Poll: You believe in life beyond Earth?

[Gaiseric]

Sure I do, but I think the chances of finding intelligent life are slim at best.

edit: I remember my Astronomy professor saying something about that equation the person below me posted. I think he said it wasn't...shit I can't find the words(damn you brain!) so I'll just post this link saying what he said.
http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2007/05/drake-equation-is-obsolete.html

 

[Nerdstar]

i believe there's life out there as to whether its "advanced or not i don't know but given the vastness of space i find in REALLY unlikely that were the only living things cling to a ball of rock and mud, so enter the drake equation

The Drake Equation was developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to focus on the factors which determine how many intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in our galaxy.

N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL

N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;
and
R* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
f§¤ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space

as long as there's any number there larger than zero there's a possibility of life (whether we find it or not is another story)

 

[Falconsgyre]

Natural selection's a pretty powerful thing. If life can possibly arise on a planet, it will, so it seems overwhelmingly likely we're not the only game in town. Though more pragmatically, I suppose we don't really have any knowledge of the actual probabilities involved since we've seen life evolve on exactly one planet. For all we know, life could just be that unlikely, and the expected number of planets with life in our universe is one.

And I'm not sure what's scarier: the thought that we're alone in the universe, or the thought that we're not.

 

[RatRace123]

It's got to be highly unlikely that we're alone in this universe. Finding it is another matter entirely.
It's unknown who'll make first contact, but I have hope that some day we'll find a race that's at least sentient, if not advanced.

 

[Falconsgyre]

i believe there's life out there as to whether its "advanced or not i don't know but given the vastness of space i find in REALLY unlikely that were the only living things cling to a ball of rock and mud, so enter the drake equation

N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL

N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;
and
R* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
f§¤ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space

as long as there's any number there larger than zero there's a possibility of life (whether we find it or not is another story)

I see your Drake equation, and raise you Xkcd. [http://xkcd.com/384/] We don't know shit about the universe. Any speculation on the last 5 constants may be completely unwarranted. What if they're on the order of 10[sup]-80[/sup] or so?

 

[RDubayoo]

There's a lot which we don't understand about our universe yet. We don't know what the hell Dark Matter is--frankly, at this point I think that the whole theory of Dark Matter is the result of a rounding error or something--and all our knowledge of distant stars is basically derived by looking at them through a telescope and then making an educated guess as to what they are. To make the bold assertion that we are alone in this universe is foolish and premature, given our limited knowledge.

The real problem, I think, is that knowledge of aliens would challenge any notion that mankind is the "favored" lifeform of God. If we're supposed to be so special, how come those guys over there figured out faster-than-light travel two million years ago?

 

[Woodsey]

Yes. Either the universe is very very big, or infinite, so the chances of ours being the only habitable planet is ridiculously small (well, if it is infinite, that's an impossibility).

 

[omicron1]

I appear to have a unique perspective here.

Well, first off, I'm starting from the opinion that life on Earth is a special provision by an outside force. If it isn't, and if there is or was life out there, chances are it'll be long-dead or yet-to-come when we come across it.
And, even barring that eventuality, it's infeasible that any sort of spacefaring civilization really exists: space travel is so prohibitively expensive, so fraught with breakpoints and engineering problems, that it's just more practical to stay where you are. The only really good reason to leave one's home is to find a new home, and even that's a truly substantial undertaking.

 

[Riddle78]

I'd say it's an impossibility for there to NOT be any other intelligent life in the universe. It's quite possible for life to exist on Titan or Pluto. Just because it isn't Earth-like doesn't mean it can't sustain life;evolution works like that!

But,sadly,unless we send hippies out for first contact,war will erupt,due to humankind's xenophobic nature.

 

[Dragonpit]

I think there's other intelligent life out there and here's why: Because we are life in space, baby! If we exist, then there has to be life elsewhere, because just by living, we have proved it is possible. Even if we managed to beat the odds by having our planet meet the very requirements that are only possible with a miniscule fraction of all the planetoids out there, it does not mean it is not possible for at least another planet to meet those same requirements.

Meeting them, however, is an entirely different kettle of fish. Unless we develop faster-then-light travel somehow, anyone we send to look is going to be dead long before they even get another star.

