Scientist: There's No Life Outside Earth

[ryan23945]

[quote]There is no hope of finding alien life in space because conditions on all other planets are too hostile, a leading astronomer has claimed.

Howard Smith, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard University, claims we are alone in the universe after an analysis showed all of the 500 planets discovered so far could not support life. Smith said the extreme conditions found on planets outside our solar system were likely to be the norm.

"We have found that most other planets and solar systems are wildly different from our own. They are very hostile to life as we know it."

He pointed to stars such as HD10180, orbited by a planet of similar size and appearance to Earth, but roasting hot with radiation.

© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph

[url="http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/There+life+outside+Earth+scientist+claims/4155808/story.html"]Link[/url][/quote]

he should be saying they r hostile to "human" life as we know it, we couldnt live say where penguins in the antarctic do, but there is still life there, just cuz other planets r hostile doesnt mean some other form of life isnt there, pretty short sighted view point imo

[PuRock]

While I can believe that in terms of the plants in our solar system, I highly doubt that theory can be substantiated across the entire universe.

I know he said 500 planets. That still isn't enough to substantiate the claim. Keep looking around the other 200 billion stars.

[PuRock]

By the way, the earth is flat.

[theFRANCHISE]

I subscribe to the theory of the [i]Mass Effect[/i] video games, where there are several other systems around the entire galaxy, and that we are just a tiny part of it and have no way to travel that far yet. There's probably life that is unaware of us, too.

[ryan23945]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' timestamp='1295910855' post='623405']
I subscribe to the theory of the [i]Mass Effect[/i] video games, where there are several other systems around the entire galaxy, and that we are just a tiny part of it and have no way to travel that far yet. There's probably life that is unaware of us, too.
[/quote]
ya if u read the do u believe thread, thats kinda what i wonder/subscribe to, if the galaxy is so big and we r one of millions there has to be other life somewhere

[bdravens]

Until we invest some money into the space program, we won't know. As you said, some of these scientists are so short sighted, life here could be/most likely is a complete opposite compared to what's here on earth.

[PuRock]

[quote name='bdravens' timestamp='1295925555' post='623717']
Until we invest some money into the space program, we won't know. As you said, some of these scientists are so short sighted, life here could be/most likely is a complete opposite compared to what's here on earth.
[/quote]

There's no time for that. We need to keep suppling the black hole with money. Did I say black hole? I meant the US government. They waste so much money a year. My Brother is a prime example. Good guy, but they overpay him to do nothing at home all day.

[berad]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1295904128' post='623294']
While I can believe that in terms of the plants in our solar system, I highly doubt that theory can be substantiated across the entire universe.

[b]I know he said 500 planets. That still isn't enough to substantiate the claim. Keep looking around the other 200 billion stars.
[/b][/quote]

I know. Dude's working off an extremely small sample size. That's like saying since neither of the two cereal boxes you bought had the decoder ring, it doesn't exist - or something like that.

Life can survive in some extremely hostile environments on this planet, there's nothing to keep me from believing it doesn't exist [i]somewhere[/i] in the ever-expanding universe.

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' timestamp='1295910855' post='623405']
I subscribe to the theory of the [i]Mass Effect[/i] video games, where there are several other systems around the entire galaxy, and that we are just a tiny part of it and have no way to travel that far yet. There's probably life that is unaware of us, too.
[/quote]

LOVE those games. My Shepard has a pimpish goatee and is a genuine BA. Very excited for the upcoming release of the third... not to hijack this thread or anything...

[PuRock]

[quote name='berad' timestamp='1295927493' post='623767']
I know. Dude's working off an extremely small sample size. That's like saying since neither of the two cereal boxes you bought had the decoder ring, it doesn't exist - or something like that.
[/quote]

I've always believed that whatever 'facts' the human mind can come up with, can eventually be brought down. To say something isn't possible in infinite space is just plain stupid, We are condemned to this little planet and haven't even scratched the surface of space. We stare at specks through glass. To say what is or isn't in space is just plain ignorant.

Seriously, there really isn't anything certain in life but Death and Taxes.

[XxSizzleXx]

I don't believe it, they're are just too many stars out there. This can't be the only habitable planet, I'll never believe it.

[Shawn`]

Literally billions of planets out there and he takes 500 and says there isn't life anywhere else.

Live a little.

[BloodRaven]

How do you explain all the abductions and probings of drunk blonde women in Pittsburgh? hmmm?

[PuRock]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1295939477' post='623950']
How do you explain all the abductions and probings of drunk blonde women in Pittsburgh? hmmm?
[/quote]

That should be enough factual evidence to counter his argument.

[Purple Nurple]

For being an Astronomer at Harvard, he sure is an idiot. Theres no telling whats out there. He just hasnt come to terms with how tiny and insignificant he is in the grand scheme.......

[PuRock]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1295972078' post='624061']
For being an Astronomer at Harvard, he sure is an idiot. Theres no telling whats out there. He just hasnt come to terms with how tiny and insignificant he is in the grand scheme.......
[/quote]

This could be one of those ploys. To say something that will get people riled up, so that he can make more of a name for himself when it comes to the average Joe.

You sir, are a failure!

[bdravens]

Wasn't it just last year that they detected methane on Mars? It sounds harmless, but they said it was coming from underground or something, which could indicate life. But hey, let's just hang back and not do ish about that.

