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Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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 Posted - 2011/08/06 : 14:59:47
quote:
Originally posted by m0nst3r:
and lilley..why do i believe that?
because I believe just because someone with a degree tells you that "this is how things are and if you think differently you're wrong..because i've spent my whole life researching it" is a pretty black and white way to look at the world.
Fair enough. Personally, I arrive at the alien thing with extreme skepticism. My understanding of evolution in it's current form is there would have needed to be about 20 genetic mutations per generation for humans to evolve as they have. Fine, I can cope with that. The chance of it happening anywhere else in the universe is for all intents and purposes zero.
Astrophysicists and astrobiologists disagree though, they seem to hope that a reasonable guess for the Drake Equation is two. But given that the whole existence of their job is based around the existence of alien life, I think it's fair to say they would be understandably biased.
An interesting read on the topic is Sphere by Michael Crichton.
quote:
Originally posted by acidfluxxbass:
I think my Clapp surname originates from Denmark.
I got that far before I realised I missed 'surname'.
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JayHH86
Advanced Member
Vietnam
1,400 posts
Joined: Dec, 2008
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Posted - 2011/08/06 : 15:13:23
quote:
Originally posted by Lilley:
Fair enough. Personally, I arrive at the alien thing with extreme skepticism. My understanding of evolution in it's current form is there would have needed to be about 20 genetic mutations per generation for humans to evolve as they have. Fine, I can cope with that. The chance of it happening anywhere else in the universe is for all intents and purposes zero.
But that's on the basis that life elsewhere in the universe would be under the conventional guise of life as we know it. Fauna, animals, humans etc (or minor variations of them).
It's not possible that life could exist in just a totally unorthodox form? Something totally unconventional ? i.e. life forms that aren't dependent on oxygen, sunlight, water and so on.
I think I may have seen bits and pieces of the film Sphere. I'd always written it off as just another shit film. Hadn't appreciated that it was originally a novel. I've just quickly read about it, and it sounds very interesting. I'll have to get that.
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Hard2Get
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
12,837 posts
Joined: Jun, 2001
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Posted - 2011/08/06 : 22:05:23
quote:
Originally posted by Dante:
quote:
Originally posted by Hard2Get:
Homo erectus. Wow.
You've never heard of it bruv? I know it sounds dodgy, but basically it means erected man, as in the first man to walk upright ;p
Nah i've not.
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m0nst3r
Senior Member
Australia
308 posts
Joined: Oct, 2010
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Posted - 2011/08/06 : 22:19:56
I had to read the first 2 posts on this page twice..before i got it all
new rule, Jess shouldn't attempt to read before being properly awake first >.<
blah
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Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2011/08/07 : 03:15:39
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
But that's on the basis that life elsewhere in the universe would be under the conventional guise of life as we know it. Fauna, animals, humans etc (or minor variations of them).
It's not possible that life could exist in just a totally unorthodox form? Something totally unconventional ? i.e. life forms that aren't dependent on oxygen, sunlight, water and so on.
I just realise that I forgot to include something I meant to. I'm certainly not discounting the possibility of viruses and bacteria existing in the occasional circumstance, just the probability of them evolving into anything above the base layer particularly into anything sentient.
Onto your question: Generally, it would be completely impossible. Sunlight is not absolutely necessary, but a nearby sun is. Background radiation in the universe is about 3 degrees above absolute zero - which is too cold for any living thing (simply because the atoms are barely vibrating, there is so little energy that nothing can happen), so while stuff can exist in darkness (take a look at deep sea fish & the like) a source of heat/energy is necessary.
If the energy comes from a sun - I'm not researched enough to know if energy can be absorbed from other sources (dark matter, dark energy etc) but as far as traditional physics goes, a star is really the only possible source of energy that an environment would need to host a living ecosystem. Given that, oxygen is absolutely critical to survival. Without it, UV and X-rays produced in the giant nuclear reaction called the sun would turn the earth or any other planet into a bunch of charred smoking piles of ash.
I'm not discounting the possibility of something completely random, I'm just not expecting it.
Lastly with regard to the water issue, life as we know it is dependent on water - and not just for survival, but for the very existence of life. It sort of makes sense that unless you have some form of gaseous being (which would be difficult given the nature of gas) that the fluidic nature of lifeforms require water or some form of fluid to be able to move. Anything solid ecosystem would not be able to reproduce as it wouldn't be able to move - and before people start saying trees don't move, they are dependent on moving life forms to pollinate and reproduce. There are other fluidic substances that lifeforms could possibly grow from, but to my knowledge the scientific position is water is the very essence of life and I'm willing to bow to their knowledge.
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Edited by - Lilley on 2011/08/07 03:30:08 |
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