Re: Does Life Exist
 

Warning : possibly controversial link below.

Is there intelligent life out there ? Here's one possibility.

Re: Does Life Exist
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">These would be the "human flaws" jurijd mentioned but that you didn't quote. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Does Life Exist
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">there is no gravity in space
They did a test to see if you could use inertia as artificial gravity. It didnt work the person still had a bad back when he came down.

Re: Does Life Exist
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">ummm... Could you explain that one a little more? Or maybe drop a link. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.

Re: Does Life Exist
 

I like the "if there's anybody out there, where the bleep are they!?!" side of the question. Even within the limitations of the speed of light, it would take no more than a couple hundred million years for one race of intelligent life to spread throughout the galaxy, the whole galaxy.

Since the galaxy has been around for billions of years, they should be here, or at the very least we should be picking up radio transmission from them: communicating with each other, communicating between worlds or craft within the same system, even radio transmissions that are meant to only reach individuals on the same planet should be making some difference. What is there? Nothing.

The matter may stem from some specific failure mode, some specific thing that intelligent life does to itself on a consistent enough basis that it never makes it out of its own solar system. That a bit depressing, as it could be seen as an assurance of doom. Whatever, keep breathing.

[ August 08, 2003, 12:11: Message edited by: Loser ]

Re: Does Life Exist
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sounds like you mean a rotating ship type dealy. We don't have anything big enough to avoid significant force differentials at different heights.

Re: Does Life Exist
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think what he's referring to is the proposed use of a "rotating section" on a spaceship to generate an artifical gravity, much like you see in Babylon 5 and 2001: A Space Oddessy.

I guess muscle loss/atrophy (sp?) still occurs in this simulated enviroment, although I would expect it to occur more slowly than in a non-simulated gravity enviroment.

Then again I may be completely off my rocker. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Does Life Exist
 

Well this isn´t a good example but its the best I can do for now:

Before the Last ice age there were at least 3 differet species of humanoids living on Earth. People usually think that Homo sapiens evolved in a linear fashion from "lower" humanoids but what they tend to forget is that parallel to us several other species evolved (also from lower humanoids) that were in no way (mentally or physically) inferiour to us. But as you can see apparently only one of those species survived to this day (ok, forget about Big foot, the Snow man and the Easter bunny http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif )

So one can resonbly conclude that (at least on Earth) similarily evolved intelligent species (although related) didn´t really like each other very much and there is evidence that over the passage of time one species took over teritories that belonged to another only centuries ago... not a very encouranging thought concidering that "the aliens" won´t even be distantly related to us.

And encounters of a technologically superiour culture with one less developed (in a militarily and sientific way!!!) also don´t tell a hopefull story. just look at what 200 Spanish soldiers did to the Inka indians back in the 16th century (I think it was the Inkas... or the Aztecks later on... same story:)

I don´t think E.T. will attack Earth to steal our water:) (since they have a quadrillion times as much freely available in those ice asteroids orbiting not far away from Mars:) Maybe our small and unimportant planet is what will safe us in the end. Because what could they possibly want from us... I mean there are millions of other planets with the same (or better) mineral composition as Earth... and besides it doesn´t make sence for a space-ferring culture to mine planets ... it makes more sence to mine asteroids where you don´t need to bother with this annoying gravity we keep hearing about :-) I mean why would you mine gold on Earth and then have to haul it up at enormous costs of energy to space when you have a few rocks with .0000% g already in space that are loaded with the suff. (no really there is an asteroid orbiting near jupiter that has more gold and platinum on it that our enitre planet *ka-ching* http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ August 08, 2003, 12:23: Message edited by: JurijD ]

Re: Does Life Exist
 

To detect inter-system communication within another system is propably hard.
You have to aim at that system directly, it's not very high signals that would reach earth if the signals aren't directed in a tight beam towards us, I belive. Not to mention that we might be listening on the wrong frequency, if communication is sparse they might not be using that many frequencies. And perhaps there is other way to transmit communication than by radio waves. Wires planetside and light in space? Perhaps mass communication isn't for all species?
What where the SETI resources in the 40:ies?

So to say that we've been monitoring the EM band closely for the Last 70 years isn't the whole truth.

(I might be out on thin ice here as I really don't know but what I've written here seems reasonable, right?)

[ August 08, 2003, 12:27: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

Re: Does Life Exist
 

Atrocities, I gotta side with JuriD here. A handful, in a gigantic universe, equals countless planets with the possibility of life.

That the life forms in question have an intelligence like ours is hard to know for sure. The drake equation is easy to discuss and debate to figure out for number of stars and planets. But to define intelligence and technology, well, that might be difficult.

I'm a firm believer, that the laws of physics prevent these far flung societies from ever coming in contact with each other. If anyone ever discover warp points, jumpgates, I'll be shocked. And, IMHO, hyperspace drives and warp drives are just plain silly.

JuriD, you're back from vacation? Betcha you thought you'd have missed some turns on PBW, huh. Didn't figure you'd have missed nothing, didja. Welcome back.