Is there intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy?

[tezuka87]

The odds that there are any signs of intelligent life are expressed by a formula developed by a Frank Drake (co director of SETI (Search for extraterrestrial Intelligence)):
It is known to astronomers simply as the Drake Equation:

N=
(The number of life friendly stars born each year in the galaxy)x
(The fraction of suitable stars that have planets)x
(The number of habitable planets around each star)x
(The fraction of habitable planets that have life)x
(The fraction of inhabited worlds that develop intelligent life)x
(The fraction of intelligent species that develop radio technology)x
The average time span during which civilizations transmit detectable signals)

When Frank Drake and his compatriots plugged their best guesses into the equation, they came up with the answer that intelligent life is common enough that there should be a civilization within about 1000 light years from earth.

Erm, why haven't we made contact then?
What do you all think? Should there be intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy (or further)? What do you think they would look like? Do you think dragons, unicorns, elves, pixies, and the like may be memories of the past, inventions of human imagination or perhaps, aliens? What do you think of people who claim they have been abducted by aliens? Please share.

[youngyew]

The odds that there are any signs of intelligent life are expressed by a formula developed by a Frank Drake (co director of SETI (Search for extraterrestrial Intelligence)):
It is known to astronomers simply as the Drake Equation:

N=
(The number of life friendly stars born each year in the galaxy)x
(The fraction of suitable stars that have planets)x
(The number of habitable planets around each star)x
(The fraction of habitable planets that have life)x
(The fraction of inhabited worlds that develop intelligent life)x
(The fraction of intelligent species that develop radio technology)x
The average time span during which civilizations transmit detectable signals)

When Frank Drake and his compatriots plugged their best guesses into the equation, they came up with the answer that intelligent life is common enough that there should be a civilization within about 1000 light years from earth.

Erm, why haven't we made contact then?
What do you all think? Should there be intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy (or further)? What do you think they would look like? Do you think dragons, unicorns, elves, pixies, and the like may be memories of the past, inventions of human imagination or perhaps, aliens? What do you think of people who claim they have been abducted by aliens? Please share.
There are quite a few explanations in the wiki article for the Drake equation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

[markwongsk]

as in, information we send now will take 1000 years to reach them and vice versa? Lots of probability and explanation and theories why we haven't "met them", though there ARE the side to contradict that statement too......

[chongkeat]

When Frank Drake and his compatriots plugged their best guesses into the equation, they came up with the answer that intelligent life is common enough that there should be a civilization within about 1000 light years from earth.
That really depends on the input, you see. From the Wikipedia article, there are optimistic guesses of up to a million civilizations per galaxy, or pessimistic views that there are only about less that one civilization, on average, for each galaxy.

The problem is with the values inputted. The fraction of intelligent species that develop radio technology? All that is almost purely guesswork.

[markwongsk]

why not we view it like this: the article quoted in wikipedia clearly states that humans have only been searching the skies for ETC since the invention of radiotechnology (I think it was in 1937). Let's say humans send a radiowave transmission in 1937 to outerspace, considering the speed of electromagnetic waves, it would only be 71 years since the radiowaves were transmitted. Searching for a 71 light year radii in cosmological terms would yield not many possible planets which could harbor life, much less intelligent civilization. For example, the nearest star system Alpha Centauri (proxima A and B) is 4 light years away and does not have a nice "comfort zone" (where liquid water can exist) as it is a binary (new researches have found it to be ternary) star system.

Continuing on my argument, this means that there may well be civilization out there but our transmission has NOT reached them. We also haven't taken into account any celestial body that could interfere with our transmission. Eg gravity wells or dark matter etc.

On another note the hypothetical "other beings" may well be awared of the presence of Earth but is located > few hundred light years away. As such they might have sent radio transmissions to our ancestors or are yet to be received by us. Interstellar communication is a tedious task, let's hope quantum entanglement can provide answers to instantaneous data transmissions

[youngyew]

But this is only considering civilisation that respond to the our electromagnetic waves. What about civilisations that send out signals by themselves?

[wilson]

If I am not mistaken, we have a place, a real large, spacious land where many huge satellite dishes are housed. These plates will serve to receive any waves/signals potentially sent by the extraterrestrial lives out there.

I do believe that we on the planet Earth is not alone in this inconceivably tremendous universe. But, what potential harm do you think those aliens would bring to the Earth if we successfully detected their presence?

[chongkeat]

If I am not mistaken, we have a place, a real large, spacious land where many huge satellite dishes are housed. These plates will serve to receive any waves/signals potentially sent by the extraterrestrial lives out there.

I do believe that we on the planet Earth is not alone in this inconceivably tremendous universe. But, what potential harm do you think those aliens would bring to the Earth if we successfully detected their presence?
Well, first, if we were to talk about warring aliens (Krikkiters?) trying to colonize Earth, we must allow for the fact that with such sophisticated technology, and such wrathfulness (that is a word, i hope), shouldn't they have already obliterated themselves already?

