Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 22/08/2012 13:30:03
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TIM WALKER asked the Naked Scientists:
Hi there, excellent programme.
Bear with me, my enquiry involves space, but I'm currently researching a number of space and space-related matters.
My question is from the latter and is this: Speaking as a scientist, what are your views on the (fabled?) Anunaki and any views you might have on life beyond earth, and the thoughts of people such as David Icke would be interesting.
Not terribly well-constructed! but I'm sure you get the gist.
Thanks in advance, Tim Walker
What do you think?
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200-300 billion stars in the Milky Way.....200-300 Billion Galaxies !
Planets are being found all the time.....I think it's safe to say that there are probably more planets that stars (please correct if I am wrong).....only a small percentage need be in the goldilocks zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_zone#Goldilocks_zone).
YES !!....life exists elsewhere..in MY opinion !
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Incidentally chaps and chapesses.....In Astronomical terms is one billion the thousand x million or million x million ?
I've always assumed the former !
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the thoughts of people such as David Icke ...
Looks like he watched too many episodes of the sci-fi series "V (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_%28science_fiction%29)" ...
The Royal Family are bloodsucking alien lizards
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/the-royal-family-are-bloodsucking-alien-lizards-david-icke-1-1103954
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I am very sure that quite a lot of life exists (has existed and will exist)beyond the earth there will almost certainly be intelligent life out there but the probability of communicating significantly with it will be almost vanishingly small because it will be too far away. however there is a possibility that we will be able to hear communications from other intelligent life and send messages in the hope that others may hear them if we wish.
You have to remember that a distance of 500 light years is relatively local in our galaxy and round trip communication would take 1000 years all possibilities of physical communication orders of magnitude longer.
The sad fact is probably many of the messages we will hear will be the last dying screams of technological life forms as they die through over exploitation of their planets.
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There, of course, are two issues. "Life" and "Civilized Life".
I agree with others that somewhere out there there must be "life", and perhaps in a great many places, and in unforeseen circumstances.
It is quite possible that many planets would only support microbial life. But... somewhere... there may be another civilization like ours (plus or minus a few thousand or million years of advancement).
Frank Drake attempted to quantify it by making the Drake Equation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation), which, of course, brought with it significant controversy.
We will learn a lot more about the prevalence of life as we explore our solar system in search for life, even microbial life, on other planets or moons.
Observational techniques are improving astronomically.... but, it is quite possible that we will never actually be able to meet or communicate with another society due to the sheer distances involved.
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I say YES.....Life is all over the universe, microbes, complex life, and everything else, imaginable and unimaginable...