Posted on 11/15/2005 6:45:01 PM PST by KevinDavis
Ever wondered how life began and whether there is life on other planets? You're not alone, but the curiosity rarely turns into a career.
The UW astrobiology program gives hope to would-be professional stargazers. Astrobiology -- the study of life in the universe -- looks for scientific answers to questions like "How did life begin on this planet?" and "Are we alone in the universe?" The field builds on knowledge across several disciplines.
UW biology professor Peter Ward and UW astronomy professor Donald Brownlee believe discovering intelligent aliens on other planets is unlikely. In Rare Earth, a book the two co-authored, they say the conditions needed for complex life are so narrow that microbial life may be common, but complicated life in the universe is likely rare.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedaily.washington.edu ...
With respect,
if life can evolve (or was created) even in simple form on other worlds, I see no logic in calling further evolution or intelligent creation on said worlds "unlikely."
If it happened here, and has happened in simple form elsewhere, it seems to me that intelligent life elsewhere would be the logical conclusion.
Now contact, on the other hand.........I agree is unlikely.
Its possible (rare earth) when you factor in star life, stability, metals, habitable zone, rotation, having a moon (tides might be critical), of course, atmosphere, chemical reactions, energy, etc etc.
Didn't stop Cap'n Kirk from finding a dancing green chick.
Didn't stop Cap'n Kirk from finding a dancing green chick.
I thought that was Dr. Smith in "Lost in Space".
Accepting that God created the heaven and the earth, one must also conclude he created all of the stars, many of which also have their own planetary systems. That being the case, why should we automatically conclude that God did not also create life forms on other planets?
Beats me... I have a feeling that God did create other lifeforms. To say that we are the only ones in this universe is like saying the Earth is flat..
I'm unclear how this rates a "barf" alert. After playing with the Drake's Equation for estimating the numbers of advanced civilizations in the galaxy, I lean to the same conclusion as in the article. We're probably alone.
http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179074
---"Beats me... I have a feeling that God did create other lifeforms. To say that we are the only ones in this universe is like saying the Earth is flat.."---
Billy Graham once said that he thought there was probably life on other planets, and that he believed the Bible hints at it.
I have often wondered if the Lord created the universe so sparse as to personally create other worlds but ensure that the different civilizations would never be able to contact each other.
Just a galaxy away, and we might never be able to contact them at all.
Never say never....
Of course, if there was intelligent life on other planets (that had a few million years jump on us), the logical question is: where are they? You would think they would have had time to colonize all over the galaxy.
Arthur C. Clarke had a pretty good explanation for this, which was hinted at in "2001- A Space Oddessy". Advanced civilizations are like an impulse function; either they destroy themselves or they self-evolve to the next level. They are only around long enough for their inhabitants to figure out how to assume a suitably "God-like" form that allows them eternal life. According to ACC, they first made the jump from biological to longer-lasting, mechanical bodies. Eventually, they learned how to store their essence in the cosmos, negating the need for physical bodies altogether. In effect, becoming divine beings. His earlier book "Childhood's End" had a similar theme, with humanity joining the "Overmind".
The dinosaurs had about 200 million years to evolve and invent technology and they failed. There may be something very special about the human brain.
There is almost certainly no other life elsewhere in the universe.
Evolutionist have dug there own grave on this question. Experts keep extending the universe's age back billions of years and expanding known space. Infinite time and infinite space yet we have had no contact. The aliens ought to be everywhere unless we are arrogant enough to believe we are the first life form created.
I've heard of that life, they were from Chicago, were thought to be dead and voted all Democrat in the last few elections by mail.
Postage must have been hell.
I read a book about the making of Star Trek in the early 1970s. The suthor said they shot a test loop to check
out how the green makeup would look. It came back as normal skin tone. They tried darker and brighter greens. Still normal
skin tone. They finally went down to the processing lab to ask if the lab could color the green. "Oh, you wanted
her to appear green. We've been correcting the color..."
I guess the people at UW are jealous of Frank Drake, and are seeking to undermine his theory.
Why the barf?
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