Aliens

[Dotini]

I've seen strange lights in the sky too. At a rave party.

What were you ingesting? Be honest.

 

[Dotini]

Lord Martin Rees, known as a quintessential mainstream scientist, president of the Royal Society and astronomer to the Queen, recently hosted the national science academy's conference on "The Detection of Extra-terrestrial Life and the Consequences for Science and Society".

He said, "They could be staring us in the face and we just don’t recognize them...extra terrestrial life may be beyond human understanding...Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains."

He asked the conference whether the discovery of aliens would cause terror on Earth, or cries of joy.

Back in the 60's the Brookings Institute did a similar study, funded by NASA. They concluded that discovery of aliens might well cause our civilization to degrade and come apart, much as contact with advanced outside cultures has caused indigenous native cultures to degrade and come apart in the past.

One has to wonder how much things have changed in the last 50 years.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...mer-Aliens-may-be-staring-us-in-the-face.html

http://www.dailygrail.com/Alien-Nation/2010/2/Changing-Aliens
Commentary on the above matters.

 

[DK]

What were you ingesting? Be honest.

I should have stuck in a . Oh well, better late than never.

 

[Public'sTwin]

[...] known as a quintessential mainstream scientist

Now now, let's not fall into those old fallacies.

 

[darkos]

I've always thought that forum moderators are pretty much from different planets. Who would take that job??

Seriously thought i choose "maybe" options. We will never know the answer, unless they invade us and slave for food.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.allnewsweb.com/page1199999331.php

Here is a report with photo of a UFO hovering over a major Chinese city seen and photographed by hundreds for over an hour.

Some say it resembles a "classic" UFO. A meteorologist speculating from the comfort of his chair said it could be a searchlight on a cloud. To me, it looks like it might be a cell of plasma - a form of ball lightning.

 

[PeterJB]

Their appears to be a lightning bolt going through it, so it could just be some kind of freak weather pattern. However, everyone said it vanished, which seems to happen a lot with UFO sighting. Potential evidence for portals to a parallel universe or dimension?

 

[Dotini]

Their appears to be a lightning bolt going through it, so it could just be some kind of freak weather pattern. However, everyone said it vanished, which seems to happen a lot with UFO sighting. Potential evidence for portals to a parallel universe or dimension?

Lightning is plasma, and plasma can be either visible or invisible. So the simplest explanation need not invoke exotic parallel universes or hidden dimensions.

Currently I'm reading a new book called Evidence of the Afterlife: the Science of Near-Death Experiences by Jeffrey Long, MD. It's clear that thousands of people the world over report consistent, complex lucid experiences, including separation of the consciousness from the body and learning special knowledge later verified as true, all during a period of time when the physical body is unconscious, without pulse or breathing, and in coma. If this is true, then the NDEr must be visiting a hidden universe or dimension. So, PeterJB, your speculation is not entirely without merit. Perhaps some UFO's are visitors from the realm of the dead, like ghosts or wandering souls?

 

[viejaloca]

ALL of you guys should go to the Dicovery Channel\ Science channel and watch Journey to the Edge of the Universe. It is amazing the way that they describe it! For example: the size of earth compared to our solar system is like a pea(the earth) and traveling 250,000 miles away from it! They also explain the enviroments of other planets and moons and other galaxies close to ours.

 

[Public'sTwin]

If this is true, then the NDEr must be visiting a hidden universe or dimension.

Before we jump to conclusions, we need some brave souls to volunteer as flatliners.

...who's up first?

 

[magburner]

This little rock in this enormous chasm is the only one to have life on it? Nah.

What you just said reminded me of this Carl Sagan speech - The Pale Blue Dot:


Awesome stuff! 👍

 

[Stevisiov]

What you just said reminded me of this Carl Sagan speech - The Pale Blue Dot:


Awesome stuff! 👍

Indeed, I really love the way this video puts things into perspective.

 

[magburner]

Awesome vid pal, and I've learned something I never knew before too! 👍

I know this sounds geeky, but I often wonder what I was before I was human. I'm not suggesting for a second that I believe in reincarnation; But, my body, like everything else on this planet, and everything in our solar system is made of atoms that first formed in space. Where did those atoms come from? Were we formed from the remants of supernovas, or past civilisations?

