Scary Thought

[don]

The closer we get to observing planets capable of sustaining life, at least as we know it, would an administration of either 'party' suppress conclusive proof of life to not alienate their Christian believers' support?

This image shows the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan. The glint off a mirror-like surface is known as a specular reflection. This kind of glint was detected by the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft on July 8, 2009. It confirmed the presence of liquid in the moon's northern hemisphere, where lakes are more numerous and larger than those in the southern hemisphere.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ca...i20091217.html

[jiimbergin]

Re: Scary Thought

The closer we get to observing planets capable of sustaining life, at least as we know it, would an administration of either 'party' suppress conclusive proof of life to not alienate their Christian believers' support?

This image shows the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan. The glint off a mirror-like surface is known as a specular reflection. This kind of glint was detected by the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft on July 8, 2009. It confirmed the presence of liquid in the moon's northern hemisphere, where lakes are more numerous and larger than those in the southern hemisphere.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ca...i20091217.html

I am a true believer. Why would life on a another planet affect my beliefs? My faith does not depend on Earth being the only place where God decided to place life.

[ASH]

Re: Scary Thought

The closer we get to observing planets capable of sustaining life, at least as we know it, would an administration of either 'party' suppress conclusive proof of life to not alienate their Christian believers' support?

I don't think an administration of either party would have the means to suppress such information. Odds are, the administration wouldn't even be aware of the discovery until it had already been made public.

[reallife]

Re: Scary Thought

Anyone who believes that life evolved uniquely and exclusively on our fragile Earth demonstrates their ignorance of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, in that order. To think that we mere Earthlings (and I include all living things on Earth) would have anything to worry about from other lifeforms that have evolved within our own galaxy, not to mention galaxies far beyond our own, defies logic and knowledge of the vast distances separating the galaxies, and the suns and planets spinning within them.

Furthermore, to imagine that Man can somehow separate from the Earth and all other Earthly living things is the ultimate hubris. Such hubris might have fatal consequences for humans and many other higher lifeforms with restricted requirements for existence. Not to worry though, life on Earth will continue to flourish and evolve for several billion more years, regardless of what man is able to do to the ecosphere in the short term, say the next few thousand years.

[charliebrown]

Re: Scary Thought

add me to the true believer list.
the bible is not a science or history book. It was meant to tell the story of God's relationship to humans especially israel. It does not confirm or deny extra terrestial life. That concept would be irrelavant to an ancient except of course if there were aliens hanging out in the ancient world.

If e.t. exists I believe they were created beings too. Anyone who thinks the bible says e.t. does not exist is performing a theological construction on the text, and that construction is most likely faulty.

BTW... Is titan warm enough and have enough atomoshere to contain liquid water?? Does a frozen lake produce the same glimmer as a water lake?

[we_are_toast]

Re: Scary Thought

add me to the true believer list.
the bible is not a science or history book. It was meant to tell the story of God's relationship to humans especially israel. It does not confirm or deny extra terrestial life. That concept would be irrelavant to an ancient except of course if there were aliens hanging out in the ancient world.

If e.t. exists I believe they were created beings too. Anyone who thinks the bible says e.t. does not exist is performing a theological construction on the text, and that construction is most likely faulty.

BTW... Is titan warm enough and have enough atomoshere to contain liquid water?? Does a frozen lake produce the same glimmer as a water lake?

Titans temp is about 97K, my guess is it's methane.

Anyone who believes that life evolved uniquely and exclusively on our fragile Earth demonstrates their ignorance of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, in that order.

Change that to "intelligent" life and you can count me among the ignorant.

[Ghent12]

Re: Scary Thought

The closer we get to observing planets capable of sustaining life, at least as we know it, would an administration of either 'party' suppress conclusive proof of life to not alienate their Christian believers' support?

I'm curious as to what blend of cynicism and anti-Christian sentiment led to this random tangential thought?

[jiimbergin]

Re: Scary Thought

Anyone who believes that life evolved uniquely and exclusively on our fragile Earth demonstrates their ignorance of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, in that order. To think that we mere Earthlings (and I include all living things on Earth) would have anything to worry about from other lifeforms that have evolved within our own galaxy, not to mention galaxies far beyond our own, defies logic and knowledge of the vast distances separating the galaxies, and the suns and planets spinning within them.

Furthermore, to imagine that Man can somehow separate from the Earth and all other Earthly living things is the ultimate hubris. Such hubris might have fatal consequences for humans and many other higher lifeforms with restricted requirements for existence. Not to worry though, life on Earth will continue to flourish and evolve for several billion more years, regardless of what man is able to do to the ecosphere in the short term, say the next few thousand years.

