Is there intelligent life in the known universe other than Earth ?

[Patrick_Bateman]

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Ever wanted to wish upon a star? Well, you have 70,000 million million million to choose from.
That's the total number of stars in the known universe, according to a study by Australian astronomers.
It's also about 10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts.
The figure -- 7 followed by 22 zeros or, more accurately, 70 sextillion -- was calculated by a team of stargazers based at the Australian National University.
Speaking at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union meeting in Sydney, Dr Simon Driver said the number was drawn up based on a survey of one strip of sky, rather than trying to count every individual star.
The team used two of the world's most powerful telescopes, one at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in northern New South Wales state and one in the Canary Islands, to carry out their survey.
Within the strip of sky some 10,000 galaxies were pinpointed and detailed measurements of their brightness taken to calculate how many stars they contained.
A whole lot of zeros


That number was then multiplied by the number of similar sized strips needed to cover the entire sky, Driver said, and then multiplied again out to the edge of the visible universe.
He said there were likely many million more stars in the universe but the 70 sextillion figure was the number visible within range of modern telescopes.
The actual number of stars could be infinite he said.
The universe is so big light from the other side of the universe "hasn't reached us yet," The Age newspaper quoted him as saying.
Asked if he believed the huge scale of the universe meant there was intelligent life out there somewhere, he told the paper: "Seventy thousand million million million is a big number ... it's inevitable."


http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/07/22/stars.survey/

[Taekwondo Guy]

people who dont believe there are other life forms/civilisations out there are among the most ignorant people on this planet...

[Taekwondo Guy]

and i believe it has nothing to do with god, if he does exhist then he's just reigning over this planet.

It will be interesting to see what the bible folk say....

"stars are the twinkles in gods eyes"

"wheres the proof theres stars out there?"

"unless i see an alien, i'm not believing"

[ktinspired]

We would be ignorant to think there isn't other intellegent life out there.
For all my life I have always wondered if the big bang theory and evolution could both be soemwhat accurate. I mean really think for just a second..... the bible never really said adam and eve looked like we do now.......Adam and Eve could have been apes. With that being said the bible also doesnt specifically mention where exactly the "earth" was created. Isnt the bible a translation....the word earth isnt really the word that was used in the original scripture.

Things that make you go hummmmm

[ktinspired]

Just a lil addidtion ....
I would rather walk around my entire life thinking there is a god and get there and find out there isn't ....than to go my life thinking there isnt a god...die...and find out there is.

[Taekwondo Guy]

If only you could see the people's votes!

mama says there's no such thing in aliens....

[man_i_dono]

why are people ignorant to think there's no life out there? i believe there is.. but it's natural for anyone to have doubts. Even if you can prove it, there's still non believers.. But you can't.. not for now.. so yea..

[Taekwondo Guy]

its along the lines of a child argument, "if i cover my eyes they cant see me"

christians always throw up the same argument "prove it, wheres the proof"... its tiresome talking with them as it goes around and around.
Nobody wins any insight, nobody wants to look outside their bubble of faith.

i cant wait for proof of life on another planet to come up personaly...

[Taekwondo Guy]

Originally Posted by man_i_dono

why are people ignorant to think there's no life out there? i believe there is.. but it's natural for anyone to have doubts. Even if you can prove it, there's still non believers.. But you can't.. not for now.. so yea..

having an open mind and to "look outside the box"... it is ignorant IMO to totally discard an argument without researching both sides.

there is a difference between doubting and blind ignorant faith

[Poobah]

That last quote somes up my feelings perfectly... it's inevitable.

It's quite possible that the universe that we know is only just one out of never ending slew of constantly new and dying universes much like those of dividing cells of single celled creatures living in the back pond... but where as the single cells organisms are based on physical rules that permiate this perticular planet, the forming and dying of universes involve much more interesting dynamic thresholds of gravity, space and energy. (black holes, quarks, and smaller yet undiscovered particles, and all things awsome.. lol).

The point I like to try to make is this.. earth, and with it this universe just didn't get here out of the blue one day... it formed because certain things happened that necessitated its creation.. much like we give birth to a child.. everything that needed to take place, took place for the universe to be born.

