Intelligent Life On Other Planets? The Odds Say It’s A Good Bet, Study Finds

[Peter1469]

Intelligent Life On Other Planets? The Odds Say It’s A Good Bet, Study Finds

Are we alone? A new study was conducted to determine the odds. Researchers looked at 4 possibilities.

The Columbia researcher looked at four possible outcomes for life in the cosmos:

• Life is common and often develops intelligence
• Life is rare but often develops intelligence
• Life is common and rarely develops intelligence
• Life is rare and rarely develops intelligence

And they determined:

“A key result here is that when one compares the rare-life versus common-life scenarios, the common-life scenario is always at least nine times more likely than the rare one,” Kipping explained.

Why did they come to that conclusion?

The study was based on evidence that life on Earth began to emerge within 300 million years of the planet’s oceans forming. Kipping believes that if there are other planets in the universe that share Earth’s evolutionary track record then life should have no problem existing there too.


The real question is will that life be intelligent like us? The study says that answer is a little harder to be certain of, but the research put the odds at 3:2 odds in favor of intelligent aliens. The professor explains that human evolution was actually a very rare event, making it difficult to figure out if it could happen elsewhere.


“If we played Earth’s history again, the emergence of intelligence is actually somewhat unlikely,” Kipping said. “The analysis can’t provide certainties or guarantees, only statistical probabilities based on what happened here on Earth.”


Those probabilities put the chances of intelligent aliens at about 50:50. Despite the results, Kipping adds that the case for basic life on other worlds is very strong and the human race shouldn’t give up on the hope that someone out there may be able to talk to us one day.


“The case for a universe teeming with life emerges as the favored bet. The search for intelligent life in worlds beyond Earth should be by no means discouraged.”

[nathanbforrest45]

In 1954 this question led to my first disagreement with the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII stated that it was ok for Catholics to believe in life on other worlds. I had been believing that since I was about 6 years old. I remember thinking, "The Pope is a little late with this, what else are they hiding from us".

Interestingly, Issac Asimov once wrote a piece saying if there were life on other planets they would look much like we do because our bodies and make up is one of the reasons we are who we are. Fingers that bend, stereoscoptic eyes and ears etc have all led to our development as the premier species on the planet. There may be some physical variations ala Star Trek but we would all share the basics.

So, no intelligent blobs out there.

[Common]

Of course its a good bet, the question is are they like us in the sense of technology etc...or so far advanced that we cant comprehend it.

I believe if there were life so far advanced from us that can travel space at will, we would have known it...I believe theres life on other planets, such as animals and insects and theres life similar to ours in evolvement

[Mister D]

In 1954 this question led to my first disagreement with the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII stated that it was ok for Catholics to believe in life on other worlds. I had been believing that since I was about 6 years old. I remember thinking, "The Pope is a little late with this, what else are they hiding from us".

Interestingly, Issac Asimov once wrote a piece saying if there were life on other planets they would look much like we do because our bodies and make up is one of the reasons we are who we are. Fingers that bend, stereoscoptic eyes and ears etc have all led to our development as the premier species on the planet. There may be some physical variations ala Star Trek but we would all share the basics.

So, no intelligent blobs out there.

Hopefully, you're not serious.

[nathanbforrest45]

Well there is life and there is life. By this I mean most of us when you say life on other planets we visualize humanoid beings who have discovered a level of technology equal to ours. Scientist see life all the way down to the one cell level. Bacteria is life.

One other aside the vast majority of our technology is not newly discovered but improvements on what was discovered in the far past. So a society that lives in mud huts could be just as intelligent as those living in "smart homes", they just haven't improved their conditions yet.

[nathanbforrest45]

Hopefully, you're not serious.

Quite. And what have I said that would make you think otherwise.

[Mister D]

Quite. And what have I said that would make you think otherwise.

Pope Pius commented on ETs because the question had come to be a popular one in the 20th Century. I'm not sure what you find so odd or suspicious about the Vatican's response. Do you seriously believe the Vatican is hiding evidence of alien life? You're joking, right?

[Lummy]

The study was based on evidence that life on Earth began to emerge within 300 million years of the planet’s oceans forming. Kipping believes that if there are other planets in the universe that share Earth’s evolutionary track record then life should have no problem existing there too.

"If" ... ? That is an enormous "If" with nothing but whimsy even suggesting how he arrives here.

The real question is will that life be intelligent like us? The study says that answer is a little harder to be certain of, but the research put the odds at 3:2 odds in favor of intelligent aliens. The professor explains that human evolution was actually a very rare event, making it difficult to figure out if it could happen elsewhere.

Silly.

“If we played Earth’s history again, the emergence of intelligence is actually somewhat unlikely,” Kipping said. “The analysis can’t provide certainties or guarantees, only statistical probabilities based on what happened here on Earth.”

Not if the "Hand of God" (HOG) is considered. But if HOG feels too easy, well this kind of speculation requires far greater leaps of faith.

Those probabilities put the chances of intelligent aliens at about 50:50. Despite the results, Kipping adds that the case for basic life on other worlds is very strong and the human race shouldn’t give up on the hope that someone out there may be able to talk to us one day.

Well, "if there are other planets in the universe that share Earth’s evolutionary track record", then life on other worlds is a certainty.

“The case for a universe teeming with life emerges as the favored bet. The search for intelligent life in worlds beyond Earth should be by no means discouraged.”

Not here, it doesn't. That said, there seems to be growing momentum of opinion that agrees with this.

[Peter1469]

I don't think we can determine the evolutionary path of exo-planets now, but we can determine whether an exo-planet is in the goldilocks zone- whether the planet is close enough to the sun to potentially have an atmosphere that can support life as we know it.

"If" ... ? That is an enormous "If" with nothing but whimsy even suggesting how he arrives here.



Silly.




Not if the "Hand of God" (HOG) is considered. But if HOG feels too easy, well this kind of speculation requires far greater leaps of faith.




Well, "if there are other planets in the universe that share Earth’s evolutionary track record", then life on other worlds is a certainty.




Not here, it doesn't. That said, there seems to be growing momentum of opinion that agrees with this.

[nathanbforrest45]

Pope Pius commented on ETs because the question had come to be a popular one in the 20th Century. I'm not sure what you find so odd or suspicious about the Vatican's response. Do you seriously believe the Vatican is hiding evidence of alien life? You're joking, right?

You misinterpret my meaning. I did not think the Church was hiding evidence of alien life, my concern was telling us it was ok to believe something that was so obvious. I don't necessarily believe that there is sentient life on other planets but that there could be. If, as Carl Sagan once said, there are billions and billions of stars the likelihood of hundreds of thousands being rift with life forms is certainly very high.