'We'll find life in 20 years': NASA

[Kerryd]

Hard enough finding intelligent life on this planet, let alone any others. Reading the world news everyday, I'd say we are far closer to exterminating ourselves in the next 20 years than we are to finding any kind of life on another planet. We can't even let go of Bronze Age myths, legends and fairy tales despite all the advances in science and education over the last 2,000 years. 

 

December 17th will be the 111th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight. 20 July will mark the 45th anniversary of the first man on the moon. What have we managed since then ? An orbiting space station and a couple of rovers to Mars. The Red Planet should have been terra-formed by now and on the verge of being able to sustain (human) life. The first "official" Martian babies should have been graduating from universities by now, yet we can barely get people into low earth orbit anymore.

 

But at least we have developed even more effective ways of killing each other on a grand scale. That technology, coupled with those Bronze Age beliefs, will likely be what ends us as a species long before we discover any others.

 

Like the old saying goes "The proof that there is intelligent life in the universe is the fact they haven't made themselves known to us". 

[Diablo Bob]

 

 

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 

 

NASA must be under a budget review.

 

The NASA statement refers to FINDING life, NOT personally dropping by their planet for scones and tea.

 

Beam me up Scotty.  

 

 

If there is life somewhere that is far advanced than ours,why havnt they come to earth

 

Maybe they have visited us...... and don't want to talk to us! 

 

[attachment=275462:Aliens.jpg]

[Mrjlh]

Not sure I would want to meet them.  We all assume too many things without knowing the real facts. Consider what happens in nature without our intervention. Hunter/prey every where.  Will life on another planet be our new food source or will we be theirs?  Will they be just a s terrified of us as we will be to them?  If the rules of nature on this planet also rule the universe, think of what happens when you might meet up with a lion, bear, snake, wolf or a wide variety of other animals whose nature is to "eat". Thought provoking isn't it?

[MJP]

Not sure I would want to meet them.  We all assume too many things without knowing the real facts. Consider what happens in nature without our intervention. Hunter/prey every where.  Will life on another planet be our new food source or will we be theirs?  Will they be just a s terrified of us as we will be to them?  If the rules of nature on this planet also rule the universe, think of what happens when you might meet up with a lion, bear, snake, wolf or a wide variety of other animals whose nature is to "eat". Thought provoking isn't it?

 

[BadBouy]

 

I think we all know the galaxy is teaming with life.

 

It would be extremely arrogant to assume we are the only life in the galaxy.

 

Probably some alien civilizations much farther advanced than humans on account they could have been around for tens if not hundreds of millions of years longer.

 

Our own race is in its infancy, just a few million years in development, and look at what we have achieved, especially in the last 150 years alone. Our own development is accelerating at a breakneck speed.... Imagine how advanced an alien race could be if it has been around on an earth like planet for say 150 million years.

 

Chances are, they will come visit us before we visit them.

 

I believe the nearest star with the possibility of an earth like planet is 25 trillion miles away.

 

I dont think its arrogant to think we "might" be the only life in the universe its perfectly possible it was a one off occorance. when you look at the coincidences involved just in the very first aperance of life, that very chance mix of amino acids and some sort of trigger at the same time the ods are staggering, and the conditions for alowing such life to start up in the first place must be extreemly rare as well.

There has been no confirmed evidence whatsoever of life outside our planet. and its quite possible we are completely unique.

Structurally complex and intelligent life evolved relatively late on Earth, and in looking at the probability of the difficult and critical evolutionary steps that occurred in relation to the life span of Earth, A limit to evolution is the habitability of Earth, and any other Earth-like planets, which will end as the sun brightens. Solar models predict that the brightness of the sun is increasing, while temperature models suggest that because of this the future life span of Earth will be “only” about another billion years, a short time compared to the four billion years since life first appeared on the planet.

Sorry to be such a pessamist but you have to study the facts and then the theory of a universe teaming with inteligent life does not hold up.
 

 

 

 

We're watching you!    

[BadBouy]

They are  already among us! Look at the person to your left and right, are they wearing sunglasses? 

Who do you think did 911?

Who do you think took the missing Thai rice?

Who do you think is helping NK to be able to hit the sea with missiles?

Time to grab my paper slippers, tin foil hat, and go fire up the fall out shelter++++

[Goshawk]

If there is life somewhere that is far advanced than ours,why havnt they come to earth

 

it's either 'cos they already have an ample wholesome food supply & are not really that hungry, or they've not yet run out of useful rare minerals that they can easily & freely ransack from a totally defenceless population of (to them) lilly livered, pushover pesky little 'ants'.

 

but i'll wager we've already (looooong ago) been noted & padded for a future harvest... 