[Purple Punishment]

500 planets? thats so ignorant. He should have said there may be no planets to sustain our type of life, I posted a thread a month ago about Mono Lake. There is life that thrives in the arsenic rich mud that cannot live anywhere else on our planet. So ignorant when the answers lie to his remarks on our own planet

[XxSizzleXx]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1295939477' post='623950']
How do you explain all the abductions and probings of drunk blonde women in Pittsburgh? hmmm?
[/quote]

Oh snap!

[bpytnjr58]

I guess those 12 orange lights i saw in the desert sky a few years ago were from Area 51.

[kagejb]

Yeah, I can't find what the deal is with Area 51. It's clouded in secrecy because it's government property, where they keep top secret plans and top secret weapons. You don't let people waltz into places like that. Also, those weird stuff speeding across the horizon near Area 51? It's more likely that it is a new prototype for an airplane more than anything.

[bpytnjr58]

[quote name='kagejb' timestamp='1296000871' post='624689']
Yeah, I can't find what the deal is with Area 51. It's clouded in secrecy because it's government property, where they keep top secret plans and top secret weapons. You don't let people waltz into places like that. Also, those weird stuff speeding across the horizon near Area 51? It's more likely that it is a new prototype for an airplane more than anything.
[/quote]
My opinion is anything in the sky that is unidentified out here in these parts that is northeast of the So.Cal desert is Area 51 stuff.

[bpytnjr58]

WOW..I am Spinning aliens here..football is really over!!!

[PuRock]

[quote name='bpytnjr58' timestamp='1296012159' post='624877']
WOW..I am Spinning aliens here..football is really over!!!
[/quote]

Welcome to the offseason on the boards.

[ryan23945]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1296012311' post='624885']
Welcome to the offseason on the boards.
[/quote]
ya man, its a great place to discuss current events, im actually suprised at the lack of news related topics in this forum, the other forum i was on for my hockey team, there was a lot of that kind of stuff.

[cursona pirate]

I went to a planetarium once, and one of the guides said there is a new shuttle or probe going to the trenches in mars.
Also there was a huge discovery of methane on mars too. Here is picture of it!
[img]http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2009/01/19/0001232895/marsmethane_nasa.jpg[/img]so thre could be cells or one celled organisms in the trenches or even plants?
broccoli people!
[url="http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dmars%2Bmethane%2Bmap%26sado%3D1%26ei%3Dutf-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26fr2%3Dsg-gac&w=800&h=450&imgurl=images.astronet.ru%2Fpubd%2F2009%2F01%2F19%2F0001232895%2Fmarsmethane_nasa.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.astronet.ru%2Fdb%2Fxware%2Fmsg%2Fapod%2F2009-01-19&size=19KB&name=Methane+Discover...&p=mars+methane+map&oid=d19e35c88ffe4689f028161dadfdf367&fr2=sg-gac&no=2&tt=158&sigr=11jrkmdct&sigi=122kiamig&sigb=1370lev9j&.crumb=icmKV1.YaaG"]info[/url]

[hawkprey]

Life doesn't necessarily need Earth-like factors to exist. Just life here on Earth does. Conceivably any planet has the ability to harbor life because they're all made up of the same materials.

There are are life forms on Earth we don't know about because they're so small and live in inhospitable places. In fact, just recently it was proposed that half the life on Earth is living deep inside the crust. We can't disprove that this type of life doesn't exist on hotter or colder planets because we barely have the technology to check for it underneath us, let alone out in space.

[cursona pirate]

[quote name='hawkprey' timestamp='1296157878' post='626070']
Life doesn't necessarily need Earth-like factors to exist. Just life here on Earth does. Conceivably any planet has the ability to harbor life because they're all made up of the same materials.

There are are life forms on Earth we don't know about because they're so small and live in inhospitable places. In fact, just recently it was proposed that half the life on Earth is living deep inside the crust. We can't disprove that this type of life doesn't exist on hotter or colder planets because we barely have the technology to check for it underneath us, let alone out in space.
[/quote]
agree with you 100%! There can even be microscopic cells under a rock for all we know!

[Romo Ravens]

[quote name='ryan23945' timestamp='1296012985' post='624902']
ya man, its a great place to discuss current events, im actually suprised at the lack of news related topics in this forum, the other forum i was on for my hockey team, there was a lot of that kind of stuff.
[/quote]

We can't discuss anything that's related to religion or politics, so we're limited with the topics.

[Romo Ravens]

Does it really matter if a planet isn't suitable for life, simimlar to ours? Hell, there could be machines living in the iciest textures with robots that have a totally different structure than humans. Just thinking outside of the box, something that scientists should do.

[hawkprey]

[quote name='Romo Ravens' timestamp='1296265585' post='627710']
Does it really matter if a planet isn't suitable for life, simimlar to ours? Hell, there could be machines living in the iciest textures with robots that have a totally different structure than humans. Just thinking outside of the box, something that scientists should do.
[/quote]

I don't think machines count as "living" and we DO send out robots to other planets. I think you meant to say life doesn't have to be carbon-based like ours is. That's something I'd agree with. I'm not even sold on the idea that life needs water to survive. It's all we know on our planet but that doesn't necessarily make it a universal law.

I once saw a discovery channel show proposing there could be electrically-based life forms as close as Titan. If any other part of our solar system harbors life, that (and Mars) seem to have the greatest possibility. But the life would be no more intelligent than bacteria. Still, it's a start.