Habitable planets

[PvK]

NASA recently announced they have found 54 objects that may be planets in the habitable zones of their stars.

http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/index.cf...News&NewsID=98

I wonder if Atro has modified his outlook on the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the universe?

[Gandalf Parker]

Many changes lately. "Last week, Nasa's Kepler satellite released a list of 1235 potential planets orbiting nearby Sun-like stars, with 68 planets that are roughly the Earth's size and 54 planets in the so-called habitable zone, a region conducive to life as we know it."

And not too long ago "life as we know it" meant that it required oxygen, sunlight, and a fairly temperate range. But since then we have discovered life that exceeds any bound we set. Far under the ground beyond sunlight. Very deep in the ocean using volcanic vents and gases instead of oxygen and sunlight. In the ice of antartica still alive. Its beginning to seem more that its impossible to find someplace that life cannot exist.

Samplings of meteors and moon and mars samples has included water, amino acids, and everything needed as a building block "for life as we know it".

And thats just for LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. Not to mention the variations that have been speculated.

I think that the scientists of the sciences involved here have shifted from "maybe possible" toward "Id be really surprised if it wasnt".

"If there is no intelligent life in the universe other than Man, I will accept that as proof of the Hand of God at work."

[Azselendor]

The whole "Earth alone is fined tune for life" argument just imploded.

[Fenris99]

Originally Posted by Azselendor

The whole "Earth alone is fined tune for life" argument just imploded.

Where is everyone, then?

Fermi's paradox.

[Azselendor]

That's where the drake equation comes into play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_v99FSTYc

I'l let Carl Sagan take it from here.

[Gandalf Parker]

And the latest says that a planet does not even have to have a sun. It could be a wandering rogue planet and still have life.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceno...li.html?ref=hp

As to where they all are, keep in mind that the earth has had multiple major setbacks in lifes progress to reach this point. If there is life fairly nearby then they might very well be far ahead of us. They might consider us for a visit as we would consider a nest of rattlesnakes.

[geoschmo]

The older I get the more discouraged I become about us ever discovering evidence of intelligent life in my life time. I think that it's just about a given that there is life in many many different forms. I suspect if we actually got out and dug around on some other planets and moons in our own solar system we'd find evidence of past or even present life. But that's not really going to be that satisfying is it? Except for the biology geeks among us.

But it just wouldn't have the same impact as picking up even some stray messages from out there. Even if we couldn't translate it, just to know we aren't alone. I really think intelligence just must be exceedingly rare or short lived, or there are some fundamental challenges to travel or communication between the stars that we just haven't grasped yet.

It would be sad to think there are others out there that we could talk to, except that they all died a million years ago, or are so far away that they (or we) will die out before our radio signals reach each other, or that the power required to communicate with them is just simply beyond our reach.

[Azselendor]

Originally Posted by geoschmo

The older I get the more discouraged I become about us ever discovering evidence of intelligent life in my life time. I think that it's just about a given that there is life in many many different forms. I suspect if we actually got out and dug around on some other planets and moons in our own solar system we'd find evidence of past or even present life. But that's not really going to be that satisfying is it? Except for the biology geeks among us.

Finding intelligent life on earth is hard enough :P

But I agree, life isn't an isolated thing limited to our world alone -- just too much space out there for things to happen in and it would be extremely egotistical to think this rock alone is capable of life. It might be extremely simplistic life out there, but life is life.