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  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Pandamists View Post
    So basically, I specialize in Astronomy and Physics. Life on Mars would shake the foundations people on Earth, proving that life can emerge on places other than Earth is simply amazing. It would mesmerize the entire world, it would inspire generations, much like the Moon Landing. NASA's budget would hopefully get increased, and the search for INTELLIGENT life would start. You have to take it one small step by step.
    Good answer.

    We can only start by looking at Mars etc cause we can't reach much further with our current technology, atleast not fast enough. And chances of the life we'd find in the planets close to us is kinda high, but the chances of those being intelligent is rather small. Though it is possible, but probably not going to be close as advanced as us, but I think its kinda 100% that intelligent species do exist out there that are way advanced then us, thinking otherwise is kinda.... Ignorant in my book. Because we have multiple planets similar to us, and it doesn´t take much for a life to be intelligent really, it might have to develop over hundred of thousand if not millions of years. But it surely has had enough time. And not like we have been so advanced for long, we've bearly had our technology for a few years we could say. Imagine some intelligent species(perhaps more intelligent then humans) that had their tehnology 100 years longer then us, or 10.000 years. Even 10.000 isn't a long time when you know how long planets have been around for.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    Thank you xenofreak your a very reasonable person . Im not knocking exploration of this kind I am just wondering about the under lying motivation really . Like how do you pitch a billion dollar project to go explore mars because there might be fossilized life forms . I still don't know how they pitched going to the moon honestly . I could see if it had resources of any kind but just to take a walk ? ( Hmm come to think of it maybe the motivation had something to do with testing various guidance systems for ballistic missiles ? ) /tinfoilhat
    I didn't notice this, the Moon was driven because the Russians had launched Sputnik. Which of course, was a holo'd out missile casing. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson has pointed out: NASA was founded on a fear factor that Russia would control high-ground. Once we landed on the Moon, and we saw Russia wasn't ready, we stopped going. We had no propulsion that forced us to go, but... don't be surprised if another is announced in 2013

    ---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 12:07 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Maggibesti View Post
    Good answer.

    We can only start by looking at Mars etc cause we can't reach much further with our current technology, atleast not fast enough. And chances of the life we'd find in the planets close to us is kinda high, but the chances of those being intelligent is rather small. Though it is possible, but probably not going to be close as advanced as us, but I think its kinda 100% that intelligent species do exist out there that are way advanced then us, thinking otherwise is kinda.... Ignorant in my book. Because we have multiple planets similar to us, and it doesn´t take much for a life to be intelligent really, it might have to develop over hundred of thousand if not millions of years. But it surely has had enough time. And not like we have been so advanced for long, we've bearly had our technology for a few years we could say. Imagine some intelligent species(perhaps more intelligent then humans) that had their tehnology 100 years longer then us, or 10.000 years. Even 10.000 isn't a long time when you know how long planets have been around for.
    Homo-sapiens (And the Homo Genus overall) are both very young compared to other species AND the Earth (No shit) overall. If there is intelligent life on another planet, it's likely older than us, not for sure of course.

  3. #23
    Homo-sapiens (And the Homo Genus overall) are both very young compared to other species AND the Earth (No shit) overall. If there is intelligent life on another planet, it's likely older than us, not for sure of course.
    I think given the fact that older civilizations are both more likely to find us and easier to find themselves its likely if we meet intelligent life it will be more advanced.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    I think given the fact that older civilizations are both more likely to find us and easier to find themselves its likely if we meet intelligent life it will be more advanced.
    Of course, that's what I was getting at =D

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    I have never understood why people want to find life on mars anyways ? We know it will be simple life like 1 cell bacteria ..etc etc ...is it to disprove the creationists ? Those people don't believe in that anyways so why are they so psyched to find life on Mars ?
    Because if life can exist there, then we can too. Albeit with a lot of extra work put in.
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  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    The innate desire to explore and understand is the best thing about humanity.
    I'm going to have to politely disagree and say that the real answer is boobies.
    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    Lets say you have a two 3 inch lines. One is all red and the other is 48% red and 52% blue. Does that mean there's a 50-50 chance they're both red or is the second line matching the all red line by 48%?
    ^^^ Wells using an analogy

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Irisel View Post
    Because, it's part of modern (and past, I guess) society's lore and culture to want to find out; it's practically hard wired into us to NEED to know. That, and I REALLY want to go "nenner-nenner, haha, you lose," to Creationists, yes.
    I don't see how finding life on Mars will damage Creationist theory. They'd just amend their views. They are most likely to say. "Of course the Bible isn't going to explain the existence of planets and alien life. Its beyond the scope of the text. It doesn't disprove Creation theory".

