The Fermi Paradox - Why we haven't been contacted by aliens

[Chief_For_Life58]

Interesting read. What's your opinion?


http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

[bevischief]

Are you sure you want to know what this place things of this....?

[BigMeatballDave]

for every grain of sand on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there

Brain orgasm

[Eleazar]

Even if they were "close" by our galaxy's standards, travel between the two places would take too long. The cultures would be too isolated to make contact with each other.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Even if they were "close" by our galaxy's standards, travel between the two places would take too long. The cultures would be too isolated to make contact with each other.

True.

At our current level of understanding.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

True.

At our current level of understanding.

We are talking about a civilization who has only had automobiles for 100 years, and even we have some understanding of how the gigantic hurdle of those vast distances can be circumvented.

[ChiliConCarnage]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Even if they were "close" by our galaxy's standards, travel between the two places would take too long. The cultures would be too isolated to make contact with each other.

A bit like saying the pony express or telegrams could never allow us to have instant-contact with people in China. Life the last few centuries has changed at an unbelievable if not unsustainable rates.

I'm not sure why they need to find planets Humans could have survived on. Life finds a way under bizarre circumstances. Even Humans as they exist are only around due to ancestors surviving hard to imagine catastrophes.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

I'm not sure why they need to find planets Humans could have survived on. Life finds a way under bizarre circumstances. Even Humans as they exist are only around due to ancestors surviving hard to imagine catastrophes.

I always think that is weird too. Life could develop anywhere. Why does it have to have water and moderate temperatures?

[-King-]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

A bit like saying the pony express or telegrams could never allow us to have instant-contact with people in China. Life the last few centuries has changed at an unbelievable if not unsustainable rates.

I'm not sure why they need to find planets Humans could have survived on. Life finds a way under bizarre circumstances. Even Humans as they exist are only around due to ancestors surviving hard to imagine catastrophes.

Originally Posted by loochy

I always think that is weird too. Life could develop anywhere. Why does it have to have water and moderate temperatures?

You have to start with the known and expand from there.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

I'm not sure why they need to find planets Humans could have survived on. Life finds a way under bizarre circumstances. Even Humans as they exist are only around due to ancestors surviving hard to imagine catastrophes.

A lot of it really comes down to water. Everything we know about life suggests that H2O is necessary for it to work (reacting with carbon), so at a minimum you need a planet that is somewhere between 32F and 212F.

It's theoretically possible for life to be built in a very different way (silicon is a possibility in place of carbon), but we don't even know what we'd be looking for to try and find something like that.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by DaFace

A lot of it really comes down to water. Everything we know about life suggests that H2O is necessary for it to work (reacting with carbon), so at a minimum you need a planet that is somewhere between 32F and 212F.

It's theoretically possible for life to be built in a very different way (silicon is a possibility in place of carbon), but we don't even know what we'd be looking for to try and find something like that.

Hydrogen bonding is the key to life. It's why water is liquid at RT whereas other heavier compounds are not.

Silicon is unlikely. It's an interesting concept, but its weight is such that the London forces of compounds would significantly alter their makeup, and the size of the silicon atom makes it far more difficult for it to create double bonds (pi bonds), and thus, no carbonyl-type molecules, whereas carbon can form an infinite number of molecules.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Hydrogen bonding is the key to life. It's why water is liquid at RT whereas other heavier compounds are not.

Silicon is unlikely. It's an interesting concept, but its weight is such that the London forces of compounds would significantly alter their makeup, and the size of the silicon atom makes it far more difficult for it to create double bonds (pi bonds), and thus, no carbonyl-type molecules, whereas carbon can form an infinite number of molecules.

Do you know anything about Sri Lanka ?

How, like, the Sikhs are killing tons of Israelis over there ?

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

A bit like saying the pony express or telegrams could never allow us to have instant-contact with people in China. Life the last few centuries has changed at an unbelievable if not unsustainable rates.

I'm not sure why they need to find planets Humans could have survived on. Life finds a way under bizarre circumstances. Even Humans as they exist are only around due to ancestors surviving hard to imagine catastrophes.

- Professor Charles Xavier

[Chief_For_Life58]

you should read the article cooter

[Chief_For_Life58]

or don't