[LennyW]

They should turn their telescopes towards earth and find MH370 first !

[Enid]

It would be a waste to have such a huge universe with billions and billions of stars and not share it with anyone else.

 

If we discover life we must be  smarter than them as we would have the technology to find it. That life however could be a one celled organism or something of similar simplicity.

 

If other life discovers us then they will obviously be smarter than us. I wonder how they would describe us?

[newermonkey]

It would be a waste to have such a huge universe with billions and billions of stars and not share it with anyone else.

 

If we discover life we must be  smarter than them as we would have the technology to find it. That life however could be a one celled organism or something of similar simplicity.

 

If other life discovers us then they will obviously be smarter than us. I wonder how they would describe us?

 

If intelegent alien life does visit earth they would need to be far more advanced than we are just to have been able to get here, to them we would be as usefull as chickens are to us, "care for more stuffing or gravy sir"

 

[Eneukman]

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I think we all know the galaxy is teaming with life.

 

It would be extremely arrogant to assume we are the only life in the galaxy.

 

Probably some alien civilizations much farther advanced than humans on account they could have been around for tens if not hundreds of millions of years longer.

 

Our own race is in its infancy, just a few million years in development, and look at what we have achieved, especially in the last 150 years alone. Our own development is accelerating at a breakneck speed.... Imagine how advanced an alien race could be if it has been around on an earth like planet for say 150 million years.

 

Chances are, they will come visit us before we visit them.

 

I believe the nearest star with the possibility of an earth like planet is 25 trillion miles away.

 

Yes, the Alpha Centauri system is the closest system to us. It is a triple system with Proxima Centauri being the closest star to us after the Sun. Alpha Centauri A is slightly more massive than the Sun whilst Alpha Centauri B is slightly less massive. It currently has one known planet orbiting it but not in an orbit suitable for life.

 

The technology was originally biased in favour of large, Jupiter, size planets though more and more planets closer in size to the Earth will be detected over the coming years. For life to develop on a planet, the parent star should not, I think, be much more massive than the Sun. More massive stars live fast and die young and therefore any planets that may be in a suitable orbit will not have sufficient time for so-called intelligent life to develop before the star comes to the end of its main sequence life (when it is stable and fusing hydrogen into helium in its core).

 

Will life be detected within 20 years? I think it is certainly possible that conditions suitable for life will be detected within that time frame. Intelligent life forms? I doubt it.

 

Alan

[fvw53]

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 

 

NASA must be under a budget review.

 

I am too old to be still around in 2050 but my guess is that by that time climate change will be so damaging that the saving of life on this planet will become the top priority (world population could be 9 billion by that time..)

 

For instance the glaciers of the Himalaya's may have dried up completely...Now they still give birth to major rivers across Southeast Asia and the Far East, from the Ganges to the Mekong, the Yellow and the Yangtze, which provide water to 20 percent of the world's population. 

 

Melting of the polar ice and rising sea levels will also keep the Bangkokians busy (..or moving..)

[bkkjames]

Conditioning of the highest order this is (they already know)...or

 

 

They are just trying to ensure their budgets for the next 20 years...

[KonKorat]

i hope they do find life out there in my lifetime,i always believed there is something out there.with over 100 billion galaxies and each has over 100 billion stars and we know jack poo about a few planets,just hope they will be friendly and you can get a retirement visa there

[tso310]

I thought Sepp Blatter was already lobbying for the 2026 World Cup to be in a nearby star system. 

[losworld]

They're talking about space telescopes, not space travel.  

 

I understand but how do you confirm it? 

[sustento]

 

 

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 

 

NASA must be under a budget review.

 

The NASA statement refers to FINDING life, NOT personally dropping by their planet for scones and tea.

 

Beam me up Scotty.  

 

 

If there is life somewhere that is far advanced than ours,why havnt they come to earth

 

They have. They all live in Chiang Mai disguised as ancient farangs.

[losworld]

 

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 
 
NASA must be under a budget review.

Who's talking about leaving the solar system lunk head! And who's talking about aliens? Bacteria, maybe algae or other microorganisms ...

 

 

Yeah you're cooked alright... between the ears lol.

[ravip]

If ever NASA find's life... that is the END of that!

I guess all the 'other lives' are in hiding knowing this.

Hence the endless search!!!

 

Edit

Definitely they are a trillion times more intelligent than NASA

 

[ravip]

 

 

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 

 

NASA must be under a budget review.

 

The NASA statement refers to FINDING life, NOT personally dropping by their planet for scones and tea.

 

Beam me up Scotty.  

 

 

If there is life somewhere that is far advanced than ours,why havnt they come to earth

 

They are very intelligent than us. Yes, VERY intelligent.

