Re: Alien Life
 

Wow, that sounds like an awesome premise for a story. How cool. That would indeed be a cruel joke, to be stuck at the end of the universe, near to the Big Crunch. IIRC, the most recent evidence points to an unending expansion of the universe, though, although the Big Crunch scenario cannot be completely ruled out. (Yeah, as if we can completely rule anything out as far as this stuff is concerned.)

Re: Alien Life
 

Yeah, the numbers change by the day, but it is currently Vogue to say eternal expansion, but with a limit approaching zero (stasis that's never quite reached?).

I've also read from some physicists that the big crunch would be more like the big smoosh (something to do with the laws of thermodynamics and the force of gravity, but I'm just a biologist here http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ), and that the result would be more a big ball of moosh than a point-singularity like the thing that jump-started the big bang. Not surprisingly their position is that repeated big-bangs for each universe won't happen.

Re: Alien Life
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yup, the idea of a "flat universe", as opposed to an open one (endless expansion) or a closed one (Big Crunch...er, Smoosh). It's impossible to tell for sure, of course, because things like dark matter and dark energy make calculations difficult, as does the mysterious repelling force that seems to be accelerating galaxies apart from one another. The flat universe idea is the romantic view, because it requires a complete balance between everything, which would signify (to some folks' minds) some grand plan or controlling factor behind the scenes. The data, as it is now, is amazingly close to the flat balance.

Re: Alien Life
 

All this discussion of alien life has reminded me of an old Arthur C Clarke book: "The Songs of Distant Earth". What if we are the aliens?

The book takes into account the improbabilities of travel to other stars. Our sun is discovered to go supernova in 800 years. Mankind is doomed. Unable to physically travel, instead, we build ships that contain libraries of DNA of humans, plants, and animals. Hundreds of computer controlled ships drift in the vastness of space, looking for suitable planets to settle, then experiment using local resources to recreate human life.

Eventually we do discover quantum drives and can travel at about 10-20% spead of light. One million humans in suspended animation leave and arrive on a planet colonized hundreds of years earlier. How would our descendants receive us?

Good reading for any interested.

Personally, I believe there is life out there, but we are so hopelessly separated by the vastness of space and time to ever meet each other. I think if we are ever to meet, it will be by targetting worlds suspected to contain life by radio or laser transmissions. These worlds will be detected by interferomety. Of course, that is assuming such life is oxygen/water based. Then if we can overcome our language barriers, we can share libraries of information, realizing that it may take hundreds of years to transmit and receive. We will talk, but never actually meet them.

Re: Alien Life
 

I would have voted/posted earlier, but I seemed to have developed a bug in Internet Exploder... no new windows can be created (well, they are created, just not with anything inside...

Anyway, my view would be like Geo's. I think that intelligent life -- other than us -- already has existed, exists currently, and will continue to be formed throughout time. The vast size of the universe is more than the human mind can begin to comprehend (but we still try to understand anyway). Just in our own galaxy, by the most conservative of estimates, using the criteria for life like us to exist, there are millions of suitable places. In this galaxy. There are millions of galaxies. So if only one in a million produces intelligent life, there are still millions.

Now as for us ever meeting any other intelligent life... I doubt it will happen. AFAIK, there isn't even a theory on how FTL travel can occur, at least for something having mass. Tachyons are theorized, but nobody has confirmed their existance. And even at near light travel, it would take a very long time to reach any other civilization. I very much doubt humans would want to travel to aliens, since there is no real short-term benefit, just a single long term goal. And if they came to us... well, they most probably would have developed nothing like we did. Their entire basis of thought would be completely different. So I have no idea what they would be thinking if/when they show up here.

Re: Alien Life
 

Keep in mind that someone has to be first! It could be us. I don't think it is, but 15 billion years is not really that long. Our star has a lifespan of about 10 billion years and we are about half way through that. The first stars had only hydrogen and helium to work with; only a miniscule amount of heavier elements. The next generation had more heavier elements but was there enough to organize into planets and complex molecules? Our star's (and system's) generation may be the first to have sufficient complexity for life, let alone intelligent life.

We just may be the first!

Kim

[ August 17, 2002, 16:37: Message edited by: Grandpakim ]

Re: Alien Life
 

I think this about sums up alien life if it does indeed exsisit.

"I am mysterious, you do not know me, be afraid."

Nuff said. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

(Thank Nicholas Meyers

He says that in his commentary of Star Trek II. He says it while your looking at Kahn. Its kinda funny how it plays out. One thing is for certain though; Nicholas Meyers is narcissistic as all get out. Listen to the commentary, especially his end comments. Very self absorbed BS.)

Re: Alien Life
 

I was reading something recently were scientist has taken particles of light and accellerated them to a few hundred times to speed of light.

For all intents in purposes, this would suit the communications technologies best for the simple speed of transmissions.

If applied to interstellar communications, than this would speed communications up.