Extraterrestrial life (did I spell it right?)

[Montros]

The universe is estimated to be approximately 13.7 billion years old. However, considering the millions or even billions of years it would take for ideal circumstances to allow life somewhere (I think it's suspected that the universe would have been far too unstable to support life for the first few billion years of its existence, not to mention the additional years it would take for suns and planets to form), and then the additional millions or billions of years it would take for life to sufficiently evolve to an intellectual point, we're not really so far off. I believe the oldest known life on Earth was found to exist 3.5 billion years ago, so consider that any other place with intelligent life might need a stable and ideal environment for approximately the same amount of time.

But you forgot what I said. Different civilizations advance at different rates. and I'm gonna say it again, when there were futuristic technologies in India or Saudi Arabia, there were at least iron age technologies in Europe, and stone age technologies in North America. Why else do you think they advanced slower or faster?

Star Trek isn't a good comparison, considering that it's entirely fiction. And of course alien races will encounter each other in sci-fi series frequently, else they would be amazingly dull and uneventful. No one wants to watch a TV show that reflects reality: years of monotonous searching for intelligent life with no results.

Oh yeah? In Star trek, they had the cell phone thingies. And at that time, in the real world, we didn't. But, after a few years we actully made them. That doesn't sound like science fiction to me. I think every new idea is science fiction. They thought air planes were science firction. They thought atomic bombs and space ships were sci fi. But look at the world now. We have all of those, and they're not sci fi, are they?

No, it's because we don't know. If you study the figure, you'll see we'd need to know the exact number of many things we don't know and couldn't find out with current technology. You are correct that personal opinions do effect the outcomes, but at the moment, any figures are entirely speculative and not precise, so opinion (based on what little studies we have now) is all we can really work with.

And I think the Milky Way is suspected to have somewhere around 200-400 billion stars. Assuming it had 200 billion only, no star was home to more than one advanced civilization, and there were 5000 advanced civilizations, then only 0.000000025% of the galaxy's stars would be home to an advanced civilization (0.0000000125% if 400 billion stars). Those odds aren't really that extreme.

Are you like an astronomer or something? I can say i know a few things about the universe and space, but this is rediculous! in a good way.

[BrotherhoodUK]

We have one distinct fact that there is life out there.

They have not contacted us.

[Montros]

We have one distinct fact that there is life out there.

They have not contacted us.

i get it. but still, wouldn't every civilization want to know if there not alone? they would at least try.

[Alusair]

Oh yeah? In Star trek, they had the cell phone thingies. And at that time, in the real world, we didn't. But, after a few years we actully made them. That doesn't sound like science fiction to me. I think every new idea is science fiction. They thought air planes were science firction. They thought atomic bombs and space ships were sci fi. But look at the world now. We have all of those, and they're not sci fi, are they?

If the events in Star Trek were real and actually happening, it'd be a documentary, not an "American science fiction entertainment series".

[TheEclipse]

i think it is increadebly egotistical to think we are the only ones out there. there is an immesurable amount of space in the universe and to think we are the only ones to be able to survive is extreamly narrow-minded. and when we say "other life" we are assuming it would be life JUST LIKE US. just because WE need oxygen, and water, and all that stuff, doesnt mean other lifeforms do. there is talk of a possiblity of silicone based life, but for all we know, there could be life that requires or is made of stuff not even found on earth. according to scientists there are 4 states of matter: gases, solids, liquids, and plasma. plasma isnt found on earth. how do we know there arent more, that we havnt discovered yet? until we explore EVERY planet and EVERY star in EVERY corner of the universe, we wont be able to say for sure if there is life on other planets. and it is doubtful that we will EVER have the technology to do so.

[Montros]

i think it is increadebly egotistical to think we are the only ones out there. there is an immesurable amount of space in the universe and to think we are the only ones to be able to survive is extreamly narrow-minded. and when we say "other life" we are assuming it would be life JUST LIKE US. just because WE need oxygen, and water, and all that stuff, doesnt mean other lifeforms do. there is talk of a possiblity of silicone based life, but for all we know, there could be life that requires or is made of stuff not even found on earth. according to scientists there are 4 states of matter: gases, solids, liquids, and plasma. plasma isnt found on earth. how do we know there arent more, that we havnt discovered yet? until we explore EVERY planet and EVERY star in EVERY corner of the universe, we wont be able to say for sure if there is life on other planets. and it is doubtful that we will EVER have the technology to do so.

actully it is. When lightning strikes, plasma is made.

[TheEclipse]

actully it is. When lightning strikes, plasma is made.

i'm just repeating what every person has ever told me

[King Dylan]

Jiah quote time!

"earth is the only planet that has water"

Haha jaykay!

What about Alpha Centauri?

[Rinsam]

Alpha Centauri is a star system. Not an individual planet.

[TheEclipse]

Alpha Centauri is a star system. Not an individual planet.

who cares? does it have water? is it not earth? if you answered yes to those two questions, then it falls under the category of "non-earth-places-with-water"