Is there life on other planets?

[-Danube-]

A topic that never seems to be out of the public eye is that of Alien lifeforms living on other planets. Some believe that even our neighbouring planet Mars has (or still could) supported life in the past, albeit in bacterial form. Others believe that in the far reaches of the universe there will be lifeforms very similar to ourselves or even more advance.

It does infact seem scary to think that we could actually be alone in the universe, one tiny phenomenon on a small rocky planet in an insignificant solar system. But it also seems scary to think that there could be other intelligent lifeforms out there, what happens if they find us before we find them? Will they attack? Some farfetched ideas are those of aliens actually already living among us and studying our behaviour.

Do you think it's selfish to think we are alone? Do you think it's safe for us to contact intelligent alien life if we do find it?

DEBATE!!

[Conservative,]

I personally believe that there are aliens. I think it is impossible that out of every galaxy, everything that exists, we are the only living, breathing intelligent life forms. They may be in a completely different and peculiar world that is totally different to ours, or they may be on Mars, I do not know. But what I cannot comprehend is how we are alone.

It'd be cool to meet an Alien made of anti-matter, but we wouldn't be able to touch or we'd destroy them >;[. But yeah, i think aliens exist. My simple reason being I do not think there is any possible way we are alone in such a vast universe spanning 15 billion light years.

[SirTezza]

Great debate topic.

My views tell me there is definitely life on other planets. For anyone to think that we are alone is absolutely ludicrous and so very closed-minded. Currently the agencies that study this phenomena seem to be sticking with life as we know it. However this is a very bad way of looking at life. It is very unlikely that other life will maintain the same conditions that our atmosphere gives us.

The atmosphere was here first and we developed as a result of that. Our bodies function in the correct way needed in order to survive in this type of atmosphere. The nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and all other ions that make up our own atmosphere are not necessarily what is needed by other forms of life. Scientists up until now have continued to study life based on our own atmosphere, and by doing that they have made it very difficult to find what they are looking for.

It's definitely funny for me when people say, it is general knowledge that there is no life anywhere else. The reason for this is because as life has progressed, we have figured out much more information about the universe. At the beginning of time, it was thought that the sun revolved around the earth, and it was a crime, punishable by death - on the grounds of blasphemy, to say otherwise. It was said that if you walk to far you would simply fall off the earth. On the same note it was thought that weather was a gift or a curse from god.

As life has progressed all of these things have been scientifically diminished. We know that space is not entirely revolving around the earth, and we are definitely not at the centre. We know you will never simply fall off the earth, because of gravity and other effects. We know that the sun is a star, and the only reason it is brighter than all the other stars is because it is closer to us by absolute light-years. We know that rain forms in the atmosphere and is simply water that has gone through the evaporation cycle and then falls back to earth to repeat all over again.

The point I am making here is that we are time and time again finding out more and more about the universe.

We can only see a fraction of the universe, even with our most advanced equipment. From that we know there are at least 100-200 billion galaxies in the universe, each galaxy harbouring hundreds of billions of stars... how do we know that each of those stars (what we know as the sun) doesn't have or never had a planet like earth, or planets that harbour other life forms. In my view it is extremely simple minded to think that we are the only beings on the physical plane.

The notion that aliens are currently on the earth is something I also believe. If an alien race is able to visit our planet, that means they are much more advanced than we are, which allows us to purport that they are able to disguise themselves to look like one of us - or maybe they already do. I also believe that it is wrong for people to label aliens BAD. I imagine they are just like any other race, you have good and you have bad.

I believe aliens are helping our planet. They continually do things to stop our own self-destruction from war and other murderous acts.

In my opinion, if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it by now.

EDIT: Just seen your post Robbie. If they were made of anti-matter they would be annihilated on contact with regular matter in an instant... i.e the earth, air etc. So don't hold your breath on that one lol

[karter]

No one can actually tell this. I think that there is life on some planet. as SirTezza said , it is not necessary that all living organisms need oxygen to breath , water to drink etc. We humans , are not that scientifically developed that we can say that there is no life on any other planet.

About the attack thing , that's just funny and I don't believe that will happen.

[SirTezza]

Yeh I agree Kromium.

If they wanted to attack us they could have done it by now, it would be so easy for them. We are intelligent as far as we know... but we haven't compared with any other life-forms to judge that accurately. We constantly see UFO's in the sky. Of course, a number of them are hoaxes, but many of them are 100% real in my opinion, and impossible to fake. They fly in the air, with no sound and in a shape that is aerodynamically impossible for us to have made it, without modifications of a higher intelligence, using fuels we don't even have available to us.

We are nothing to aliens in regard to war. If they can visit our planet, then they are simply many, many years ahead with technology, thus we are no threat to them, so why should they attack us?

In my own opinion, aliens have helped to cap our own self destruction. To be honest, if the aliens hadn't intervened then they wouldn't have needed to attack us even if that was their plan, because we would have done it ourselves by now.

