Where are the aliens? :)

Maxinquaye · Jan 25, 2010

This gets the nerd in me going on overdrive. I just love this kind of thing.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-aliens-how-would-we-communicate-1878670.html

“The number of habitable planets in the Milky Way is very probably much larger than we have believed in the past. A realistic picture should include the contributions to habitability of deep atmospheres, thick ice layers, even the solid surface itself, all of which can lead to life-supporting near-surface temperatures,” said Professor Drake.

waylander · Jan 25, 2010

Still busy trying to invent a FTL drive

Sarpedon · Jan 25, 2010

And perfecting their anal probes.

benbradley · Jan 25, 2010

waylander said:
Still busy trying to invent a FTL drive

Or make a generation ship.

LOG · Jan 25, 2010

We should keep in mind that what may be uninhabitable to us, may be very well habitable to another species.

If we assume that the galaxy's stars and planets formed roughly simultaneously(by universal standards), then any other alien species could well still be working on some sort of transportation. Just like us.

Fran · Jan 25, 2010

I LOVE the idea of other life out there. But I've no idea why they would bother visiting us, unless some of the technical problems listed above are hampering their efforts.

Slushie · Jan 25, 2010

LOG said:
We should keep in mind that what may be uninhabitable to us, may be very well habitable to another species.

If we assume that the galaxy's stars and planets formed roughly simultaneously(by universal standards), then any other alien species could well still be working on some sort of transportation. Just like us.

Yep. Astronomers have been looking at Titan as a promising habitat for life. Extreme for us, but the conditions are right for an evolutionary chain to develop, if that hasn't already been happening.

And we've only been around for a Universal blink; other lifeforms could have lived and died in other parts of the universe--or even galaxy--a long time before the dinosaurs showed up on Earth.

Carl Sagan is my hero.

waylander · Jan 25, 2010

LOG said:
We should keep in mind that what may be uninhabitable to us, may be very well habitable to another species.

Well yes...and no.
I'm sure we've had the discussion on here before, but I can't put my hand on it.

There are sound chemistry reasons why a lot of environments are going to be uninhabitable because of temperature/pressure, chemical composition etc. You're simply not going to form complex organic molecules in an ammonia rich environment for example.

Maxinquaye · Jan 25, 2010

Slushie said:
Yep. Astronomers have been looking at Titan as a promising habitat for life. Extreme for us, but the conditions are right for an evolutionary chain to develop, if that hasn't already been happening.

And we've only been around for a Universal blink; other lifeforms could have lived and died in other parts of the universe--or even galaxy--a long time before the dinosaurs showed up on Earth.

Carl Sagan is my hero.

And Europa. I think they're planning a mission to Europa to drill through it's ice. Its core is beaing kneaded by Jupiter, so it's molten. There's water ice under the surface. It's going to be one interesting mission, that.

Maxinquaye · Jan 25, 2010

Fran said:
I LOVE the idea of other life out there. But I've no idea why they would bother visiting us, unless some of the technical problems listed above are hampering their efforts.

Maybe for the same reason we visit the zoo...

Don · Jan 25, 2010

Seriously. Why would any reasonably civilized society come here? The whole planet's cut up into pieces and pillaged by various warlords. Nowhere on the planet is safe from pillaging by some gang or another. The most technologically advanced societies on the planet are also the most warlike.

The Galactic FreeTraders Association keeps a few of us here as a forward base, but even our most optimistic projections say it's going to be decades before we can openly visit here without bringing along a couple of battle cruisers, just to prove we're badass.

Frankly, there's nothing here worth letting a planet filled with bloodthirsty natives know that we exist. We figure the first reaction would be to launch a mission to "civilize" us.

Maxinquaye · Jan 25, 2010

Don said:
Seriously. Why would any reasonably civilized society come here? The whole planet's cut up into pieces and pillaged by various warlords. Nowhere on the planet is safe from pillaging by some gang or another. The most technologically advanced societies on the planet are also the most warlike.

