Posted on Apr 17, 2017
Astronaut: NASA discovery sparks our dream of intelligent life beyond Earth
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It's a mathematical impossibility that we are the only life in the universe. That doesn't mean there's other intelligent life (though I think that statement applies to that as well), nor does it mean that visitors will come knocking (there's nothing here 'they' can't get in any asteroid belt anywhere in the universe), but, it's out there without doubt. THIS close, though? That'd be pretty exciting.
Astronaut: NASA discovery sparks our dream of intelligent life beyond Earth
Posted from cnn.com
Space
NASA
Science
Posted >1 y ago
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Not only is it a mathematical impossibility that we are the only life in the universe, it is a mathematical impossibility that we're the only intelligent life, the only humanoid life, the only carbon based lifeforms in the universe. That's what makes scientific curiosity and discovery so exciting, the mathematical possibilities.
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CPO (Join to see)
I question the "Intelligent" part of your comment when referencing humans lol. I bet "aliens" have been to earth and left shaking their heads and describing us as the Planet best to avoid due to the ignorant population of pseudo primates.
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Heh. Time for a left turn past the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, courtesy of Douglas Adams:
"It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination."
I need to pull that series out again.
"It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination."
I need to pull that series out again.
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The Fermi Paradox: If they are out there, why can't we find any proof? The Milky Way is billions (trillions?) of years old. That is enough time for any "advanced" culture to discover space travel and ultimately populate the entire Milky Way, multiple times over. But, what if, there is a race that has a Darwinian impetus towards survival? Would they then wipe out *ANY* competition before it has time to populate the entire galaxy?
I know life exists elsewhere. I know, once we are out there, we will find the evidence. I just hope we are ready. :)
I know life exists elsewhere. I know, once we are out there, we will find the evidence. I just hope we are ready. :)
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SN Greg Wright
The Fermi equation entirely consists of variables that he made up. He wasn't being disingenuous -- he did the best he could -- but regardless, entirely contrived, and therefore has little basis in reality. As for why we haven't seen proof...there's so many reasons that could be. Firstly, this is just ONE galaxy, of trillions. And the distances are so vast....finally, we may just not have the ability to yet.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I agree with the ability part. When spanning even planet distances (Earth to Pluto), radio waves take a long time to travel there and back. By the time we get radio waves from another civilization they have probably advanced to communicating with quantum coupled devices. The amount of time a civilization broadcasts on just radio would, at least in my mind, be a small window before more advanced (undetectable by us now) communication techniques were invented/used.
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