Do Aliens Really exist?

[Antistatic12]

Life on Earth could potentially be alien.
Just because life has been here so long doesn't make it home. The seeding theory has picked up over the few years, but we can't categorically say the first forms of life on earth weren't from another source (alien).

Regardless, Earth and its features (plus some pretty radical mutations)  shaped us to what we are today. I would really like to see what different conditions on another planet would make life in its various forms look like.
 

[skywake]

If you believe in aliens, you better be theist too or else you're a hypocrite.

Agnostics believe that until there is proof, there is no life.

This has literally nothing to do with religion. Also theism and gnosticism are two entirely different things, one refers to a *belief* in some sort of god(s) and the other is a knowledge/truth claim. Agnostic is basically just a wanky way of saying "I don't know" which in terms of both gods and aliens not many, even those who say they don't believe they exist, would say otherwise. However if I say I believe Aliens of some kind exist? That doesn't make me a theist anymore than me saying I believe there is probably bacteria living in some place that nobody has yet thought bacteria can exist. I'm saying I believe it exists, I'm not worshipping it or saying it created the universe.

 

As for the topic, this requires more than one answer:

Of any kind anywhere? I'd put my money on Yes

In our solar system? Maybe

Civilisations? Maybe not (you know how long it took for Earth to get to the point where humans existed?)

That we'll ever contact? I doubt it

Have visited Earth? No

[LukaP]

400 billion stars in the milky way (an averageish galaxy) 

200 billion estimated galaxies so far

 

lets say .001 percent of stars have planets. and .001% of those have planets in a habitable zone. this leaves you with 80 million stars that have planets with conditions where life can be created. now multiply that by the number of star generations in our 14.something BILLION year old universe. 

 

now try to tell me, with a straight face, that there is a high probability we are the only life in the entire known universe, and its history

[skywake]

400 billion stars in the milky way (an averageish galaxy) 

200 billion estimated galaxies so far

 

lets say .001 percent of stars have planets. and .001% of those have planets in a habitable zone. this leaves you with 80 million stars that have planets with conditions where life can be created. now multiply that by the number of star generations in our 14.something BILLION year old universe. 

 

now try to tell me, with a straight face, that there is a high probability we are the only life in the entire known universe, and its history

The main counter point to that is that:

- The Universe is ~14 billion years old

- The first stars formed ~13 billion years ago, these stars needed to die for the heavier elements to exist

- Our sun and the Earth are around 4.6 billion years old, nearly a third of the age of the universe

- The first life on Earth appeared around 4 billion years ago. So not that long to get some life

- The earliest multicellular life only appeared around 600mill years ago. Life on Earth needed to sit for a fair chunk of the life of the universe to get that far

- The first hominids appeared only 15mill years ago, something that could have easily not happened

- Our species? Only 200k years ago. A fraction of a second when compared to the age of the universe

- We've only done anything that could be detectable from another solar system in the last hundred years or so

 

It's fairly easy to say that there might be other life out there. That apparently only takes around half a billion years to happen when you have a planet with reasonable conditions. But Aliens like people mean when they say it? With technology well beyond what we have? I mean it's certainly possible but we did take around 4.6 billion years to get to that point. And a few less strategic asteroid impacts could have meant we didn't appear at all. Life as "advanced" as us could be very, very rare.

[LukaP]

The main counter point to that is that:

- The Universe is ~14 billion years old

- The first stars formed ~13 billion years ago, these stars needed to die for the heavier elements to exist

- Our sun and the Earth are around 4.6 billion years old, nearly a third of the age of the universe

- The first life on Earth appeared around 4 billion years ago. So not that long to get some life

- The earliest multicellular life only appeared around 600mill years ago. Life on Earth needed to sit for a fair chunk of the life of the universe to get that far

- The first hominids appeared only 15mill years ago, something that could have easily not happened

- Our species? Only 200k years ago. A fraction of a second when compared to the age of the universe

- We've only done anything that could be detectable from another solar system in the last hundred years or so

 

It's fairly easy to say that there might be other life out there. That apparently only takes around half a billion years to happen when you have a planet with reasonable conditions. But Aliens like people mean when they say it? With technology well beyond what we have? I mean it's certainly possible but we did take around 4.6 billion years to get to that point. And a few less strategic asteroid impacts could have meant we didn't appear at all. Life as "advanced" as us could be very, very rare.

i agree with your point, but this still leaves 2-3 generations of stars. and i wasnt talking about mass effect style civilisations in every corner. im talking planets that have microbes and maybe some plants and other simple multicells.