[Conservative,]

Great debate topic.

My views tell me there is definitely life on other planets. For anyone to think that we are alone is absolutely ludicrous and so very closed-minded. Currently the agencies that study this phenomena seem to be sticking with life as we know it. However this is a very bad way of looking at life. It is very unlikely that other life will maintain the same conditions that our atmosphere gives us.

The atmosphere was here first and we developed as a result of that. Our bodies function in the correct way needed in order to survive in this type of atmosphere. The nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and all other ions that make up our own atmosphere are not necessarily what is needed by other forms of life. Scientists up until now have continued to study life based on our own atmosphere, and by doing that they have made it very difficult to find what they are looking for.

It's definitely funny for me when people say, it is general knowledge that there is no life anywhere else. The reason for this is because as life has progressed, we have figured out much more information about the universe. At the beginning of time, it was thought that the sun revolved around the earth, and it was a crime, punishable by death - on the grounds of blasphemy, to say otherwise. It was said that if you walk to far you would simply fall off the earth. On the same note it was thought that weather was a gift or a curse from god.

As life has progressed all of these things have been scientifically diminished. We know that space is not entirely revolving around the earth, and we are definitely not at the centre. We know you will never simply fall off the earth, because of gravity and other effects. We know that the sun is a star, and the only reason it is brighter than all the other stars is because it is closer to us by absolute light-years. We know that rain forms in the atmosphere and is simply water that has gone through the evaporation cycle and then falls back to earth to repeat all over again.

The point I am making here is that we are time and time again finding out more and more about the universe.

We can only see a fraction of the universe, even with our most advanced equipment. From that we know there are at least 100-200 billion galaxies in the universe, each galaxy harbouring hundreds of billions of stars... how do we know that each of those stars (what we know as the sun) doesn't have or never had a planet like earth, or planets that harbour other life forms. In my view it is extremely simple minded to think that we are the only beings on the physical plane.

The notion that aliens are currently on the earth is something I also believe. If an alien race is able to visit our planet, that means they are much more advanced than we are, which allows us to purport that they are able to disguise themselves to look like one of us - or maybe they already do. I also believe that it is wrong for people to label aliens BAD. I imagine they are just like any other race, you have good and you have bad.

I believe aliens are helping our planet. They continually do things to stop our own self-destruction from war and other murderous acts.

In my opinion, if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it by now.

EDIT: Just seen your post Robbie. If they were made of anti-matter they would be annihilated on contact with regular matter in an instant... i.e the earth, air etc. So don't hold your breath on that one lol

Lol I know, if only they could somehow conceal themselves in a vacuum

But great argument there. I agree that if aliens did exist, they wouldn't all be hostile and trying to kill us. Some would be nice and some wouldn't.

No one can actually tell this. I think that there is life on some planet. as SirTezza said , it is not necessary that all living organisms need oxygen to breath , water to drink etc. We humans , are not that scientifically developed that we can say that there is no life on any other planet.

About the attack thing , that's just funny and I don't believe that will happen.

Yes I agree with this. No one can say whether or not aliens exist because there is no proof either way, however we can say aliens are most likely to exist due to various factors (ie; the new bacteria found a few days ago surviving on thought to be un-inhabitable land) and the fact that they may not adapt like us, and could potentially live in hostile environments.

[SirTezza]

Lol I know, if only they could somehow conceal themselves in a vacuum

But great argument there. I agree that if aliens did exist, they wouldn't all be hostile and trying to kill us. Some would be nice and some wouldn't.

It wouldn't surprise me if there were alien life forms created by anti-matter. They just simply wouldn't be able to come in contact with matter... they have a whole playground up there they can survive in if that is what they are created of If life can be created from matter, it could just as easily be created by the negative... perhaps to them, we are the anti-matter.

However in the early time of the big bang most of the anti-matter was destroyed thanks to their being much more matter.

Nobody has proven of disproven alien life, but in my mind it definitely safe to say we are not alone. I am a scientific man so I follow information that we find from studies, and not what we are told by religion, for example.

We are a smart race, we have advanced very far over the years, however we could be a very, very young planet in relation to others out there, meaning that other races could be light-years ahead of us in technology terms. We are babies, but we are learning so much everyday.

[Eoin247]

All my life i have believed that there is other life out there. I mean nearly everything points towards it. By the law of averages and with the amount of planets out ther that are believed to be suitable for life, it all seems to point towards life.

I also believe that when we do encounter other life, we will find that they are quite simular in looks to us. It's really a mater of when rather than if we will encounter life.

[Toasten]

I don't know much scientific stuff but something does come to me. No way that out of all the planets only our planet has life! Surely on some other planet or even space that is not explored life must exist.

[Eoin247]

Hmm, only problem with this debate is i don't think anybodies going to say that there's no other life out there.

Many scientists believe that life on earth actualy came from a different planet originaly, and apparently theres some evidense for this.