Greatest Mysteries: Does Alien Life Exist?

space.com ^ | 08/06/07 | Ker Than

[KevinDavis]

Editor's Note: We asked several scientists from various fields what they thought were the greatest mysteries today, and then we added a few that were on our minds, too. This article is one of 15 in LiveScience's "Greatest Mysteries" series running each weekday.

Life can be found in almost every nook and cranny of our planet Earth. Leaping, swimming, flying, sprinting, slithering, crawling or rooted firmly in place, organisms appear, die, and are replaced by new generations and new species.

Whether a similar bounty of life exists elsewhere in the universe is one of the oldest and most tantalizing questions of science. Considering the wide breadth of the universe and the countless stars it contains, the odds would seem in favor of the answer being "yes."

"We are here, made of stardust. Therefore, it is at least possible that there are others," said Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research in California.

[Don W]

Acts chapter 15, verse 20 reads: KJV

But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and *from* fornication, and *from* things strangled, and *from* blood.

This verse is a direct reference to the OT law regarding the bones and the BLOOD. The flesh is for us to consume, but the bones and the blood are for God to decide how they are consumed. It’s as valid today as the admonition to leave the corners of your fields for the widows and orphans to glean. There are also OT laws regarding “fallen fruit” that forbade consumption of fruit not picked by human hand from its tree. If you have a problem with the “blood thing”, you must be one sickly weak person come the end of winter if you live north of Oklahoma and follow the old food laws. (”Fruit JUICE” anyone?)

The arrival of the Christ presented a NEW covenant. Do you NOT believe?

BTW, IF you were starving, would you refuse to consume animal flesh?

I think you are entitled to eat, or NOT eat, anything you wish to. Kindly, allow the rest of us the same courtesy, and drop your attempt at proselytizing the PETA party line regarding meat.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Ouch.... That left a mark.

Don’t worry. The young are always sure of themselves in the absolute. It is only when we grow up and older that our own fallibility becomes something we understand.

[aruanan]

Is this the father of "bat boy" we see every once in a while in the Enquirer?

[aruanan]

Considering the wide breadth of the universe and the countless stars it contains, the odds would seem in favor of the answer being "yes."

Right off the bat, this is wrong. The odds of life arising just a single time on earth have been calculated by many people over the centuries to be incredibly small, even to the point that Julian Huxley said that the only alternative was special creation and that was unthinkable. So, the odds that such a spontaneous generation of life could appear a second time elsewhere in the universe are the odds of its having happened the first time squared. The odds that it happened a third time, the odds cubed, and so on.

[JamesP81]

The young are always sure of themselves in the absolute.

You've made some good points on this thread. OTOH, my father told me to be wary of people who 'claim to know' based on their age and experience, and to definitely not take what they say at face value.

Let's just say dear old dad hasn't lead me wrong yet.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

;-)   'claim to know' based on their age and experience, and to definitely not take what they say at face value.

 The only thing age and experience has taught me is how little we do know.  

At 15 we think we know everything, at 20 we know we know everything, at 30 we realize we dont know everything, and at 40 we start realizing we don't know a heck of a lot after all.  After that it only gets worse.  ;-) Your dad is 100% correct. Only an old fool thinks he knows everything.

[Ping-Pong]

Here’s a fascinating bunch of UTUBE videos from C2C

I just had a chance to listen to one this morning before work but it was very interesting. I can't wait to hear the others.

Thank you for pinging me. It's appreciated.

[Quix]

You are quite welcome.

I greatly appreciate your persistent gracious attitude and spirit hereon.

God’s best to you.

[JamesP81]

Thanks for the links. Interesting stuff.

[RightWhale]

Of course life exists inside every rocky planet. It is microbial and won’t be sending SETI any coded messages.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

You are welcome, and yeah, pretty mind blowing stuff to think about. Of course, the Fermi Paradox is another thing to think about when looking at this kind of thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

[RightWhale]

the Fermi Paradox

It's not. 300 years is not long enough to get far in this Galaxy.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

300 years?

[RightWhale]

That’s all your star-faring civilization gets. Get it done, now, or forget it.

[timer]

A fellow FReeper in TN says he some kind of aliens living right next door.

[Locke_2007]

We are made of stardust. All elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were created by nucleosynthesis in the cores of stars by well-understood nuclear fusion processes. Supernova explosions scattered these elements and they eventually condensed by gravity into new stars with planets composed of the heavier elements. Our bodies are made of these heavier elements.

Furthermore, “monkeys” are not on the same evolutionary line as modern humans. They are cousins, not direct ancestors. We do share 98.5% of our DNA with chimpanzees.

I guess you skipped science class, hey?

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

OK, how so?

[RightWhale]

100 years is about it for empires. Four years for American programs. Therefore, it won’t be America and who else is capable? Don’t bother mentioning hypothetical advanced colonies of microbes on other planets as likely candidates even though that’s all there is.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

hypothetical advanced colonies of microbes on other planets as likely candidates even though that’s all there is.

What do you base this on? Gut feel?

[RightWhale]

Look around. See any?