Quick poll. Do you believe in life outside of our solar system?

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by Gingerbread Demon, Dec 8, 2020.

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Do you think or believe in life outside of our solar system?

Poll closed Dec 22, 2020.
  1. Yes

    22 vote(s)
    68.8%
  2. No

    2 vote(s)
    6.3%
  3. Maybe

    8 vote(s)
    25.0%
  4. Not ever

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    On the contrary I think Maybe is a great answer because there is a chance of some kind of life somewhere else in space, but also a chance of nothing and we just don't know till we are able to study it and find out for ourselves.

    Life doesn't have to be walking traveling aliens it could just be alien wildlife.
     
  2. Henoch

    Henoch Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    I voted yes, but I think space traveling intelligent life is very, very rare (unless habitable planets were seeded...)
     
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  3. dupersuper

    dupersuper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think it damn likely...I'm not sure how much "belief" enters into it.
     
  4. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Without proof, all you have is belief.
     
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  5. Imaus

    Imaus Captain Captain

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    Feb 27, 2020
    I really doubt that.

    There are so many known forms of DNA life already, from the deepest pits to the extreme environs and maybe even in the high atmosphere and stratosphere (research is budding).

    It is far less of a secure gamble to say 'there is no life anywhere' since the 90s and the discovery of exoplanets, or since the 10s with earth sized planets in habitable zones.

    There is something out there. Mathematically, there are just too many galaxies, worlds, and time. Our planet was life bearing as early as around 4 billion years ago. Our own galaxy has 100-500 billion stars, many of them with Jovian worlds, we already know of around 4,000 exoplanets and nearly the same number of that in candidates.

    Now whether or not whatever is closest to us, that they're technological or sapient, I doubt, but there are definitely some systems in reach (I define reach as say, anything within 20 LY, some good candidates in this range to look for - the Centauri systems, Tau Ceti, Delta Pavonis, 82 Eridani, Beta Hydri, Eta Cassiopeiae, Xi Bootis, with confirmed possibly habitable planets also within 20 ly at Luyten, Teegarden, Kapteyn, Wolf 1061c....) to at least look for some form of other life within the next few centuries. And I bet by 2030 this list of just what's within 20ly alone would have doubled.

    We're probably not going to have Spock waiting for us in our neighborhood but there is most likely a few dozen technological civilizations in this very galaxy at this very time, we just can't communicate with them or reach them before they die out or we do. We may live out our whole existence and only find some ruins or debris afloat somewhere, but that'll be enough.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2020
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  6. StarCruiser

    StarCruiser Commodore Commodore

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    To put it simply - SOME form of life almost MUST exist somewhere in the universe other than here. Whether that life is even 'advanced' life (that doesn't really mean Sapient) or not is not guaranteed.
     
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  7. Butters

    Butters Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If life can happen here it can happen elsewhere. And there's a shitload of elsewhere out there.
     
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  8. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Nice technical evaluation there !

    :techman:
     
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  9. BK613

    BK613 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Of course, hence my almost-yes maybe. But we still haven't found it.

    And we don't know how easy or hard it is for life to happen. To use a crude analogy, are we talking toast, French toast or Crepes Suzette? :lol:
     
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  10. maneth

    maneth Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It's a big universe out there. So yes, some kind of life outside the solar system is more likely than not. Will we ever meet other lifeforms or recognize them as such if we do? Much more doubtful.
     
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  11. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    I find a very intriguing thing in there. If we say one day landed on planet J for example and found that it was a lush world with air and water, and vegetation we could identify that but what about it's fauna would we even know what to look for in regards to native life forms?

    We could wander around all day long on planet J and they could walk right past us but would we be able to tell?
     
  12. maneth

    maneth Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Even vegetation counts as life forms. I'm pretty sure we'd recognize any ecosystem based on carbon and water as life, but with other elements, I'm a lot less certain.
     
  13. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    Yes true the vegetation we'd spot right away and understand but life forms may take a totally different road, what if they're not carbon based?
     
  14. maneth

    maneth Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    My chemistry's a bit rusty on that front...
     
  15. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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  16. BK613

    BK613 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  17. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

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    I find the thought of silicon based life fascinating. What would it eat, or drink? What could it do?
     
  18. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm no chemist, but from what I've read about silicon-based life (including on that page): Silicon was selected because it behaves (chemically speaking) in a lot of ways similar to carbon, including how it interacts with oxygen. Where a carbon-based lifeform would assimilate oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide, a silicon-based lifeform might assimilate oxygen and excrete silicon dioxide.

    Sounds pretty simple, right? Except silicon dioxide is ROCK. That should give you some idea of the similarities and differences.
     
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  19. BK613

    BK613 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    We are still finding out just how adaptable carbon-based life is as well:
    https://phys.org/news/2020-12-hydrogen-supported-life-beneath-glaciers.html

    TL: DR quote:
    A team of researchers, including Boyd, later discovered that through a series of physical and chemical processes, hydrogen gas is produced as the silica-rich bedrock underneath glaciers is ground into tiny mineral particles by the weight of the ice on top of it. When those mineral particles combine with glacial meltwater, they let off hydrogen.

    What became even more fascinating to Boyd and Dunham was that microbial communities under the glaciers could combine that hydrogen gas with carbon dioxide to generate more organic matter, called biomass, through a process called chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is similar to how plants generate biomass from carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, although chemosynthesis does not require sunlight.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2020
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  20. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Last edited: Dec 23, 2020
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