Thread: Aliens

aliens, are the real or just fiction???
if they are real,will the affect us in favorable way???

Originally Posted by Binz

aliens, are the real or just fiction???
if they are real,will the affect us in favorable way???

In an absolute sence, it is almost certain that aliens exist somewhere. We can be as sure of this as we can be of anything regarding which we have no direct evidence. We know that the number of main sequence stars similar to our sun is nearly infinite. We know that at least one such yellow sun has a life bearing planet with intelligent life. Pecentage of explored yellow main sequence stars that have intelligent life = 100%, Number of yellow main sequence stars explored =1, Total number of yellow main sequence stars = > 1,000,000,000.

Now if you are asking if I believe aliens have visited Earth, that's much less likely. Still less likely is the idea that they have visited in historical times. Is it possible? Sure.
Reasons to not believe in ancient astronauts: Lack of obvious hard evidence. Lack of accidental contamination of Earth. We don't find foreign DNA. All the vast variety of life on the earth works with the same chemistry. So if aliens visited they did not leave so much as a bacteria behind.

Are we currently being visited? Very unlikely. Interstellar travel is very technologicly difficult. Faster than light drives are pure fiction. It would cost a great deal and take a lot of time. Nobody is going to do it casually. If aliens were to come here they would come in large numbers with intentions of staying at least several generations. They will not be able to be stealthy.

Tell us about what you saw!

aliens, are the real or just fiction???
if they are real,will the affect us in favorable way???

We have extremely little basis in empirical evidence to figure out either of those questions--not even enough to make an educated guess. About the best we can do is say: there's been no credible evidence of aliens visiting earth; and there's no evidence of anything human-like having conditions to evolve from anywhere else in the solar system or our immediate neighborhood of stars.

Originally Posted by Binz

aliens, are the real or just fiction???
if they are real,will the affect us in favorable way???

We simply don't know if life exists beyond the earth. So far many scientists just speculate and make guesses based on what we know about the cosmos. Personally, I think much of the talk about extraterrestrial life is overstated. I think it's best to wait until we have solid evidence for ETs before we make predictions about what we may find some day.

Jagella

Originally Posted by Japith

Tell us about what you saw!

If you are asking me,i didn't see anything! I'm just curious about life beyond earth and how they can affect us.....

Originally Posted by Sealeaf

Now if you are asking if I believe aliens have visited Earth, that's much less likely. Still less likely is the idea that they have visited in historical times. Is it possible? Sure.Reasons to not believe in ancient astronauts: Lack of obvious hard evidence. Lack of accidental contamination of Earth. We don't find foreign DNA. All the vast variety of life on the earth works with the same chemistry. So if aliens visited they did not leave so much as a bacteria behind.*

Erich von Däniken popularized the idea of ancient astronauts in the late 1960s and 1970s. At that time I thought that von Däniken was probably right. Of course, skeptics soon discredited much of the ancient astronaut theory. The evidence was just too weak. Enigmatic statues and structures built by the early civilizations did not necessarily require advanced technology from ET.

Originally Posted by Sealeaf

Are we currently being visited? Very unlikely. Interstellar travel is very technologically difficult. Faster than light drives are pure fiction. It would cost a great deal and take a lot of time. Nobody is going to do it casually. If aliens were to come here they would come in large numbers with intentions of staying at least several generations. They will not be able to be stealthy.

I don't know if I completely agree that interstellar travel is so nearly impossible. It wasn't that long ago that people traveling to the moon was seen as “science fiction.” The history of technology demonstrates that yesterdays impossibilities are today's realities. Jagella

There is nothing in theory to prohibit interstellar travel. However, as stated by Sealeaf, it would be very expensive and take a long time. If humans could build a starship capable of cruising at 0.1c which would take 10 years to accelerate to and decelerate from that speed, it would take 55 years to reach Alpha Centauri.

Based on calculations by NASA scientists (not me. I am too stupid), 0.1c is about the maximum velocity any starship could reach, barring some major breakthrough in physics.

When you consider the many decades to travel between even close stars, it makes little sense to think of aliens visiting us often.

Originally Posted by skeptic

When you consider the many decades to travel between even close stars, it makes little sense to think of aliens visiting us often.

In addition, once they've got here, it would be a fantastic waste of resources and time, to spend their brief visits here anally probing farmers.

Originally Posted by Zwirko

Originally Posted by skeptic

When you consider the many decades to travel between even close stars, it makes little sense to think of aliens visiting us often.

In addition, once they've got here, it would be a fantastic waste of resources and time, to spend their brief visits here anally probing farmers.

Hey, maybe they view earth as we view Las Vegas? I have mixed feelings about what an alien species would do IF they were here. I see them avoiding us the same way we avoid dangerous animals when we observe them.

I also think the likelihood that any alien species even knows we are here is zero. We'be barely broadcast our signal to 50k stars so far. We haven't even left our own cosmic doorstep yet and we're whispering.

I also think that until we discover how to get to the edge of our own solar system in less than an adult lifespan we cant imagine how they would get here.

Is Earth really worth conquering? It is pretty poor real estate compared to inner planet Mercury and proximity to Sun or gas giants with abundant fusion fuel and satellites. Is parochial and paranoid to think Earth would be of most interest to extrasolar visitors, who would have no reason to conceal their activities after arrival.