Almost quite as often, I wonder what I will be next, in billions of years from now. Maybe I'll form part of a sun, or maybe a molecule in a rock on some barren moon. Maybe if I'm lucky, my atoms will taste life again. Who knows? I wonder, is there any way to tell where our atoms have come from?

 

[Dotini]

I know this sounds geeky, but I often wonder what I was before I was human. I'm not suggesting for a second that I believe in reincarnation; But, my body, like everything else on this planet, and everything in our solar system is made of atoms that first formed in space. Where did those atoms come from? Were we formed from the remants of supernovas, or past civilisations?

Almost quite as often, I wonder what I will be next, in billions of years from now. Maybe I'll form part of a sun, or maybe a molecule in a rock on some barren moon. Maybe if I'm lucky, my atoms will taste life again. Who knows? I wonder, is there any way to tell where our atoms have come from?

Of course I would be that last one to really know where your atoms come from.

However, if you were ever to look up into the sky and wonder where you came from, there is a reasonable way to prefer one place to all others. That place would be the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The reason is that the Virgo cluster is at the center of the local supercluster of galaxies. If you accept, as you seem to and some astronomers and cosmologists certainly do, that matter is episodically created in the nuclei of active galaxies, and that active galaxies give birth to stars and systems of stars that ultimately become new galaxies, then it is logical to consider the notion that our galaxy cluster evolved from the center of the supercluster, and there it is: Virgo. Your atoms are certainly not from there, but they might be traced back that far.

Respectfully yours,
Dotini

 

[Stevisiov]

Awesome vid pal, and I've learned something I never knew before too! 👍

I know this sounds geeky, but I often wonder what I was before I was human. I'm not suggesting for a second that I believe in reincarnation; But, my body, like everything else on this planet, and everything in our solar system is made of atoms that first formed in space. Where did those atoms come from? Were we formed from the remants of supernovas, or past civilisations?

Almost quite as often, I wonder what I will be next, in billions of years from now. Maybe I'll form part of a sun, or maybe a molecule in a rock on some barren moon. Maybe if I'm lucky, my atoms will taste life again. Who knows? I wonder, is there any way to tell where our atoms have come from?

We are all stardust. Every atom in our bodies (bar hydrogen and helium) and indeed around us, once came from a star. These 'heavy' atoms form during nuclear fusion, which of course is the mechanism which causes our sun to shine.

It seems odd to think, but almost everything you see around you, came from a star a very long time ago.

 

[Dotini]

nuclear fusion, which of course is the mechanism which causes our sun to shine.

Dear Stevisiov,
Although nuclear fusion is indeed the accepted model, it is proven neither through direct exploration nor in the laboratory that there is a controlled fusion reaction within the sun. There are numerous unresolved anomalies and problems with this model, and an attractive alternative theory exists. If anyone is interested, it could be politely discussed either here or in the Astronomy (Rumble Strip) thread.

Respectfully yours,
Dotini

 

[Alex.]

We are all stardust. Every atom in our bodies (bar hydrogen and helium) and indeed around us, once came from a star. These 'heavy' atoms form during nuclear fusion, which of course is the mechanism which causes our sun to shine.

It seems odd to think, but almost everything you see around you, came from a star a very long time ago.

Brilliant to think too. The thing that gets me is, we are effectively belongings of the universe. If you pick us apart atom by atom we are just dust. It's all that we are.

Someone once asked me if I had to have one word tattooed on my body what would it be? I'm fairly sure I have my answer.

 

[Keef]

I finally got around to watching that District 9 movie, and that was a pretty interesting take on aliens. It assumed that aliens breath and eat just like humans do. The atmosphere of their planet was probably similar to ours. They seemed pretty dumb, but their technology was wild.

 

[Dotini]

The thing that gets me is, we are effectively belongings of the universe. If you pick us apart atom by atom we are just dust.

"Man is a piece of the universe made alive."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[Touring Mars]

Brilliant to think too. The thing that gets me is, we are effectively belongings of the universe. If you pick us apart atom by atom we are just dust. It's all that we are.

Someone once asked me if I had to have one word tattooed on my body what would it be? I'm fairly sure I have my answer.

Just be careful where you put it then 💡

nuclear fusion, which of course is the mechanism which causes our sun to shine.

