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UFO's
V8MoneyPit:
--- Quote from: beast5680 on April 05, 2008, 14:16:19 ---..... by all the laws of probability there has to be some more out there that havent been found yet,
--- End quote ---
I always used to think that. But there are so many critical factors to create the balance that generates life as we know it, that it is actually highly unlikely that there is life elsewhere. Or, at least, the odds are hugely stacked against it.
Of course, I did use the words 'life as we know it'. Who is to say that there isn't some way of generating life other than Carbon based?
:-k
Wireless:
He's some light reading for those interested;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_hypothesis
Boggert:
Anyone heard of the Drake Equation?
How can we estimate the number of technological civilizations that might exist among the stars? While working as a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, Dr. Frank Drake (now Chairman of the Board of the SETI Institute) conceived an approach to bound the terms involved in estimating the number of technological civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. The Drake Equation, as it has become known, was first presented by Drake in 1961 and identifies specific factors thought to play a role in the development of such civilizations. Although there is no unique solution to this equation, it is a generally accepted tool used by the scientific community to examine these factors.
--Frank Drake, 1961
The equation is usually written:
N = R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc • L
Where,
N = The number of civilizations in The Milky Way Galaxy whose electromagnetic emissions are detectable.
R* =The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life.
fp = The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.
ne = The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life.
fl = The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.
fi = The fraction of life bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges.
fc = The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space.
L = The length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.
Have a lok at this link.... http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/SETI/drake_equation.html
Within the limits of our existing technology, any practical search for distant intelligent life must necessarily be a search for some manifestation of a distant technology. In each of its last four decadal reviews, the National Research Council has emphasized the relevance and importance of searching for evidence of the electromagnetic signature of distant civilizations.
Besides illuminating the factors involved in such a search, the Drake Equation is a simple, effective tool for stimulating intellectual curiosity about the universe around us, for helping us to understand that life as we know it is the end product of a natural, cosmic evolution, and for making us realize how much we are a part of that universe. A key goal of the SETI Institute is to further high quality research that will yield additional information related to any of the factors of this fascinating equation.
blackbob:
if they exist WHY would they come to this planet where the Americans would shot them we would lock them up then give them dole money or both and then we would tax them for global warming :doh:
Disco Matt:
There is every chance that any aliens we do manage to make contact with will be horrified by our deadly oxygen-based atmosphere! :lol:
Seriously, while I can readily accept that there must be other life out there, I have trouble believing that they would bother to travel for light years to what is, in astronomical terms, a rather middle of the road star with some equally nondescript planets on the offchance that it holds life. You would have to get very close indeed before realising that Earth is inhabited.
This might not be a bad thing. I for one would rather that any unfriendly aliens passed by without noticing us!
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