After decades of denial scientists are finally admitting that there is life out there.

[n2doc]

Aliens really do exist!
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 12/06/2007


After decades of denial scientists are finally admitting that there is life out there.

Roger Highfield reports

A decade ago, my question about ET would have been greeted with nervous laughter, curling toes or embarrassed silence. Perhaps even a contemptuous sneer.

So it was extraordinary to find myself sitting before a respected huddle of planet hunters with the Government's Science Minister, Malcolm Wicks, last week as they declared they believe in aliens.

Seven leading British astronomers were briefing the minister in a session entitled "Is there life out there? - Other Earth-like or habitable planets" in the bowels of the Department of Trade and Industry, when I put to them two questions: is there alien life?

And if there is, do you think it is intelligent?

Until recently, the assembled scientists would (quite rightly) have pointed out that there is no universally accepted definition of life, let alone of intelligence. Any talk of smart extraterrestrials belonged in science fiction.

Today, our understanding of the cosmos has changed so much that for the first time searching for signs of life in other solar systems is not just a philosopher's dream but on the list of planned human endeavours. All the scientists I questioned agreed that alien life is inevitable and ubiquitous.

And all but one believe it could be intelligent - ie with the faculty of reasoning and understanding

Some even think we will find some form of life on our doorstep. Prof John Zarnecki of The Open University bullishly told the minister: "My position is very simple. We will find extinct or some life in the solar system."

more:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/06/12/scialien112.xml

[Lucian]

1. I could've told them that years ago.

:)

[beam me up scottie]

2. Since when did scientists deny that "there is life out there"?

I was under the impression that scientists were the ones looking for it.

[Fridays Child]

3. Yep. If I recall correctly, Carl Sagan, for example, wasn't exactly down on the idea.

[beam me up scottie]

5. Exactly!

He was the first one to come to mind.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. There is a huge difference between looking for life out there

and saying it's been dropping by to shop in our neighborhood.

Physics, as we currently understand it, prohibits interstellar travel by intelligent beings (unless they are so long lived that a voyage of thousands of years is undaunting). But that doesn't mean they are not out there.

Carl Sagan supported SETI - but did not "believe in" UFOs. But I believe he accepted the possibility that there might be technologies and physics that we have yet to discover that could make interstellar travel possible.

[beam me up scottie]

6. Why are you explaining this to me?

I'm about as hard core skeptic as you can get and I've always believed that life exists elsewhere.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. No offense meant - I was just thinking of those I've heard say

"But Carl Sagan didn't believe in UFOs!" as if that was the end of the discussion.

I'm right there with you.

[beam me up scottie]

9. Ah, gotcha!

Congratulations on your recent purchase of the Acme 'DIY Alien Theory': "Out of context quotes and lots of spin may be required"

[Ediacara]

21. I think the author is confusing 'life' with 'little green men abducting humans'

I'd be hard pressed to find a scientist that thought that there was no life at all out there besides us.

[beam me up scottie]

24. He appears to be extremely confused.

I get irritated every time I see an article like that, it just becomes fodder for the anti-intellectual crusaders.

[Orsino]

25. They might well have sneered or chuckled...

...at cart-before-the-horse questions about "ET," though, from obvious neophytes like Highfield. Exobiology has long since left these basic questions behind.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. What a dumb article.

:eyes:

[Posteritatis]

11. What a brilliant response. (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. After centuries of denial...

English writers are now admitting "brevity is the soul of wit."

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. it starts badly, but it gets a bit better as it goes on

The 2 main points are:

That we might find some form of life on other bodies in the solar system (eg Mars or Europa)

That planets are very common in other systems, and we're at the point of being able to measure light from them well enough to see what their atmosphere is - and that may well indicate there's life on them.

[zbdent]

10. Apply the monkey principle, and yes, there has to be life out there ...

an infinite number of monkeys are given an infinite number of typewriters and an infinite amount of time, and at some point, one will come up with the complete works of William Shakespaere (sp).

(Side note: give a dozen monkeys 3 typewriters and about 15 minutes, and you'd get the complete works of Ann Coulter. One monkey at a typewriter and red bull? Freeptardia ...)

So, the infinite reaches of space with an infinite number of planets (or near infinite), over an infinite amount of time, it's bound to be true that there's life out there ... it's just very hard to find ... and if they've been monitoring Faux news broadcasts, I don't blame them for avoiding us ...

[raccoon]

13. Do you think they'll bring us regime change? nt

[The Inquisitive]

15. I'm sorry to point out your post but, and mean you no disrespect but...

is anyone else really fucking tired of the same lame jokes coming up whenever there is a discussion about extraterrestrial life and the general exploration of space? I know I don't have a large post count, but I've been reading the forums everyday or so for about two years, and the same jokes and there numerous variations referencing the stupidity and the bullshit of the bush administration whenever someone starts a thread relating to the aforementioned topics come up over and over again.

and please raccoon please don't take this as a personal attack against you. This is just a pet peeve that has finally boiled over after a couple years... Just had to get it out there.

Aside from that, it was an interesting article, and a fun quick read.

[kestrel91316]

19. In answer to your question: no, we're not. And you can expect to see more of

the same as long as the lunatics are running the asylum.

If Obama wins, expect them to abate somewhat.

[The Inquisitive]

23. well I'm glad that someone at there still finds them entertaining!

If those are still funny for you then I have a joke you're just going to love.

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."
"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"
His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.
Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

ohohohoho, now that's original comedy.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

14. Stephen Hawkin sez

that if aliens came here, to us, they would necessarily have to assume a conquering role.

[moggie]

16. Very true

They might come here to serve man.

[TechBear_Seattle]

17. Why as conquerors?

I expect they will be religious zealots out to prove that their god(s) never created intelligent life anywhere else in the universe. Anything they find that might disprove this theology must therefore be the work of the Evil One(s) and thus a mess that the devout must "clean up."

Or maybe they will be hired exterminators, sent to clean out a nasty infestation.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

20. When I saw Hawking

make that statement (a great lecture he gave here in Portland Or. a few years back), he qualified it with the assumption that interstellar travel is so mind-numbingly expensive that the aliens would need to scoop up all of our planet's resources in order to move on, or simply settle in. In either case, they'd definitely have their shit together more than the indigenous modest monkeys we like to call the human race, and we'd be toast.

[joshcryer]

22. That's pretty mindnumbingly crazy coming from Hawking.

He should know about the conservation of mass and energy and as the late Auther C. Clark showed, the sun is the "resource" that would be most valuable in the solar system.

The problem with "aliens visiting us" is pretty damn big, simply because it's highly unlikely they'd come in any organic fasion, and would instead send tiny AI probes.