Since you believe in ETL, if you don't all ready, I suggest you support SETI@home. I have for a dozen years. Here is the link http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php After many years of looking they still have not found any sign of intelligent life elsewhere. Perhaps it does not exist

[Ghent12]

Re: Scary Thought

Since you believe in ETL, if you don't all ready, I suggest you support SETI@home. I have for a dozen years. Here is the link http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php After many years of looking they still have not found any sign of intelligent life elsewhere. Perhaps it does not exist

I remember reading somewhere, long ago, that donating your computer resources will ultimately damage your computer's speed and capabilities. Not sure if it's true or not, but probably worth researching if you plan to not replace your computer for quite some time.

[ASH]

Re: Scary Thought

Since you believe in ETL, if you don't all ready, I suggest you support SETI@home. I have for a dozen years. Here is the link http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php After many years of looking they still have not found any sign of intelligent life elsewhere. Perhaps it does not exist

On a related topic, a hypothetical intelligent civilization would either have to be very close -- or trying very hard -- for SETI to have any hope of finding something. I recall a (somewhat depressing) article in Scientific American from a decade or two ago that pointed out how hard it would be to detect even the strongest terrestrial radio transmissions (ballistic missile defense phased array radar beams) beyond a distance which wasn't very far in astronomical terms. I found this detection range calculator on the web -- might be fun to play with. The bottom line is that we're not going to pick up someone else's isotropically-radiated radio or TV stations. Only if someone is very persistent about beaming a lot of energy right at us are we going to see squat. (And who has the resources to keep that up for centuries, hoping that someone on the receiving end happens to be at the right point in their technical development to look for and find the message?)

[jiimbergin]

Re: Scary Thought

I remember reading somewhere, long ago, that donating your computer resources will ultimately damage your computer's speed and capabilities. Not sure if it's true or not, but probably worth researching if you plan to not replace your computer for quite some time.

Again I have used it off and on for at least 10 years. Once in a while when they have a new update it slows my machine too much and when it does I stop running it for a while.

[sn1p3r]

Re: Scary Thought

Is that where Hilary Clinton's underground, reptilian alien base is? Because that's what MY Bible says

[reallife]

Re: Scary Thought

.....

Change that to "intelligent" life and you can count me among the ignorant.

"Intelligent"? Not my words. I hardly think intelligence is a prerequisite for life, nor an inevitable result of life...Still, given the overwhelming odds that life has originated and evolved many, many times and on many, many planets throughout the universe, I assume that intelligent life, as we usually think of it, does indeed exist on many planets in addition to Earth. I don't subscribe to the SETI idea for the reasons offered by ASH. It is difficult enough to detect far off stars, entire galaxies even, let alone the relatively less-than-miniscule energy sources at the command of potential lifeforms. LOL.

[don]

Re: Scary Thought

I'm curious as to what blend of cynicism and anti-Christian sentiment led to this random tangential thought?

1. The cynicism- our elected leaders have demonstrated, along with our corporate media, that they are capable of anything, including what would be among the biggest events in humankind. (and yes, I know, the size of the universe limits any contact/definitive answer to about zero.) concealed for short term political gain.

2. anti-Christian sentiment. When I read that a large chunk of the country believes in a 10,000 year ID humanity, not to mention Noah's Ark, and is no longer a privately held belief but an aggressive politicized force in America, one hellbent on turning off the lights of the Enlightenment- that's the guys I'm worried about.

3. (Bonus response) Religion has been used as a powerful lever of control for centuries. The resurgence of fundamentalism here in America is two fold- a response to pain, confusion and fear- because we are so poorly equipped by design to have few effective collective rational responses; and the active participation of those in positions of power to encourage and channel those impulses.

[jiimbergin]

Re: Scary Thought

1. The cynicism- our elected leaders have demonstrated, along with our corporate media, that they are capable of anything, including what would be among the biggest events in humankind. (and yes, I know, the size of the universe limits any contact/definitive answer to about zero.) concealed for short term political gain.

2. anti-Christian sentiment. When I read that a large chunk of the country believes in a 10,000 year ID humanity, not to mention Noah's Ark, and is no longer a privately held belief but an aggressive politicized force in America, one hellbent on turning off the lights of the Enlightenment- that's the guys I'm worried about.

3. (Bonus response) Religion has been used as a powerful lever of control for centuries. The resurgence of fundamentalism here in America is two fold- a response to pain, confusion and fear- because we are so poorly equipped by design to have few effective collective rational responses; and the active participation of those in positions of power to encourage and channel those impulses.

I am not sure I understand your fear, but I, as strong a fundamental Christian you could find, would never ever try to force anyone to believe anything. Someone can only be a true believer if they truly believe, not by any other means.

Why do you think there is a resurgence in fundamentalism. I certainly have not seen it.