Posted on 02/06/2007 9:08:20 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Presently, 200-plus known extrasolar planets have been found -- mostly huge gas giants like Jupiter within our own solar system of Sun-orbiting planets. Given these discoveries -- just within the last 10 years or so -- under what conditions can we expect terrestrial planets to crop up? Moreover, just how common are habitable planets in the universe? Planet scouting scientists met here January 26-28 at a media workshop sponsored by the University of Colorado's Center for Astrobiology to share theories as well as new observational information... What's now taking place is that extrasolar planet researchers are shifting into high gear given ground and space-based tools. That being the case, will theories on spotting Earth-like worlds be overtaken by actual observation? ...Boss said that the focus of the debate right now is on giant planets -- because those are the ones that have been found to date in greatest abundance... "Theorists truly are parasites ... and derive their sustenance from the growing body of observational evidence about other planetary systems," Boss concluded... "Both theory and observations are key," concurred Sean Raymond, a NASA postdoctoral researcher here at the University of Colorado's Center for Astrobiology and Center for Astronomy and Space Astrophysics... Theory is what probed the origin of hot Jupiters, he said, and came up with the idea of planet migration, the current model being that these planets form father out and migrate in to their current locations.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Simple alien life is probable, but complex extraterrestrials inside the Milky Way are improbable.
Simple alien life is probable, but complex extraterrestrials inside the Milky Way are improbable.Hey, sez you.
Not me. It is Ward, Brownlee, and Fr Martin.
Catastrophism wins again.Five Out of Five Researchers Agree: Earths Solar System SpecialThough researchers find more and more distant planets revolving around alien suns, the discoveries highlight that Earth and its solar system may be an exceptionally rare place indeed. That was the consensus here Wednesday evening among five planetary science experts who spoke at the 5th annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Panel Debate held at the American Museum of Natural History... Prior to the discovery of planets around stars other than our sun in the 1990's, scientists thought that alien solar systems must look something like our own. They presumed that just like our solar system, there would be small rocky planets like as Earth close to their host stars and large, low density ones a little farther out. But what they discovered were solar systems unlike ours with big Jupiter-like planets close to their host star... "I have a problem referring to our own solar system as unusual, because we haven't done that experiment yet, we haven't searched for our own solar system yet," said Turnbull. Thus far, the kind of data obtained and the type of observations made are tuned to search for Jupiters and not Earths, therefore that's what we find. "The experiments were designed for that," she explained. But with the vast majority of the alien planets found in eccentric orbits, Butler has a different view. "I think with the data at hand, we can say that our solar system is rare. Eccentricity dominates," said Butler. "It's just a matter of how rare we are," he added.
by Sara Goudarzi
March 31, 2005
All three are full of crap.
One is dead. The other two are doing very well professionally.
So is Al Gore.
Al Ogre might be allowed to teach fifth grade science, but seventh grade science would be above his pay grade.
You can't base a probability estimate on a single instance.
Life is possible. That's as far as we can reliably say.
Until we find life that is NOT Earth-descended, we have no real idea. . .
That is correct. There is no evidence whatsoever of any life beyond earth, not microscopic, not complex, excepting that much debated meteorite. However, it seems possible, as a wild guess. Is there a Life on Mars pool?
Thanks.
Universe is too vast, times needed to contact intelligence outside of our heliosphere way beyond the scope of a single generation, probability of a stable environment for the few billion years needed for intelligence to develop way too high.
We may find a fossilized protoboint or self replicating molecules but we'll never meet an intelligent ET.
There are two possibilities. Either there is intelligent life out there or there isn't. Either way the realization will change our earthly attitude. If we are alone, then Hillary! is the best we can do. If we are not alone, then the other ones will either enslave us or be as confused and muddled as we are. In any case, our situation will not change except for some people including NASA employees whose brains will melt and run out their ears.
The Viking Labeled Release Experiment and Life on MarsMany hypotheses have been advanced and tested in attempts to account for the well-characterized activity detected in the surface material of Mars by the LR experiment. As shown above, these hypotheses have themselves been found wanting. The demonstrated success of the LR and the exquisite sensitivity with which it has detected microorganisms during its extensive test program with its record of no false positives can no longer be denied. No non-biological approach published, or known to the author, has duplicated the LR Mars data. Some laboratory experiments have produced positive responses, but the detailed thermal sensitivity exhibited by the variety of controls conducted on Mars has remained elusive in all such tests compatible with martian conditions. On the other hand, a combination of known properties of microorganisms, perhaps even those possessed by single species, could reproduce all aspects of the LR data. The biological interpretation of the Mars LR results is left standing alone. Recent discoveries of life forms thriving in extraordinarily severe environments on Earth strongly indicate that any alien organisms arriving on Mars might well and widely adapt to their new home. Application of the scientific principle leads to a conclusion: the Viking LR experiment detected living microorganisms in the soil of Mars.
by Gilbert V. Levin
My original training was as a scientist, even if I'm an engineer now. I learned a long time ago, to separate what is known, from what is unknown. It's an important distinction that a lot of people don't think to locate accurately. . .
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