Life beyond Earth has finally been found; or so it seems

[Fort Fun Indiana]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

Now I laughed when the loonies tried to present this as some alien construct. However, what the scientists are now looking at are possibilities, and judging which would be the most likely target for future exploration. If Musk is successful with his BFR, then this could happen within my lifetime.

I'd hate to bust your space bubble, but Mr. Musk isn't going to Mars.

Neither he nor any consortium of private investors will be able to raise the Trillions of dollars such an effort would require.

And nations won't do it for the foreseeable future.

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Complex life in other solar systems can be mathematically proven, based on extreme numbers and some very common facts we've learned about other solar systems in the past 20 years: in an observable universe of trillions of galaxies, with hundreds of billions of stars apiece....we know that most stars are small ones not that different from our sun (if dimmer and redder), we know as a proven fact that most stars have a system of planets. Including many rocky,. Earth-sized ones. And we know that water is one of the most common simple compounds in the universe. So of all these billions of rocky planets in our own Milky Way galaxy alone, obviously at least a few will have the right conditions for complex, multi-cellular life to form. And it will likely be carbon-based like Earth life simply because carbon is the element that does the best, easiest job at forming complex, organic chains of molecules with hydrogen and oxygen, to form proteins and DNA.

Yes, all true. "Mathematically proven"? Kind of.

There's a non-zero chance you could safely cross a 6-lane interstate during rush hour blindfolded. So, you can't "mathematically prove" a person will get hit, should they attempt this. But it should be accepted that you almost certainly WILL get hit by a car, should you try this.

Likewise, we should understand that there almost certainly is, has been, and will be life in the galaxies we see in our skies.

I know it's currently impossible to travel to or deeply study exo-Earths because today's technology is too primitive. My point was that since we know for a fact that giant numbers of rocky planets exist, at least a few of them must have the right conditions to form complex chains of carbon compounds. Science is universal so if it happened on Earth it happened elsewhere too, whether it's rare or common on this type of planet, it has happened elsewhere.

I don't disagree. Just heading off the "you cannot be 100% certain" argument.

 

[ChrisL]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

I'd hate to bust your space bubble, but Mr. Musk isn't going to Mars.

Neither he nor any consortium of private investors will be able to raise the Trillions of dollars such an effort would require.

And nations won't do it for the foreseeable future.

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

Well, that probably depends on a variety of factors. Are you suffering? There are some people who would, if they could, choose euthanasia over being kept alive to suffer. So it all depends on your perspective and your quality of life.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

Well, that probably depends on a variety of factors. Are you suffering? There are some people who would, if they could, choose euthanasia over being kept alive to suffer. So it all depends on your perspective and your quality of life.

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

 

[anotherlife]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

Well, that probably depends on a variety of factors. Are you suffering? There are some people who would, if they could, choose euthanasia over being kept alive to suffer. So it all depends on your perspective and your quality of life.

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

Yes, the quality of life is different now, you get longer prison sentences.

 

[anotherlife]

Going to Saturn would be like implementing the Life 1 movie in real life. It would be long and lonely for the astronauts, but the autistic ones would do well on it.

 

[Votto]

You can't escape us. We know your up there.

Pay your fair share of universal health care!

 

[usmbguest5318]

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

More life = better.

What exactly do you mean by that?

 

[Old Rocks]

Now I laughed when the loonies tried to present this as some alien construct. However, what the scientists are now looking at are possibilities, and judging which would be the most likely target for future exploration. If Musk is successful with his BFR, then this could happen within my lifetime.

I'd hate to bust your space bubble, but Mr. Musk isn't going to Mars.

Neither he nor any consortium of private investors will be able to raise the Trillions of dollars such an effort would require.

And nations won't do it for the foreseeable future.

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

What you are saying is that we are made out of the same cloth as the other life on this planet. That is basically what the Native American religions state, and I believe it to be a more accurate assessment of our state than the Christian viewpoint that we are to dominate all the life on this planet, and are a separate creation from that life.

 

[Old Rocks]

You can't escape us. We know your up there.

Pay your fair share of universal health care!

Not to worry, in less than a decade, we will all be doing that.

And in the meantime, we will continue our exploration of our universe, even if there is a small hiatus because of morons infesting the top levels of government starting 20Jan17.

 

[Old Rocks]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

I'd hate to bust your space bubble, but Mr. Musk isn't going to Mars.

Neither he nor any consortium of private investors will be able to raise the Trillions of dollars such an effort would require.

And nations won't do it for the foreseeable future.

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

As my grandfather used to say, "The only thing worse than getting old is the alternative". LOL Yes, we have come very far in the last 100 years. I am 74, still working full time as a millwright in a steel mill. Modern medicine has enabled many of us to live and work far longer than our ancestors did. And live far more satisfying lives.