Which means, universes existed prior to this one, and prior to those ones... and like the circles of life that exist on our planet.. those same circles of life exist on a universal scale.. and even on scales larger then that..

all of which means.. life has existed before mush like us.. and before that... cause nothing happens without purpose... Life like us exists cause we have learned to serve a purpose useful to the conclusion of the life circle of the universe... we will some how help to facilitate the circle of life.. and no doubt there is other life forms in this universe that we will someday have to contend with or learn to live with.. that exists just in case we fail to do our part... (no body puts all the eggs in one basket, and niether does the universe).

So not only do I believe there is without a doubt other life in this very universe... I believe there has been life countless times in universes before this one, and in other universes right along side this one, and in universes to come. it's not even a question in my mind.

[man_i_dono]

ooh, are you saying religious wise?

[man_i_dono]

well, i do believe that also.. that there are life before us.. but if you think about it, it has to begin somewhere.. how did that get started? haha

[Poobah]

Originally Posted by man_i_dono

well, i do believe that also.. that there are life before us.. but if you think about it, it has to begin somewhere.. how did that get started? haha

That's the question, that can never have an answer... and will always be a strong argument for the existence of God. However it can be a equally strong argument for those that don't believe in god...

It boils down to this...

Does it make more sense that the universe have limits? Or that it stretch out in every direction with no end?

And if space has no outer limits.. then in stands to reason that innerspace is infinte aswell.

And if space has no limits, then neither would time have limits.

and if time has no limits... then it never really started, and it just always was.

It's hard to grasp, but just as plausible or to me even more plausible then it having to have a beginning.. cause a beginning would symbolize a finite existance with a finite end, and everything we know of existence in my mind pushes me to believe in the infinite.

That's how I see it anyway.

[TRAZ]

There is definitely life other than our own in the universe...

[Arch Enemy]

Originally Posted by Poobah

That's the question, that can never have an answer... and will always be a strong argument for the existence of God. However it can be a equally strong argument for those that don't believe in god...

It boils down to this...

Does it make more sense that the universe have limits? Or that it stretch out in every direction with no end?

And if space has no outer limits.. then in stands to reason that innerspace is infinte aswell.

And if space has no limits, then neither would time have limits.

and if time has no limits... then it never really started, and it just always was.

It's hard to grasp, but just as plausible or to me even more plausible then it having to have a beginning.. cause a beginning would symbolize a finite existance with a finite end, and everything we know of existence in my mind pushes me to believe in the infinite.

That's how I see it anyway.

If God just is, then so can the universe be. Anything can just be.

[ktinspired]

Originally Posted by Poobah

And if space has no outer limits.. then in stands to reason that innerspace is infinte aswell.

And if space has no limits, then neither would time have limits.

and if time has no limits... then it never really started, and it just always was.

It's hard to grasp, but just as plausible or to me even more plausible then it having to have a beginning.. cause a beginning would symbolize a finite existance with a finite end, and everything we know of existence in my mind pushes me to believe in the infinite.

That's how I see it anyway.

It is believable that there could be no begining and no end. could just simply be the creation of earth as we know it, or evolution of the universe's infinity.

[Poobah]

Originally Posted by ktinspired

It is believable that there could be no begining and no end. could just simply be the creation of earth as we know it, or evolution of the universe's infinity.

That's pretty much how i see it... but since it's infinite, a infinte of time would of already passed.. which opens up very intersesting possibilities... this entire universe for instance could be the creation of a evolved creature derived from the evolution of the universe.. this universe that we percieve may not even be the true universe.. like something sort of like the matrix..

And even if there is a small chance of something like that happening, in a infinite universe, the chances are it already happened, possibly more then once... nested loops of artificial existances.

Which at first thought, would seem to take away from our importance, but at second thought, we would still be part of the universe, if only a tool to be studied by creatures much more evolved then ourselves (but still trying to learn, and understand the purpose of it's life through learning about ours.)... But none the less part of the circle of life.

Infinity brings with it lots of possiblilities... we'll never know. lol