 

Edit

Imagine, would they reply to these posts?

 

[puck2]

What is life in our galaxy?

- plants, trees

- microorganism

- dinos, animals

- intelligent aliens?

- some kind of life, organism, intelligence we dont know and cannot immagine, comprehend and understand.

 

Maybe this "life"

- doesn't need oxygen

- has dimensions we don't understand or comprehend

- isn't compatibel with our life

- can breathe helium, gas or something which is deadly for the human being, but not for another place in our galaxy.

 

• How does it reproduce ?

• What is it's "food" ?

• Is there any reproduction or some intelligent, social structure ?

• Is there a structure we cannot understand ?

• Of what does the feed or food exist ?

 

There surely are millions of questions.

 

But for what is all this knowledge of "life" in our galaxy, if available and understandable at all ?

 

I think it's a lot more important to think about how life on our planet will go on. Food, water, energy are unsufficient within a short time, because the number of people in our world is growing and growing and ....... . There are already more than 7.2 billion terrestrials on our earth. And the animals need also some space, air, feed and water. For this reason we would need another "earth".

 

But how to go there? People from our world are not able to go, to fly or to be transmitted there. Why? Nobody would survive the transport to another remote place in our galaxy

 

• only one light year is 9,460,730,472,580.8 km ≈ 9.5 trillion km

[3NUMBAS]

will they have bars and massage parlours though ?that shows an advanced society

[FritsSikkink]

NASA is full of bs.  Sorry space travel is a nice dream but we cannot travel at high speeds necessary to reach far away planets.  What NASA fails to tell you is that even if we could go at the speed of light necessary one mere grain of sand would blow a ship apart upon impact.  There is way to much debris in space to make any kind of serious distance.  Better to spend the money taking care of earth's problems and plenty of 'em.  Let the aliens come to us lol. 
 
NASA must be under a budget review.

 
The NASA statement refers to FINDING life, NOT personally dropping by their planet for scones and tea.
 
Beam me up Scotty.

 
If there is life somewhere that is far advanced than ours,why havnt they come to earth

Because the only thing we are good in is fighting each other.

[ABCer]

WE will find them or they will find US is immaterial. Did anybody try to imagine WHAT will happen to US or to THEM once this discovery takes place? Nobody can stop PROGRESS and development of science, but we should all pray this doesn't happen in our lifetime. It is going to be UGLY! Can anybody PROVE otherwise?

[spidermike007]

When one considers the size of the cosmos, and the infinite number of planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies, to even consider the possibility that we are alone, starts to feel like the most arrogant thought imaginable. We are merely a speck of dust, in cosmic terms. Just our solar system is 3 billion miles across, and there are billions of solar systems in just our portion of our galaxy. And billions of galaxies at least as large as theMilky Way. And we are alone? Give me a break. Such foolishness. Until just a few decades or so ago, we did not even know if there were other solar systems out there! Just because we cannot see them or hear them, or find them, does not in any way, shape or form mean they do not exist. We are the only intelligent life in the universe, so therefore we are the greatest form of intelligence in the universe. If that were the case, I think I might have to off myself tonight. That is such a depressing thought. We are not exactly a grand form of intelligence. Look at what we have done with the resources we have been given. And we are the most intelligent? We have not figured out nuclear fusion. We know nothing of non invasive surgery. We are only scratching the surface of science. Such nonsense to consider that we are alone. My common sense and reason tells me there are millions upon millions of intelligent civilizations throughout the cosmos. And my guess it that the vast majority are far more advanced than us. Do I need scientific proof of that? Absolutely not. 

 

 

Here is a small excerpt from the UCSB science department, on the potential size of the universe:

 

There are about 100 billion stars in the MIlky Way galaxy which is only one of about 3000,000,000,000. galaxies in the known UNIVERSE !!!!

It is presently believed that solar systems form around many stars. It is only within the last few years that we have detected EXTRA SOLAR planets...that is, planets around other stars.

but the models we have for star formation seem to indicate that many stars will develop a family of planets.

even if only 0.1% of stars in the MILKY WAY have planets, that means that there are still ten million solar systems in the MILKY WAY.

so the best estimates we have for the number of solar systems is : at least 1 million and maybe 100 billion. this is a big range . it represents our uncertainty regarding this issue. probably 100 years from now we will have a better answer to this question. this is how Science works. 100 years ago we didnt even know that most stars in the UNIVERSE are located in specific structures (clumps) called Galaxies. and 100 years before that we had no idea of what made stars burn .

[coma]

It would be naive to believe there aren't other life forms out there. But putting a time on it is simply just an old jedi mind trick.