I read a short story once where the aliens were coming. Scientists could spot the approaching aliens from millions of miles off. The nations put aside their differences, and arranged a huge welcoming ceremony. Thousands of people, millions, eagerly awaited the visitors.

Then they came, dove into the ocean, and talked with the dolphins instead.

tiny · Jan 25, 2010

Don said:
Seriously. Why would any reasonably civilized society come here? The whole planet's cut up into pieces and pillaged by various warlords. Nowhere on the planet is safe from pillaging by some gang or another. The most technologically advanced societies on the planet are also the most warlike.

The Galactic FreeTraders Association keeps a few of us here as a forward base, but even our most optimistic projections say it's going to be decades before we can openly visit here without bringing along a couple of battle cruisers, just to prove we're badass.

Frankly, there's nothing here worth letting a planet filled with bloodthirsty natives know that we exist. We figure the first reaction would be to launch a mission to "civilize" us.

Way to let the so called cat out of the bag, dingus.

robeiae · Jan 25, 2010

Sounds like a Star Trek episode...

I prefer the one where an alien race comes here--after we're extinct--and finds a few bits of stuff in cave, that somehow survived the nuclear holocaust. In there is a film that the aliens decide shows what the extinct race was like and how it lived. The film was a Disney cartoon...

Zoombie · Jan 25, 2010

How ironic, I just finished Cosmos, the television program by Carl Sagen.

It always bums me out to think that he died before we made contact.

benbradley · Jan 25, 2010

Don said:
Frankly, there's nothing here worth letting a planet filled with bloodthirsty natives know that we exist. We figure the first reaction would be to launch a mission to "civilize" us.

And that's just from the Vatican.

Don · Jan 25, 2010

tiny terror said:
Way to let the so called cat out of the bag, dingus.

Nah, it's fine. Even here, among some of the most intelligent of the species, they'll blow it off as a joke. Watch. I'll bet you 20 fretars.

Zoombie · Jan 25, 2010

I knew it! I knew it! Only an alien have such a poor grasp of Earth humor!

LOG · Jan 25, 2010

Don said:
Nah, it's fine. Even here, among some of the most intelligent of the species, they'll blow it off as a joke. Watch. I'll bet you 20 fretars.

What if I think you're lying in an attempt to make us think you're lying?

robeiae · Jan 25, 2010

Don and his pals want to rob us of all our women! And cow livers.

LOG · Jan 25, 2010

robeiae said:
Don and his pals want to rob us of all our women!

I have mixed feelings about this.

And cow livers.

Not so much about this.

StephanieFox · Jan 25, 2010

Maybe they'll be bringing my rocket pack which I was promised back in 1962!

I'm still waiting!

Zoombie · Jan 25, 2010

How does the line go?

Oh right

"I hold in my hand a device that can communicate with anyone anywhere, instantly give me directions from anywhere to anywhere, and can hold and play back multiple kinds of media and it is smaller than a media player of but a decade ago. We're living in the goddamn future already and you would have just crashed your stupid flying car anyway."

Don · Jan 25, 2010

We've got women. And cows. And cell phones. And rocket packs. The U.S. Patent office has been setting on our application since 1960, and the National Transportation Safety Board has already told us if we ever get a patent the rocket packs won't be approved for sale because the oil companies and automakers all swear they'll cause cancer.

Slushie · Jan 25, 2010

Don said:
We've got women. And cows. And cell phones. And rocket packs. The U.S. Patent office has been setting on our application since 1960, and the National Transportation Safety Board has already told us if we ever get a patent the rocket packs won't be approved for sale because the oil companies and automakers all swear they'll cause cancer.

With good reason. Rocket fuel can cause cancer.

A chemical that interferes with normal thyroid function may cause cancer and persists indefinitely in the environment, but is currently unregulated by state or federal authorities.

Perchlorate, the explosive main ingredient of rocket and missile fuel, contaminates drinking water supplies, groundwater or soil in hundreds of locations in at least 43 states, according to Environmental Working Group’s updated analysis of government data.

Yes, I googled "rocket cause cancer".

Where are the aliens? :)

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