Aliens? maybe, maybe not

[HempKat]

What I find kind of amusing about all this is that the whole premise of why we're looking at these stars (that changes in the star's light indicates a planet is passing between it and us) is based essentially on a guess. Sure it makes sense and thru it we can explain some of the questions we have about the universe but until we verify it thru direct observation it's still just a guess. It's like the people back in the days of Columbus, when they believed the world to be flat, trying to explain the why's and how's of ocean currents.

As for intelligent life in the universe? Well there might be and there might not be. One thing is sure though, the universe is so big and the number of galaxies so vast that it is mathematically against the odds for there not to be. When it comes to the possibility of intelligent alien life somewhere in the universe, to paraphrase Frank Sinatra, if it can happen here , it can happen any where.

To me, the real issue regarding potential alien life is the distance between things in space. If we ever did find a planet that we were certain that could support us it would be near or completely impossible to get there. So why waste time trying to find life in the universe as they too are likely limited by distance. If by some chance though they did have the ability to achieve intergalactic space travel they would be so advanced that there would be nothing of interest for them to want to come here because there is likely something more convenient with equal or greater amounts of whatever they might have wanted to come here for. Think of it like this, if you're in an office building in an office 100 stories above ground in a city full of skyscrapers and you become mad and feel an urge to punch a wall, are you going to run down 100 flights of steps, catch a cab to the other side of the city and then run up 100 flights of steps and punch a wall there or are you going to just walk a few feet to the nearest wall in the first office and punch it?

 

[Hermanthegerman]

I think of course, there is life anywhere, but it´s so far away that it doesn´t matter.

 

[Illuminate]

What if they have the interstellar anti gravity, fuel-less propulsion systems to get to these planets but keep it a secret? soon as they find them they will nuke us and move on to another planet, to the mars colony where there is enough sodomy to go around. Mars, where your lower shakra goes to be violated.

 

[igrowone]

What I find kind of amusing about all this is that the whole premise of why we're looking at these stars (that changes in the star's light indicates a planet is passing between it and us) is based essentially on a guess. Sure it makes sense and thru it we can explain some of the questions we have about the universe but until we verify it thru direct observation it's still just a guess ...

that's not quite right
there are stars with planets that were identified by the 'wobble' technique
slight peturbations in position from the gravitational tug
so some Kepler observations could be corroborated
direct imaging is coming, sigh, just won't be in my lifetime at this rate

 

[shithawk420]

I just use Murphy's Law when it comes to this stuff."if it can happen,it will happen."end of potential argument

 

[mr.brunch]

" just remember when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth-
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cos there's Bugger all down here on earth "

- Eric idle, Galaxy song.

 

[HempKat]

that's not quite right
there are stars with planets that were identified by the 'wobble' technique
slight peturbations in position from the gravitational tug
so some Kepler observations could be corroborated
direct imaging is coming, sigh, just won't be in my lifetime at this rate

Well some of these stars are ridiculous distances away and so there is no way we can be entirely sure about what we're seeing. It's all based on the universe as we understand it so far. They could be right but what if something is discovered say 10 years from now that totally changes how we interpret what we see with our telescopes? All I'm really saying is with the distances we're talking about there could be a lot of alternative explanations for what we're seeing.

 

[Space Toker]

So any updated news on what this turned out to be? Hopefully not just a swarm of comets as some unlikely hypothesis stated but something more interesting. I know if we found out that our solar system was doomed from a gamma ray burst or something, we have workable concepts now like solar/microwave sails that could get us to the nearest maybe 50 or 100 or so so stars if they were only funded. Out to a distance of say 20-50 light years, there should be numerous habitable planets and many more that could be "brought to life" like Mars could be. The point is, if the funding was there, we could probably launch a mission in 5 to 10 years, 20 if you're not as optimistic as me. We can and must join the interstellar community in the stars.