If I am not mistaken, we have a place, a real large, spacious land where many huge satellite dishes are housed. These plates will serve to receive any waves/signals potentially sent by the extraterrestrial lives out there.
Do you mean the Allen Telescope Array (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Telescope_Array)? But then again, it's a radio telescope, so I guess it's something else. Must be from SETI, though.

[vseehua]

ponder this as well...

What are the chances that alien civilization have radio equipments that can difference signals sent from Earth from the background (random) radiation? Considering that the signal power drops by a factor of distance squared it will not take long before it gets too low to be detected above background radiation.

This coupled with the face that our atmosphere absorbs radiation as well might also be the reason why we haven't detected any (possible) signals send by beings from other worlds.

[markwongsk]

What about civilisations which cannot send Radio signals? Maybe evolution prevents such a scenario from happening. After all, evolution is survival of the fittest, and being the fittest does not mean being the most technologically advanced. Just look at what humans are doing to Earth.

[herm]

There are many , at least four if u watch Roswell from AXN Beyond:wink

[ChristopherCWL]

I personally believe that there are going to be extraterestrial life in the outer space....regarding the question that how may an extraterestrial may look like, i guess perhaps it looks like a human?? who knows about it?? why are we guessing other forms like centaur, a fish-like creature without thinking that it might ended looking extremely similar to what we are now??

[youngyew]

But why would a lifeform in some other corner of the universe evolve to look similar to us? Yes they may have four limbs, visual organs of some sort and so on; but in all possibilities they could look like a whale, a horse or a dog instead of a bipedal ape. :P

[ChristopherCWL]

But why would a lifeform in some other corner of the universe evolve to look similar to us? Yes they may have four limbs, visual organs of some sort and so on; but in all possibilities they could look like a whale, a horse or a dog instead of a bipedal ape. :P

How are you going to make sure that they wont?? Nothing is Impossible...Human beings sometimes made some mistakes when they are over confidence...i guess there is nothing impossible to happen in the vast universe....who knows if the friend i know the most is an UFO???

* i have to state that these are all my personal opinion...no offence is being made...

[eve88]

um, can your friend fly?

[ChristopherCWL]

Is it the matter of can my friend fly?? What will you say if my friend can cook well??? Im here to tell why are we always think that UFO can do what Human cant?? Are you guys being mind set?? UFO can't just act like us?? doing stuff like cooking, bathing and etc...

[eve88]

UFO stands for "Unidentified Flying Object"

[youngyew]

How are you going to make sure that they wont?? Nothing is Impossible...Human beings sometimes made some mistakes when they are over confidence...i guess there is nothing impossible to happen in the vast universe....who knows if the friend i know the most is an UFO???

* i have to state that these are all my personal opinion...no offence is being made...
Oh I am not saying that they *can't* look like us, I am just thinking that they most probably don't look like us, simply due to the fact that there are so many possibilities of what they could look like.

[yanno_yamster]

Oh I am not saying that they *can't* look like us, I am just thinking that they most probably don't look like us, simply due to the fact that there are so many possibilities of what they could look like.

A lot of sci-fi shows depicted aliens as slimy and also blood-thirsty... :huh

[vseehua]

A lot of sci-fi shows depicted aliens as slimy and also blood-thirsty... :huh
a lot more sci-fi shows depicted us as paranoid and bloodthirsty (The Day the Earth Stood Still)

[senksiang90]

a lot more sci-fi shows depicted us as paranoid and bloodthirsty (The Day the Earth Stood Still)

To them we are the ones who look weird.

Well, to me, I do believe that there are other life forms out there. I don't really care about UFO sightings or not I just know that there are aliens. Whether they will cause the apocalypse or not, it's just the matter of time before we find out. However, my guess is this : Let's play this apart with the Who, What, Where, When, How and Why question.

(1) WHO are humans to aliens?
Answer : Aliens themselves. LOL. Well, my guess-putting all religious beliefs behind and trying to be as creative as possible- humans are aliens experiments. That's right. The so-called 'God' that we worship are aliens. They created us.

(2) WHAT are aliens?
Answer : A species that have long ago evolved. My guess? Maybe dinosaurs who have evolved into a higher intelligent species.

(3) WHERE do they live?
Answer : Anywhere possible for them to live. Oxygen might be the source of life for us but it is not for them. Nitrogen perhaps? After all, it is the most abundant element in the universe.

(4) WHEN will they appear?
Answer : At times, they'll come visit us to check out on how much their experiment are doing. My guess, not so good considering that the earth is self-destructing..-

(5) HOW will they appear?
Answer : Flying saucers seem to be out-dated by now right? Considering the fact that Aliens are so advanced, they should be able to move around without being spotted at all! My guess: all these UFO sightings are merely decoys in reminding us that there is something out there and we better beware not to travel to far out to space.

(6) WHY aliens appear?
Answer : Nobody knows. Who cares anyway? My guess : Like mentioned earlier, to check out on how much humans have evolutionised and progressed. Who knows when the right time comes, they'll finally descend from the skies and say "Humans, bow down to your creators. We shall take you to space where you shall serve as slaves for the rest of your generations. Bwahahahaha!!!!!"

My theory.. my theory.. hehe..