  8. #28
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    hmm that sound pretty awesome imo

  9. #29
    Considering exploration to mars and the search for extraterrestrial life. Let us also not forget the far reaching implications such a discovery could bring in many fields, ie medicine, biology. Also would it be carbon based (most likely yes but still), does it replicate in the same fashion, does it comprise of the four nucleic acids? So many questions that could be answered. We have only seen how one form of life has come to exist and as such it is difficult to comprehend organisms formed from different methods and such a discovery would shake the foundations of what we think we know we understand.

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maggibesti View Post
    Good answer.

    We can only start by looking at Mars etc cause we can't reach much further with our current technology, atleast not fast enough. And chances of the life we'd find in the planets close to us is kinda high, but the chances of those being intelligent is rather small. Though it is possible, but probably not going to be close as advanced as us, but I think its kinda 100% that intelligent species do exist out there that are way advanced then us, thinking otherwise is kinda.... Ignorant in my book. Because we have multiple planets similar to us, and it doesn´t take much for a life to be intelligent really, it might have to develop over hundred of thousand if not millions of years. But it surely has had enough time. And not like we have been so advanced for long, we've bearly had our technology for a few years we could say. Imagine some intelligent species(perhaps more intelligent then humans) that had their tehnology 100 years longer then us, or 10.000 years. Even 10.000 isn't a long time when you know how long planets have been around for.
    Bolded the more curious bits... It doesn't take much you say, only, what, 14 billions years of coincidence and good luck? I concur that the belief that there HAS to be intelligent life somewhere in the universe is ignorant in that to suggest that also suggests one is ignorant of exactly how humans came to be.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    I have never understood why people want to find life on mars anyways ? We know it will be simple life like 1 cell bacteria ..etc etc ...is it to disprove the creationists ? Those people don't believe in that anyways so why are they so psyched to find life on Mars ?
    No, it's to show that there is other life in the universe. In the end, if there's life here, in our backyard, it might mean somewhere out there there are civilizations much more advanced then us. And since we're curious, we want to meet them one day.

    Quote Originally Posted by Irisel View Post
    Because, it's part of modern (and past, I guess) society's lore and culture to want to find out; it's practically hard wired into us to NEED to know. That, and I REALLY want to go "nenner-nenner, haha, you lose," to Creationists, yes.
    So you want to show you're immature using something that hasn't disproved creationism at all? I'll say God created those bacteria on Mars too. Now what? What if we find aliens and they belive in a higher being too? Then what do you do?

  12. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Flaks View Post
    Because if life can exist there, then we can too. Albeit with a lot of extra work put in.
    Not really. Some bacteria-like lifeforms may have existed back when the planet had liquid water, but it lacks a magnetosphere which means it'll never have an atmosphere that could sustain human life.

    So "a lot of extra work" in this case would mean increasing the planet's mass so that it can hold on to an atmosphere, solidifying it's core and then jump-starting a flow in the mantle. Not gonna happen, not now, not ever. Atleast this is my understanding as a total non-scientist.

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xenofreak View Post
    I'm not saying this to say we shouldn't explore mars, or moons like Europa; but in real terms what is discovering a strain of bacteria in either of those places going to do for us?

    Yeah, sure, it's going to prove we were right that life is capable of sprouting up somewhere else. And?
    If that life has DNA that differs greatly from our own we can conclude that life can start in more than one place. It would basically tell us the universe could be crawling with life. Not only that, but alien microbes could boost our medicine in a way that has never been seen before in history. And of course the act of discovery itself will create thousands of jobs and boost our economy. There are so many factors involved here, we can only begin to contemplate.