 

[Ranorak]

"And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

The odds are stupidly huge to deny the possibility of life somewhere else.
Who ever voted "Yes, life can ony exist on earth." hopefully miss clicked.

 

[Wierdguy]

It's quite possible for life to exist on Titan or Pluto. Just because it isn't Earth-like doesn't mean it can't sustain life;evolution works like that!

Actually, there are requirements for life. Water is the most important, no water; no life. Second of all the planet cant be too close to the sun or all life will burn up and all water will evaporate. But it cant bee too far away either since life requires LIQUID water, frozen water is as useless as no water.
There is a "comfort" zone around most stars where scientists believe life can exist, and Titan and pluto is not within ours.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

You do realize our entire existince as the human race is a once in a trillion chance right? If some predator murdered the first homo sapians (apes) We wouldn't have survived all these years.

 

[Riddle78]

It's quite possible for life to exist on Titan or Pluto. Just because it isn't Earth-like doesn't mean it can't sustain life;evolution works like that!

Actually, there are requirements for life. Water is the most important, no water; no life. Second of all the planet cant be too close to the sun or all life will burn up and all water will evaporate. But it cant bee too far away either since life requires LIQUID water, frozen water is as useless as no water.
There is a "comfort" zone around most stars where scientists believe life can exist, and Titan and pluto is not within ours.

You're working under the assumption that the life MUST be on Earthlike planets. For all we know,evolution could have created a race of intelligent beings that either don't need water,or can produce their own naturally. It's impossible to truly know until we actually find more life,intelligent or otherwise.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

It's quite possible for life to exist on Titan or Pluto. Just because it isn't Earth-like doesn't mean it can't sustain life;evolution works like that!

Actually, there are requirements for life. Water is the most important, no water; no life. Second of all the planet cant be too close to the sun or all life will burn up and all water will evaporate. But it cant bee too far away either since life requires LIQUID water, frozen water is as useless as no water.
There is a "comfort" zone around most stars where scientists believe life can exist, and Titan and pluto is not within ours.

NASA has found arsenic based life forms, meaning that life can evolve without hydrogen.

The universe is big. Like really fucking big. The drake theory pretty much guarantees life outside earth, it's more a question whether we can find it.

If the lifeform is advanced, the fact that it can kill itself must also be taken into effect.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I don't have any fermi beliefs about extraterrestrial life.
Zing!
Extremely forced, didn't-really-make-sense Zing.

But.. I think that there's a strong possibility. I wouldn't say I believe in it, because belief is not really a good thing in the absence of evidence. But it's certainly very likely to exist. Likely enough for me to want to become an astrobiologist, mayhaps..

 

[shinigamisparda]

Just imagine this: In our galaxy there are hundreds of billions of stars, and a countless more planets. The only problem at the moment is that seeing planets is hard since they dont give of any light so next to their star theyre nearly impossible to find. But despite this scientists have observed a near 200.000 planets they think might hold atleast the nessecary ingredients for life. So, 200.000 planets with potential for life that we've found so far out of the billions upon billions of planets in our galaxy, is it unreasonable to think theres life on some of them?

I believe it's not only stupid to think there isn't complex life somewhere in the universe, it's also arrogant. To think that of all the billions of planets out there we're the only one with complex life, or life at all? However, despite this, I don't think we'll ever meet it. Think about it, you're talking about a race that's advanced enough to travel the cosmos. Why would they bother with a planet where the farthest they've put a human being is their own moon?

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

I don't believe that we're alone in the universe, but I don't think we'll have proof in my lifetime.

 

[Wierdguy]

You're working under the assumption that the life MUST be on Earthlike planets. For all we know,evolution could have created a race of intelligent beings that either don't need water,or can produce their own naturally. It's impossible to truly know until we actually find more life,intelligent or otherwise.

Actually scientists are very sure water is the number one requirement for life. There is a dessert here on earth (the name eludes me at the moment but something in style with atachama) where it litteraly NEVER rains. There is NO water there whatsoever. Yet researchers hasnt found even a trace of the most primitive forms of life.
There is life in the most unfathomable places here on earth, but the one place that doesnt have a single drop of water fails to sustain even the most basic forms. If there could be life without water they would atleast find traces of it in that dessert but there is none.

I get what youre saying that we cant be 100% sure, but Id say scientists are atleast 99% in agreement that life requires water.