Life in the solar system

[brownpau]

Where do you think it likely that we'll find life, even the simplest forms of it, in our own solar system? Besides here on Earth, of course.

Mars looks less and less likely with each unmanned mission, and ever since Viking, tests have always proven inconclusive.

Arthur C. Clarke focused a lot on the Jupiter and its moons in his Odyssey series. A lot of attention went to quick-evolving life in the slushes of Europa, but I'm wondering if it isn't equally possible for something unique to thrive in the sulfurous lava lakes of Io -- if it can survive the violent tides of Jupiter's gravitational pull and its searing radiation.

Another exciting candidate is the Saturnian moon Titan, with a theorized soup of organic chemicals seething beneath the brown methane atmosphere.

What kind of shapes might these extraterrestrial lifeforms take? It's assumed that if there's anything, it won't more complex than simple microorganisms -- if even that. But even these would be an exciting find.

[Ira]

Isn't it overwhelmingly egotistic of us humans to think that we're the only life that actually evolved in this vast universe, seeing that the basic elements that are needed to create life exist in abundance out there?

If and when we discover other forms of life out there, it's probably going to be something our limited intellect haven't even considered or imagined. I think they would be complex forms, much like us humans who have gradually evolved as a response to our surroundings.

[pok]

What if earth is just inside a cube...
and the whole universe thing is just an illusion?

[SaintOfKissers]

It'd be egotistical, as Ira said, to say that there can't be any other life outside Earth. I think science, as well as common sense, would tell us that it would be practically impossible NOT to have any other life in the universe besides ours. Common sense would tell us that if space (outer space, that is) is endless; and the number of stars are 'uncountable' because its number would be as numerous as the number of speck of sands there are on beaches, then it would be most likely that there would be life in AT LEAST one of those galaxies. Science, on the same end, would tell us through Hubble, that there ARE plenty of galaxies out there... and that even when stars die, there are even MORE galaxies that are born from it. It would be synonymous to the scientific theory of energy that states "Energy cannot be created nor destroyed." And such is the movement, birth, and re-birth of our universe. Unless of course, you believe in the 'rubberband theory.'

So in my opinion, there would be life in the universe besides our own. Whether aliens have tried to contact us through Roswell, that UFO phenomena last week here in the Philippines, or other instances, would simply reiterate what we have yet to clearly see... but probably already know (most of us, at least). But as Calvin said:

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

pok

I'm not sure if you're asking a philosophical question or you're asking a non-philosophical one. But in case its the latter, the whole universe can't just be an 'illusion.' The mere fact that people have walked on the moon already says that things outside Earth aren't simply 'illusions.' If you're referring to those outside our solar system, comets are known to have traversed our solar system's orbits. Some of whose origins are unknown, and from outside our backyard.

In the philosophical sense... what if I'm just inside a cube called 'LIFE' and YOU'RE just an illusion... am I merely speaking to myself

[yuga]

according to Mars rocks which have been examined to have biological remains of bacteria...

[pok]

SaintofKissers...

maybe both. (",)

... not just mere illusion, but an illusion in a 'supreme level'... enough to have fooled earth's intelligent minds ever since.

This was just a question that hit me years ago when i was thinking where does this universe ends in terms of space and time... sort of the limits of the galaxy...

[SaintOfKissers]

pok

I guess you're speaking of an ethereal playmaker most people would call their 'God,' when you speak of 'supreme level.' But in connection to what you said about that and the universe ending or the limits of the galaxy, it doesn't necessarily have to be from a 'supreme level.' The universe can have limits and an end, without having something supreme have a hand over it.

Some scientists (though I forget their names) have found that the universe we're all part of isn't static. This means that contrary to what most people think, the universe is actually expanding. By measuring the frequency of the waves (via Doppler effect), they were able to note whether a body is moving away from us, or moving towards us. What they found out was that everything emitted a red shift! And if it hasn't hit you yet, this probably means that the universe probably began at a certain point in time, and in the process, might also end at a future sphere. That 'design' may not necessarily have to do with a supreme being. It may just be the way things work. I guess the dilemma pops up when we can't fathom how all things working like 'clockwork' can exist without anyone or anything having a hand over it.

[Les]

Carl Sagan thinks it might be possible that simple lifeforms can exist in the gas giants and gas moons. This might be possible if the lifeform was like a balloon, staying at the upper atmosphere, and thus avoiding the extremely hot temperatures inside. It might adjust its buoyancy so it could take advantage of varying windstreams to travel. It could feed by filtering simple organic molecules as it floated along. Sounds quite intriguing and quite possible to me.

[ziggyboy]

What if there's really nothing beyond our solar system or galaxy and space is just an illusion. Kinda reminds me of that Jim Carrey movie...what was that again?

[pok]

SaintOfKisses

your post made me realize once more that a part of me believes in a 'Higher Being'...

but for the purpose of discussion let us say that the 'system' in itself is an illusion... not bounded by an an ethereal playmaker'... that illusion is one of it's intrinsic qualities?