[Real_PhillBert]

Seeing the mind boggling amount of planets and stars out there I have a lot of trouble believing that this is the only rock floating around with life on it.

[Tsuki]

there is new life and new species we're still discovering on our own planet, i have very little doubt that somewhere else, there has to be at least something. the fact that this is the only inhabitable planet in the whole universe is impossible to believe.

do i think we'll ever see them? no.

do i think theyve visited us? fuck no

 

but i have no doubt that somewhere out there, there is something

[Volbet]

Logically speaking, probably. There are so many rocks floating around in space, it would be unlikely that there wasn't one with life on it (execpt for Earth of course). 

Bui there is still no scientific proof of aliens, so I am still agnostic on the subject.

 

What i look for forward to, is seeing what sort of life could be out there. How would non-carbon based life look like, and how would it function? Theoretically life could be silicone based

[kingkickolas]

Jesus this thread...

The only thing we can say is that the probability of there being alien life is extremely high due to the size of the universe and the requirements for life.

We can make order of magnitude estimates from the Drake equation if we like; we did so in an astronomy course I had, and we got around 50 other intelligent alien species in the Milky Way galaxy alone.

 

This isn't to say that any of them have ever been to Earth. The evidence, and the likelihood, of that is very very slim.

[-TesseracT-]

Yes I do, for sure.

[nicholaswillems]

Aliens probably exist, or at least have existed for sure. Contact is just kinda hard you know, the universe is kinda extremely huge.

[Mentalguy]

There is a fair chance of life existing outside planet earth.

Aliens with 2 eyes, a nose, a head, 2 hands?

That is just plain stupid, the chance of them developing the same body as us on a different planet is very slim.

Just look at earth, here on earth we have creatures which look nothing like humans.

On the flip side, due to the ability of humans to use tools, something our bodies do pretty well, a space faring race could look a lot like humans.

 

The main counter point to that is that:

- The Universe is ~14 billion years old

- The first stars formed ~13 billion years ago, these stars needed to die for the heavier elements to exist

- Our sun and the Earth are around 4.6 billion years old, nearly a third of the age of the universe

- The first life on Earth appeared around 4 billion years ago. So not that long to get some life

- The earliest multicellular life only appeared around 600mill years ago. Life on Earth needed to sit for a fair chunk of the life of the universe to get that far

- The first hominids appeared only 15mill years ago, something that could have easily not happened

- Our species? Only 200k years ago. A fraction of a second when compared to the age of the universe

- We've only done anything that could be detectable from another solar system in the last hundred years or so

 

It's fairly easy to say that there might be other life out there. That apparently only takes around half a billion years to happen when you have a planet with reasonable conditions. But Aliens like people mean when they say it? With technology well beyond what we have? I mean it's certainly possible but we did take around 4.6 billion years to get to that point. And a few less strategic asteroid impacts could have meant we didn't appear at all. Life as "advanced" as us could be very, very rare.

but if there were no mass extinctions on a planet, a race could be far ahead of us.

[Trik'Stari]

The likelihood that we are the only "sentient" life form in the universe is so remotely small that it's ridiculous to think so.

 

Also, I reject the idea that interstellar travel is impossible, we just haven't figured out how to do it.

[WolfDeville]

Aliens as in living beings from different planets? ofcourse they do lol

[Misanthrope]

The likelihood that we are the only "sentient" life form in the universe is so remotely small that it's ridiculous to think so.

 

Also, I reject the idea that interstellar travel is impossible, we just haven't figured out how to do it.

 

Then you clearly do not comprehend the math behind the size of the universe. Seriously we have to invent Math and new ways to measure just to begin comprehending how massive it is.