Originally Posted by Dumb Truck Driver

We'be barely broadcast our signal to 50k stars so far..

An an interesting fact regarding this: with current technology we couldn't detect our own broadcasts from any of those stars.

Originally Posted by skeptic

Originally Posted by Sealeaf

Now if you are asking if I believe aliens have visited Earth, that's much less likely. Still less likely is the idea that they have visited in historical times. Is it possible? Sure.
Reasons to not believe in ancient astronauts: Lack of obvious hard evidence. Lack of accidental contamination of Earth. We don't find foreign DNA. All the vast variety of life on the earth works with the same chemistry. So if aliens visited they did not leave so much as a bacteria behind.

If they're visiting for research, then probably we're not the first world they ever visited. They would have had a lot of time to refine their methods, including trial and error with worlds they had accidentally contaminated along the way resulting in mistakes they don't want to repeat.

Are we currently being visited? Very unlikely. Interstellar travel is very technologicly difficult. Faster than light drives are pure fiction. It would cost a great deal and take a lot of time. Nobody is going to do it casually. If aliens were to come here they would come in large numbers with intentions of staying at least several generations. They will not be able to be stealthy.

Agreed. If they don't somehow overcome the C limit (like all the sci-fi fantasy authors hope we will someday), then traveling alone would doom them to permanent isolation, even if they'd mastered some kind of cryogenic freezing to make the trip seem short from their own perspective. The logical answer, then is to travel in a large group to ensure a complete social structure.

There's no saying they'd have to stay long, though. ; If the trip is a bazillion years, but you only perceive it to take one hour, then you might not worry about the time.

Aliens exist all right, and live among us. For some reason many are fluent in Spanish.

Originally Posted by Zwirko

Originally Posted by skeptic

When you consider the many decades to travel between even close stars, it makes little sense to think of aliens visiting us often.

In addition, once they've got here, it would be a fantastic waste of resources and time, to spend their brief visits here anally probing farmers.

But afterward, they never call, sigh... it's all, "wham, bam , thank you Cletus." What kind of relationship is that, anyway?

Alien subordinate to it's superior. "But come on Cap', another 60 year milk run to earth? Just to anally probe some Farmer? Last time my girlfriend grew 60 years older and 100 pounds fatter. Been there done that". "Crap"!!!! If they are so advanced to come here from anywhere in a reasonable time frame, we have nothing to give them. Maybe Starbucks but????? I firmly believe we are not alone but no matter how much I dream otherwise, I do think we are destined to be lonely for a long time. I doubt any face to face contact will ever happen. We may intercept radio or some other form of radiation to tell us there may be others out there. But the universe is way too big to get so lucky. I hate the 20 second delay on CNN, can't imagine a 50 year delay to outer worlds. I'd definitely forget the question. Mark L

Originally Posted by The Finger Prince

Aliens exist all right, and live among us. For some reason many are fluent in Spanish.

Remember, "Aliens are not just for Christmas "

Apply for grant:"Seasonal Effects of Mistletoe Upon Alien Abduction and Incidence of Anal Probing".

Prince has GOT to get to bed earlier...

Ummm... Traveling from one planet to another. Like everyone says, it will take a hell of a long time to travel without going at the speed of light, then if you go faster, which I believe you can, you have one huge problem, the faster you go, the likely hood of an accident could occur. Objects could be far away, but only a grain on space dust will mess you up for good. Then you have to find your way back, better update your interstellar satnav.

I am confident life exists on other worlds, but life in this galaxy might be on the same level or slightly advanced then us. Probably unable to travel so fast, but that said, it will still take a long time to travel from A to B unless someone knows to fold space and no one knows Earth is here until our crappy TV signals are picked up on another world. BTW did Hitler make the first TV Broadcast, not the best signal to introduce ourselves.

Then people who thought they saw aliens might have seen them, or saw new technology the US military are testing, or the little green men could be us from the future needing new DNA to repair their future generations until they accidentally create a time bounce and reset the galaxy to the beginning... I LIVE A GAIN!

It's safe to say there are living things beyond our planet. Whether it be plant-life, microbial organisms, or even advanced beings that can apply reason like we can, i'm sure there is at least one of the three. Your second question about how they would be had they visited us...that's a scary thought. If they were anything like us, they would probably take resources for themselves. Sort of like how Steven Hawking said, with the comparison of the eastern world discovering the western. I'm guessing that the odds would not be in our favor, had they wanted our resources.

I believe there are aliens living throughout the universe but I can't tell you a single truth about them.

aliens, are the real or just fiction???
if they are real,will the affect us in favorable way???

But I can guess. Depending if we find aliens first or if they discover us first then yes, it will most likely favorably affect the discoverer.

I like Sealeaf's comment about alien DNA. It would be hard to figure a way for aliens to visit without leaving behind some equivalent of alien bacteria, which we are now able to detect using DNA sequencing methods. And never have!

Which brings me to the Fermi Paradox.
Fermi paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The best and simplest answer to this, IMHO, is that advanced alien intelligences are few and far between - sufficiently so that none has ever visited Earth.