd to me that if intelligent alien life exists, we haven't detected it yet.
I think it's important that people keep in mind t ...[text shortened]... thout a shred of evidence.
Nothing wrong with a little healthy skepticism, is there?
Originally posted by WoodPushGiven the vast distances, the limit of light speed and the length of time it takes for intelligent life to develop I would think it VERY ODD if intelligent alien life were detected!
Why do you think fear is involved? Are you afraid of being alone in the universe?
Granted, the O.P.'s question is phrased in an awkward manner. Perhaps he's trying to pose Fermi's paradox.
I must say, it does seem a little odd to me that if intelligent alien life exists, we haven't detected it yet. I think it's important that people keep in mind tha ...[text shortened]... thout a shred of evidence.
Nothing wrong with a little healthy skepticism, is there?
Originally posted by wolfgang59Hmmm, less relevant perhaps than the length of time for intelligent life to develop is how long it lasts.
Given the vast distances, the limit of light speed and the length of time it takes for intelligent life to develop I would think it VERY ODD if intelligent alien life were detected!
Originally posted by WoodPushI assume, you mean intelligent alien life that has got to the technological stage of transmitting radio waves? Remember that man has been as intelligent as he is now for about 50,000 years, and only in the last 200 years or so has he been transmitting anything that would be detectable.
I must say, it does seem a little odd to me that if intelligent alien life exists, we haven't detected it yet.
Originally posted by twhiteheadWell the place to go to find that out would be SETI.
I assume, you mean intelligent alien life that has got to the technological stage of transmitting radio waves?
Remember that man has been as intelligent as he is now for about 50,000 years, and only in the last 200 years
or so has he been transmitting anything that would be detectable.
But even our civilizations current transmissions are not that eas ...[text shortened]... trial radio
signals?
My first guess would be that we haven't yet ruled out the nearest star.
Originally posted by googlefudgeI would dispute this. Exactly because the universe is so vast, and we've seen so little of it, and only a single planet up close - and that planet seems to be exceptional - that the chance of us being alone in the universe are neither zero, nor one, nor anything in between, but completely unknowable.
The chances of us being the only intelligent life in the universe are effectively zero.
The universe is just so vast, and the number of possible places for life to form and evolve so huge, that its effectively certain that alien life exists elsewhere.