[SaintOfKissers]

ziggyboy

I believe that was "the Truman Show"

pok

It did? So because there exists Order, it necessarily points to a Higher Being? Hmm... to each his own

Okay, if the system itself is an illusion... then what? Sorry that last line you wrote wasn't a question, was it?

[Quentin]

i once seen a rendition of life on Jupiter ... it looked like jellyfishies with large mouths ...

ay true ba na ang core ng Jupiter is a hydrogen ball compacted so much that it resembles metal?

[ArsenaL]

I don't think believing that there exists no other life other than earth is being egotistical. It is just being logical and true to one's belief.
I personally believe that there exists life on other planets or heavenly bodies. But i wouldn't label those who don't as being arrogant.

[DELISYUS]

i seriously believe that there are other life forms in other planets/galaxies/satellites........

i mean......sure, us humans are special......but surely, not THAT special.......

plus.......there are UFOs......and space exploration has discovered even similar elements in other planets.....

brownpau.....lolz, i still believe that Mars is supporting life out there.....just because our research couldn't prove it does not mean it cannot be true devah??? mahirap din kasi we're rying to gauge life according to our standards........malay ba naman nga natibn kung sa ibang mundo........mamamatay yung organism pag me oxygen???

[brownpau]

Originally posted by DELISYUS
brownpau.....lolz, i still believe that Mars is supporting life out there.....just because our research couldn't prove it does not mean it cannot be true devah??? mahirap din kasi we're rying to gauge life according to our standards........malay ba naman nga natibn kung sa ibang mundo........mamamatay yung organism pag me oxygen???

Actually, the Viking landers performed some tests on the Martian soil back in the 1970's, and the results showed that there might be microorganisms in the soil -- but the test results could also have been caused by chemical factors other than the presence of bacteria. Inconclusive daw. I'm not sure of the exact analysis.

Actually, why should oxygen be a prerequisite for life? There's no reason that God can't whip up more diverse and adaptable lifeforms suited to different environments. Why not have organisms whose molecules are silicon or iron-based rather than carbon-based?

Stephen Baxter proposed something interesting in his hard sci-fi novel Raft, set in a universe where gravity is millions of times stronger. In the violent tidal environment of a black hole, isn't it possible for the high variations of gravitational gradients to produce a kind of "gravitic chemistry," with a whole new set of elements and laws? They even got a glimpse of the kind of intelligent life that might have evolved from this gravitic environment.

As for our solar system, I'm betting that the more temperate regions of Mars will harbor at least simple bacteria. I'm also interested in what might be floating around the organic mist of Jupiter's upper and middle atmospheric layers.

[kerb]

i was thinking whats beyond these _unknown_ universe?

maybe i was thinking everything has limits or boundaries
just like what i used to think there is only one clock b4 learning about the theory of relativity.

maybe earth and its inhabitants r just another inter-galatic germs. becoz of the current space accidental configuration, it enabled produce Life (tm). but compared to pleadians, these "germs" lived only in a fraction of a second. there goes the whole civilization hehe

[bubu]

Where do you think it likely that we'll find life, even the simplest forms of it, in our own solar system? Besides here on Earth, of course.

??the twelfth planet??

[aajao]

is there any update on the studies being conducted in Mars if human beings can live there? If the earth expires, does it also follow that human being existence ends?

and yeah, is there any other "life" beyond earth?

[Jspice]

Kung may buhay sa ibang solar systems sana mga hottie yung mga lalake nila.


Yummy :P

[warlocke]

Where do you think it likely that we'll find life, even the simplest forms of it, in our own solar system? Besides here on Earth, of course.

??the twelfth planet??

From Kryon:

**
As for the sustenance of life on the moons of Jupiter, the answer is that there's currently life on certain moons of Jupiter, and it's basic life of the kind that your biologists can catalog or define as life as you know it on Earth.

**

They key term was life as we know it since it looks like there are lots of "life" that we don't know of yet....

is there any update on the studies being conducted in Mars if human beings can live there? If the earth expires, does it also follow that human being existence ends?

and yeah, is there any other "life" beyond earth?

From the Law of One book there indeed was a previous civilization on Mars:


Questioner: Where did the people who are like us who were the first ones here, where did they come from? From where did they evolve?

Ra: I am Ra. You speak of third-density experience. The first of those to come here were brought from another planet in your solar system called by you the Red Planet, Mars. This planet’s environment became inhospitable to third-density beings. The first entities, therefore, were of this race, as you may all it, manipulated somewhat by those who were guardians at that time.

Questioner: What race is that, and how did they get from Mars to here?

Ra: I am Ra. The race is a combination of the mind/body/spirit complexes of those of your so-called Red Planet and a careful series of genetical adjustments made by the guardians of that time. These entities arrived, or were preserved, for the experience upon your sphere by a type of birthing which is non-reproductive, but consists of preparing genetic material for the incarnation of the mind/body/spirit complexes of those entities from the Red Planet.

Questioner: I assume from what you are saying that the guardians transferred the race here after the race had died from the physical as we know it on Mars. Is that correct?

Ra: I am Ra. This is correct