Are we alone in the Universe?

[JTG of the PRB]

Poll question: Are we alone in the Universe?

Considering all the vastness of existence, billions of stars per galaxy, billions of galaxies in the Universe, perhaps billions upon trillions of planets, are we alone in existence?

Was humanity a one-time deal? Or is the Universe teeming with life, ancient and new, waiting to be discovered or looking to remain anonymous?

Personally, I am absolutely convinced that there is no conceivable way that we're the only life out there. There's something else out there.

What say you, Loungers?

[EndersDame]

1. There probably is higher intelligent life out there and they are too scared shitless to visit Earth

If we are the only "intelligent" life , then fuck, the universe is one sad sorry place!

[denbot]

2. Odds are there are thousands of civilizations out there.

The question is do they exist on our time line? By the time we "hear" one and formulate a response, will they still be there to hear it? I don't think that we will ever make contact. The universe is too big. Civilizations are too fragile from within and without.



On the off chance that I'm wrong.

I WELCOME OUR NEW ALIEN OVERLORDS.

[JTG of the PRB]

3. I think that's the one issue that will keep us from ever really KNOWING the answer.

Unless somebody out there figures out how to re-write the laws of physics, I think the chance of us actually meeting another civilization is so incredibly minute that it's almost sad to think about it. If we ever get transmissions drifting into our solar system from light years away, we'll know that, at one point, there was somebody else out there. I suppose we could always find life on nearby planets, though that doesn't exactly look likely.

Still... Welcome, Overlords!

[rurallib]

32. If the laws of physics were re-written, they'd never get through congress

at least not with the obstructionist Repugs.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. (deepdeepsigh) What does it matter?

.

.

[rcrush]

5. I think we should try and find out

Cause the sooner I get the hell off this planet the better.

[JTG of the PRB]

6. Someone should really found ColMin and start building some ships.

That way we can start founding new colonies and get away from this planet. Of course, we'll need to create, finance, and staff the IF first...

[rcrush]

7. I bet the damn government is hiding the Stargate under Norad.

[JTG of the PRB]

8. They totally would!

[rcrush]

9. All I know is stay away from those transporters.

They copy you and then kill you and then send the copy to your destination! So if you use the transporter there will be a copy of you runnin around out there and you will be dead!

[MilesColtrane]

23. Wrong continent.

You don't really believe the "Large Hadron Collider" is for conducting experiments in particle physics, do you?

[krispos42]

28. Nope, Bermuda Triangle

"Oh, a ship disappeared". "Oh, a plane disappeared".

Nope, they're just resupply vessels heading out to our colony on Alpha Centauri.

[EndersDame]

11. Dude the aliens already know about us and are staying the fuck away from us

But I am in total agreement about getting off this hell planet. My boyfriend asked me if I was given the chance to go travel with an alien and see the universe with the only caveat that I couldnt come back to Earth and could never see any one I knew ever again what would I do? Duh get me off this fucking rock!! I didnt even have to think about it ! He said he couldnt believe how I answered and that he would stay behind. I dont think our relationship is going to last because
A he obviously doesnt know me
and B We have way different values

[rcrush]

12. I'd do it

But I'd have to bring some pot plants with me to grow in their alien hydrolab. Cant explore the universe without weed you know.

[EndersDame]

13. Dude I would so totally want to be High in a space suit floating in outer space and tethered to

a space craft tripping out on the cosmic splendor around me! :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[JTG of the PRB]

14. Sounds good to me.

There would be a few people I'd miss, but the opportunity to explore the cosmos? I think Earth would do fine/get blown up on its own without me.

[insanity]

10. It is not a relevant question

Everything in the universe is bound by the laws of physics, which means traveling between star systems is damn near impossible either in a relativistic time-scale or a stationary time-scale. We'll never find something out there as complex and amazing as us, so that puts a huge load on our back because we are the highest evolved life-form in the known universe. I'd rather fix this pale Blue dot than worry about what lives on other ones.

[denbot]

15. Nothing wrong with fixing this little blue dot.

But space/time can be bent. Gravity does it and there must be other ways, we just don't know how yet..
Mankind has no chance of long term survival unless we can conquer our base nature, and then for good or bad, spread through out the universe.

[insanity]

25. That's intriguing

Space-time isn't entirely hard to bend in some senses. When we start talking about bending space-time we are really talking about altered reference frames between the observer, space, and time. We've put atomic clocks on airplanes and observed a noticeable difference between clocks in the air and on the ground. We also see how light is curved because of gravity when we observe the orbit of Mercury around the Sun.

However, even to get a usable travel time (reference frame) to some our nearest habitable candidate planets it would require some much acceleration and braking would be damn near impossible to get it built and working. Maybe if we find some wormholes and have the ability to control them then it becomes possible, but to do that would require technology I don't think is possible of its magnitude.

Our best bet is the solar system, and that probably would require us to start by terraforming mars to create a usable atmosphere for the known life on our planet. Titan and Europa are not bad candidates for continued study though.

[pokerfan]

18. I agree that we should look after our nest but...

"I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next 100 years, let alone next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load." --Stephen Hawking

[insanity]

24. I don't want to simply export our problems elsewhere.

[Skittles]

16. it is downright depressing to think that we are IT

[AllenVanAllen]

17. We're probably not alone

But maybe we're better off alone.

[denbot]

21. What could go wrong?

[emdistortion]

19. It's extremely likely that there are other sentient beings in the universe

But the chances of two finding one another is extremely unlikely.

[BurtWorm]

20. I think I heard someone next door

[MilesColtrane]

22. We're not, but we're so far away from each other, we may as well be.

[woo me with science]

26. Nope. The whole class had to do a science project.

We are just one kid's.

[Vidar]

27. No.

[AsahinaKimi]

29. DAMN IT Jim

I'm a Doctor not some damn xenobiologist! (Just thought this needed an illustration)

[ismnotwasm]

30. Doubt it

I also doubt I'll ever know for a fact one way or the other.

[Drunken Irishman]

31. I don't know.

No one knows. So, the best answer should be "I just don't know..." even if you voted yes or no.

Because, I mean, we just don't fucking know and no one should be fully convinced either way unless there is ample evidence to suggest aliens do/do not exist. Right now, I don't believe there is.

With that said, if I was forced to vote yes/no on whether I believe we're alone, I'd vote no.

But that's because it's hard to imagine a universe this vast not having any other life out there.

[flvegan]

33. So long as they never find their Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator

I'm fine. I doubt we're "alone" in existence.