  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Irisel View Post
    That, and I REALLY want to go "nenner-nenner, haha, you lose," to Creationists, yes.
    They will never admit it. Why would they? They'll just extend their stupid tale and be done with it.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    I still don't know how they pitched going to the moon honestly .
    Cold War, proving technological superiority, inspiring citizens and demoralizing the opponent. There were actually more logical reasons than going to Mars.
    But exploration in itself needs no excuses or hidden agendas, it's a reward in itself, and if you don't understand that you're missing quite a big part what makes human spirit so resilient and in a way romantic.

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    I have never understood why people want to find life on mars anyways ? We know it will be simple life like 1 cell bacteria ..etc etc ...is it to disprove the creationists ? Those people don't believe in that anyways so why are they so psyched to find life on Mars ?
    Because the existence of life on Mars would be a confirmation that life on Earth is not unique, and that it likely exists and possibly even flourishes elsewhere.
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  17. #37
    Thank you xenofreak your a very reasonable person . Im not knocking exploration of this kind I am just wondering about the under lying motivation really . Like how do you pitch a billion dollar project to go explore mars because there might be fossilized life forms . I still don't know how they pitched going to the moon honestly . I could see if it had resources of any kind but just to take a walk ? ( Hmm come to think of it maybe the motivation had something to do with testing various guidance systems for ballistic missiles ? ) /tinfoilhat

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    I still don't know how they pitched going to the moon honestly . I could see if it had resources of any kind but just to take a walk ?
    An adequate response to this would involve a wall of text so large that I'm not sure anyone would be motivated to read it. At a bare minimum, this article covers the basics (though there are many good books devoted to the topic).

    Quote Originally Posted by Town Drunk View Post
    ( Hmm come to think of it maybe the motivation had something to do with testing various guidance systems for ballistic missiles ? ) /tinfoilhat
    Nah, you wouldn't have even needed a NASA for that, let alone anything as elaborate as the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo programs. That would have been cheaper and simpler to address on its own and out of the public eye.

  19. #39
    Why do we want to find life on Mars? Um, why NOT? It's instinct for people to want to know everything that there is to know.

  20. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Xenofreak View Post
    I think Town Drunk is getting a bit too much flak for this one.



    There's a massive difference between finding new land to settle and control (key word: resources) and finally proving the general acceptance that earth isn't the only place life can pop up. Not only is it widely accepted and assumed, at this point, that life is capable of existing on other planets (at least by those of scientific inclination) but what exactly is finding bacteria on Mars going to do for us? I'm not saying this to say we shouldn't explore mars, or moons like Europa; but in real terms what is discovering a strain of bacteria in either of those places going to do for us?

    Yeah, sure, it's going to prove we were right that life is capable of sprouting up somewhere else. And?
    Allow me to give you a couple of simple reasons:

    1) Studying alien life forms can help us better understand how life survived in harsher climates than ours, this understanding is necessary for manned space missions.

    2) The resources on earth are limited and being used exponentially faster than they can be replenished. Look up Indium, we are almost out of it and it is used in pretty much anything with a screen on it. Same goes for many other rare elements.

    ---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 10:47 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Pandamists View Post
    I didn't notice this, the Moon was driven because the Russians had launched Sputnik. Which of course, was a holo'd out missile casing. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson has pointed out: NASA was founded on a fear factor that Russia would control high-ground. Once we landed on the Moon, and we saw Russia wasn't ready, we stopped going. We had no propulsion that forced us to go, but... don't be surprised if another is announced in 2013

    ---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 12:07 AM ----------



    Homo-sapiens (And the Homo Genus overall) are both very young compared to other species AND the Earth (No shit) overall. If there is intelligent life on another planet, it's likely older than us, not for sure of course.
    I disagree with the statement about homo-sapiens. Our understanding of life is limited by the fact that we only ever come across carbon based life forms. There is no way science can tell us what forms life could take elsewhere in the universe, let aside how old or young it is. Up until curiosity we were pretty sure the radiation levels on mars were fatal to human beings and this is Mars, the planet we arguable no the most about, besides our own of course. It's like how we used to think that light was a wave and one day we learn it was comprised of particles as well and that changed our understanding of light. Our knowledge is very very limited.
    Last edited by igame; 2012-11-27 at 10:49 PM.

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