 

[ChrisL]

0

I think it's great if we can confirm the existence of life in our solar system. What I'd most love to see, but I'm fairly certain I won't, is the discovery of sentient life with which we can communicate. I'd love to know what they have to say about the nature and (non-)existence of a supreme being. Did a Jesus-like figure walk their world and claim to be the Son of God? Do they have non-Christ-like figures who nonetheless speak of themselves as though they possess some attributes of a God, omniscience, for example? The point of wanting to know those things is to understand whether the Earthly human condition is indeed universal and has little to do with being human (Earthly human).

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

Now, hold on a second. The human condition has improved vastly and is better overall than it has ever been in the history of the planet. Yes, I know, not for everyone. But you arent going to find many countries in the history books with 70+ year life expectancy from 200 years ago, much less 2000 years ago.

And it's important to remember that our genetics have not changed much since we were hunter/gatherers. A newborn baby is still a baby human animal and would fit in as well in the year 6000 BCE as he does now.

See? We've come a long way. And what I think is important to note is that we have built our science and knowledge to the point that we have discovered the moral truths that would bode well for our race and our planet . Now, implementing them is a different story. But, at least we know them now, which is light years ahead of what we knew just 500 years ago. And we've been around a lot longer than that.

Is that better or worse though? Maybe we weren't meant to live so long. I don't know how I feel about keeping people alive that would otherwise be dead using things like meds and machines. Your quality of life most certainly declines at least in your old age, and some people live in constant pain and agony. Now, if they could find a way to keep your body youthful, that would be something.

Of course it is better. That same decline would have happened in your 30s and 40s, as you slowly died from a variety of diseases. I will take life in an old man's body over no life. And so would you.

Well, that probably depends on a variety of factors. Are you suffering? There are some people who would, if they could, choose euthanasia over being kept alive to suffer. So it all depends on your perspective and your quality of life.

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

Again, that depends on a lot of different factors. Suicide rates are pretty high, especially among older or middle aged white men. Pain and suffering probably play a role in that. While they can keep you alive for a while, they cannot reverse the aging process.

 

[GreenBean]

Post Cards from Mars
Mars Anomalies Image Gallery

The Rovers - trolling the Martian surface and beaming back data bites to Earth. Many of the images we receive are grossly out of place to what we percieve, or what science dictates that the Martian surface should be. We have many instances of "Pareidolia" - but there are way too many unexplained and seemingly unexplainable anomalies to simply shrug off.

 

[ChrisL]

More life = better is definitely subjective. Lol.

 

[anotherlife]

Now I laughed when the loonies tried to present this as some alien construct. However, what the scientists are now looking at are possibilities, and judging which would be the most likely target for future exploration. If Musk is successful with his BFR, then this could happen within my lifetime.

I'd hate to bust your space bubble, but Mr. Musk isn't going to Mars.

Neither he nor any consortium of private investors will be able to raise the Trillions of dollars such an effort would require.

And nations won't do it for the foreseeable future.

My grandfather was 20 years old when the Wright Bros. flew at Kitty Hawk. He watched the Eagle set down on the moon. Sputnik was launched in 1957, the Eagle landed in 1969.

...And yet for all those momentous achievements and discoveries, humans are little different now than we have been for millennia. I don't know what you think about that, but looking at it in a "big picture" way, I find it somewhat disconcerting. The fact that what we can come to know so much more about ourselves and the world in which we live can change so much and we remain much the same suggests to me that we really aren't any manifoldly better as beings than are other lifeforms that we deem lesser than ourselves.

What you are saying is that we are made out of the same cloth as the other life on this planet. That is basically what the Native American religions state, and I believe it to be a more accurate assessment of our state than the Christian viewpoint that we are to dominate all the life on this planet, and are a separate creation from that life.

I think this is the part of the bible that Protestant Christians misunderstood and perverted. The bible says that humans are created to be stewards of the other creations. That is not the position of a ruler. Also, the bible says that all life is from the same source which is with God.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

More life = better.

What exactly do you mean by that?

The longer life, the better, in general. Well, if you like being alive, that is.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

More life = better is definitely subjective. Lol.

"More life = better is definitely subjective. Lol."

No, it isn't. that is an objective fact we can use to objectively evaluate the human condition. Some may prefer to be dead, but I would say they are the exception to the rule.

 

[usmbguest5318]

In general, it depends on no factors. More life = better. And if we talk about quality of life, there's an even more stark difference between now and, say, 200 years ago.

More life = better.

What exactly do you mean by that?

The longer life, the better, in general. Well, if you like being alive, that is.

Okay.

 

[Innocynioc]

If we find life anywhere other than on Earth that would be amazing, astounding and wonderful. If we never find life anywhere in the universe other than that on or from Earth that would be equally amazing astounding and wonderful.

 

[ChrisL]

More life = better is definitely subjective. Lol.

"More life = better is definitely subjective. Lol."

No, it isn't. that is an objective fact we can use to objectively evaluate the human condition. Some may prefer to be dead, but I would say they are the exception to the rule.

It is subjective no matter how many times you say that it isn't.