OT: Extrasolar planets discovered directly

narf poit chez BOOM · #1 March 29th, 2005, 08:26 PM

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Renegade 13 · #2 March 30th, 2005, 11:36 PM

Hunpecked you make good points. The only problem with imagining the different forms that silicon based life (or, to be honest, life based on anything other than carbon) is that the imagination of humanity is actually limited to a certain extent to what we are already familiar with. We can not imagine what form a silicon based life form would take since we are not familiar to any great extent with silicon-based life-forms. We say life "would/could not exist" in certain situations, but do we really know?

Also, just because life on Earth favored the development of carbon-based life-forms does not mean that another planet, with similar metallic ratios would not favor another, totally different approach to forming life.

And all of this leaves out the idea of a supreme being (God). If, as some believe, the universe was created, then God could have created whatever forms of life based on whatever elements he wanted to. But I think that's all I'll bring religion into this thread, as we all know that religious discussions can quickly degenerate.

narf poit chez BOOM · #3 March 31st, 2005, 12:19 AM

We would simply have to try to construct a silicon-based ecosystem, down to the molecular level.

It would simply take a while.

DeadZone · #4 March 31st, 2005, 12:47 AM

We've already discovered organisms that live and breed in acid pools (something like that anyway)

So the theory that all life must be Earth life (ie. oxygen & water) has already been proved false
Oh and too the fact that planet life consumed Carbon Dioxide, means that a Carbon Dioxide planet could easily support some form of life

There is no doubt in my mind that life can exist out there, its just a case of whether sentient life has yet to develop out there that I wont make up my mind until its proven either way

Hunpecked · #5 March 31st, 2005, 11:15 PM

Quote:

We've already discovered organisms that live and breed in acid pools (something like that anyway)

So the theory that all life must be Earth life (ie. oxygen & water) has already been proved false

Well, even the creatures that exist under (for us) extreme conditions on Earth are still based on carbon, water, nucleic acids, etc. In other words, they're variations on a theme, but not a new theme.

Quote:

There is no doubt in my mind that life can exist out there, its just a case of whether sentient life has yet to develop out there that I wont make up my mind until its proven either way

As long as even a little corner of the universe remains unexplored, the existence of alien life/sentience can't be disproven. So despite the skepticism of some, an enthusiast for ET's can only be proven right, never wrong.