 

More over you reject the idea of interstellar travel being impossible based on what? Do you have any feasible theory that could get around the speed of light and other limitations? Saying "we having figured it out" is a bit insulting to scientists that have actually figured out why the likelihood of it it's almost 0

[ObeseWalrus]

I think that aliens exist.. somewhere.

[Guest Kloaked]

Who do you think made Alienware PC's?

[Real_PhillBert]

but if there were no mass extinctions on a planet, a race could be far ahead of us.

 

Yep, If their society didnt have a similar scientific dark age like we did, it would be very easy for an alien culture to be 500-1000 years ahead of us technologically. 

 

Who do you think made Alienware PC's?

 

That explains the pricing, shipping from another galaxy is a real bitch.

[WolfDeville]

They exist trust me muhahahaha

LOL what is that from? 

[Trik'Stari]

Then you clearly do not comprehend the math behind the size of the universe. Seriously we have to invent Math and new ways to measure just to begin comprehending how massive it is.

 

More over you reject the idea of interstellar travel being impossible based on what? Do you have any feasible theory that could get around the speed of light and other limitations? Saying "we having figured it out" is a bit insulting to scientists that have actually figured out why the likelihood of it it's almost 0

We can't prove that nothing can go faster than light, merely that nothing we have detected is capable of doing so.

 

I refuse to believe it because it doesn't make sense that life would evolve here as well as on other planets, with no possible way to communicate or travel between the two, mainly because of the fact that a species, stuck on one planet, is doomed to extinction regardless of the amount of technology they develop. I find it way more likely that we simply haven't found a way, rather than it being outright impossible. I do realize that the distance between solar systems within the same galaxy is absurdly huge. I just refuse to accept the possibility of traversing that distance as being impossible.

 

Could I be wrong? Of course, but I find it equally likely that Einstein was wrong, it makes no sense to me that nothing can travel faster than light. I could argue that we merely cannot, or have not, detected something moving that ridiculously fast.

 

I just find it more likely that our understanding of physics and the universe is lacking.

[Misanthrope]

We can't prove that nothing can go faster than light, merely that nothing we have detected is capable of doing so.

 

I refuse to believe ...

 

Sorry to cut you off there but that's the base of your argument: belief. I would much rather look at scientific evidence and research, and not just "believe" something I leave that to religious people.

[Trik'Stari]

Sorry to cut you off there but that's the base of your argument: belief. I would much rather look at scientific evidence and research, and not just "believe" something I leave that to religious people.

Meh. I would argue that Einsteins assumption that one would need an infinite amount of energy to exceed the speed of light is ridiculous since infinite is an illogical and unreal number. I just don't think they have it right, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

You can continue believing our race is doomed to extinction if you choose, I choose not to.

[Trik'Stari]

quantum action has been observed to be 10,000x faster than the speed of light. I think...

Quantum action happens instantaneously if I remember correctly, need to ask @LukaP about that, I think he/she is a physicist

 

Sorry to cut you off there but that's the base of your argument: belief. I would much rather look at scientific evidence and research, and not just "believe" something I leave that to religious people.

 

Also, I'd like to know what evidence you, or any scientist, have that light is the absolute speed limit of the universe. The fact that we can't find or detect anything faster, is not evidence to that.

 

Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.

[Volbet]

Quantum action happens instantaneously if I remember correctly, need to ask @LukaP about that, I think he/she is a physicist

The problem herel, is that quantum entanglement (or quantrum action if you prefere) is not sending any information, in the form of mass or energi. It's mearly determing a state of being for a particle.

The speed of light is only the theoretical top speed for information 

 

If we, as humans, were to travel somewhere, it would demand that we send mass (ourself). Therefor we would be limited to the speed of light

 

Also, I'd like to know what evidence you, or any scientist, have that light is the absolute speed limit of the universe. The fact that we can't find or detect anything faster, is not evidence to that.

 

Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.

While this is true, we can't assume that there is something faster than light. 

We have no evidence of that.

 

Absence of evidence, might not be evidence of absence, but we still can't fill in the blanks by our self.

[TheHolyCawCaw]

LOL what is that from? 

sry mate I have no idea, I found it in the deepest part of the interwebs