 

[igrowone]

dead on hempkat, this is definitely in the don't know category
they've actually named it the wtf star
no new stuff, may be a wait, new observations will take some time
in a nutshell, this is an observation that has no plausible explaination from known natural causes
comet dust is the least worst idea at the moment, but that looks real weak

 

[Space Toker]

yeah now they say this needs more study so on and on we go but that is science and it is science that makes all the difference so we must be patient.

 

[kezark31]

science said the the earth was flat a few years ago. i think aliens are real, i dont think we could comprehend there tech. i think they where here long ago and got what they needed and moved on.

 

[shithawk420]

My buddy who passed away last year was 73 and very level headed and sharp.he swore that aliens made a deal with the powers that be.that in exchange for experiments on humans they would give technology or something.and he said he knew this before these stupid ancient alien shows.i dont really believe this stuff but i watched the movie "Dark Skies" and i was really freaked out cause everything he described was in the movie,and im pretty sure he never saw it.somethings going on.dont know if its aliens though.

 

[NotYourSaviour]

In my youth I was a bit interested but nowadays I think it's mostly bullshit.

Nonetheless there is other life out there. I mean we're talking about the universe here and it would be quite arrogant thinking it's impossible.

Just my two cents.

 

[polyflowerbud]

in a parallel universe aliens emanate from your fathers butthole and teleport into your mums womb and that why you suffer the devestation of inbreeding depression

 

[polyflowerbud]

PEACE tiger style

 

[gekolite]

level headed

level headed

My buddy who passed away last year was 73 and very level headed and sharp.he swore that aliens made a deal with the powers that be.that in exchange for experiments on humans they would give technology or something.and he said he knew this before these stupid ancient alien shows.i dont really believe this stuff but i watched the movie "Dark Skies" and i was really freaked out cause everything he described was in the movie,and im pretty sure he never saw it.somethings going on.dont know if its aliens though.

I used to play golf with a very well respected level headed fellow , he was a Capitan in the army air core during and after ww II . He was part of the bomber group that flew out of Roswell nm . that dropped the Atomic weapons on Japan . He said that the Roswell saucer crash was an Alien experience , and not the subterfuge that later was being spread .

 

[Pinball Wizard]

in a parallel universe aliens emanate from your fathers butthole and teleport into your mums womb and that why you suffer the devestation of inbreeding depression

that explains why seeing relatives at Thanksgiving is so depressing!

 

[Bud Green]

that explains why seeing relatives at Thanksgiving is so depressing!

LMFAO!

 

[igrowone]

time for some follow up, pulled off CNN


SETI Researchers Find No Sign of Aliens at KIC 8462852 ... Yet

by Keith Wagstaff

Alien hunters have been training their telescopes on the mysterious KIC 8462852 star system for more than than two weeks, and so far it looks like extraterrestrials aren't home.

Last month, astronomers discovered a star roughly 1,500 light years from Earth that had a strange dimming pattern. It suggested that KIC 8462852 was surrounded by dense, irregular matter that, at one point, blocked 22 percent of the star's light — unusual as even a large Jupiter-like planet would only block 1 percent.

Related: Have Scientists Discovered An Alien Civilization? Not So Fast

The strange readings could come from a cloud of comets. But some have theorized that alien "mega-structures" are the source of the strange readings.

So the SETI Institute aimed its Allen Telescope Array — consisting of 42 antennas, each nearly 20 feet wide — at the star for more than two weeks. The researchers looked for both narrow-band signals that alien civilizations might use to broadcast their existence and broad-band signals that might be generated by spacecraft propulsion systems.

The result? No alien civilizations were detected by the telescope array. That doesn't mean they won't find anything, but so far it looks like you can stop worrying about an invasion from KIC 8462852.

"The history of astronomy tells us that every time we thought we had found a phenomenon due to the activities of extraterrestrials, we were wrong," Seth Shostak, director at the Center for SETI Research, said in a statement. "But although it's quite likely that this star's strange behavior is due to nature, not aliens, it's only prudent to check such things out."


so for the moment, probably not aliens

 

[polyflowerbud]

effin Mexicans?