Although nuclear fusion is indeed the accepted model, it is proven neither through direct exploration nor in the laboratory that there is a controlled fusion reaction within the sun

While some issues may remain as to the precise mechanisms that occur in different types of stars, there can be very little doubt that nuclear fusion is occuring inside the Sun, unless one disregards a mountain of observational and experimental evidence. There is a vast body of scientific literature on the subject, starting with this classic paper from 1957 (warning: large file)... the accumulated evidence since then overwhelmingly supports the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis beyond any reasonable doubt.

 

[Dotini]

From NASA:

Of late, the Hyder mechanism has come into question. Some people (notably Zirin) have questioned whether infall occurs, stating that the magnetic reconfiguration must always produce ejection. The respective roles of flares and CME's in solar active processes has also been hotly debated, and this has implications for the exact mechanism of Hyder flares. We certainly have enough observational evidence to show that Hyder flares can be associated with both CME's and energetic particle production. For the moment, the question of Hyder flare production mechanism appears unresolved, and will probably be sidelined until the more significant (and undoubtedly related) issue of CME - flare production mechanism is sorted out.

The bottom line is that at this stage in solar physics we do not really know what produces a flare nor what produces a CME. There are competing theories, but all tend to have deficiencies with respect to matching the observational evidence. We certainly believe that they all depend on the reconfiguration of magnetic fields as their primary energy source, but in the final analysis, we really only believe this because we can conceive of no other solar energy source of sufficient magnitude.
http://www.ips.gov.au/Educational/2/4/1

 

[bullie77]

Answering the threads original question:

It is statistically impossible for the planet Earth to be the sole place in Universe to host life. Consider that the Milky Way itself has millions of stars and that each one of them likely have planets around them, multiply this scenario by the millions of galaxies there are in the universe... one can only reach the conclusion that the Universe is 'boiling' with life!

Are they identical to humans? Think of the diversity of life forms you have on Earth solely and you get the picture...

Are they intelligent? Some likely. Some won't. Some would be further advance compared to us, some don't.

Have they ever visited us? Likely not. The vastness and the scale of the Universe is so wide that is far beyond comprehension.

Carl Sagan (I believe) once wrote the all the grains of sand of a beach wouldn't be enough to represent all the stars there are in the Universe.

 

[magburner]

The more I think about aliens, the more I'm convinced that they actually do exist. I'm even more or less certain that they have visited this world too (why wouldn't they), though I am uncertain if they are green or travel in flying saucers.

I remember reading a news story a few years ago, about a motorway that had to be re-routed (at considerable cost), because ecologists had found a small pond with rare newts in it. It made me laugh at the time, but it makes me wonder now. Those newts were oblivious to the fact that their 'world' had been saved and protected. They will happily live out their lives oblivious to the cost and effort that has been undertaken to protect them.

Could the same thing be happening to our solar system? for all we know, outside of our sphere of understanding, there could quite literally be thousands of space-faring alien civilisations; That, for whatever reason, have chosen to either leave us alone or protect us. If we can go to considerable lengths to protect newts, then it would be logical to assume that equally, if not more intelligent alien species, would do the same for us.

I can almost envision our understanding being blanketed in a shroud, that will be gradually removed once we are at the point to understand what exists outside our sphere of influence. When we finally do understand, we will realise we were never alone, just not ready. 👍

 

[Dotini]

magburner is not alone in his idea that aliens may already be a fact of life here on Earth. There is a whole branch of ufological literature built around this. The most forceful proponents are former US astronauts and former NASA employees who insist that meetings have taken place between aliens and the US, both on Earth at secure military facilities and in space on the space shuttle. There are numerous videos which show UFO's interacting with US missile launches and shuttle flights. Tales about the Apollo missions to the Moon have it that aliens were already there when we arrived, and told us to go home and not come back. There are blurry photos of their workings on the Moon, and despite the fact of high powered telescopes and numerous missions to orbit and photograph the Moon, virtually none of these high resolution photographs have been released to the public.

For my own part, I don't believe it. Over 50% of full-time, published ufologists are former members of the CIA or other secretive government government agencies like the Office of Naval Intelligence or the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). It's the job of government to monitor and manipulate the beliefs of the people in order to protect the state and its institutions. People are currently ripe for conversion to new belief systems due to the steep and well justified drop-off of belief in conventional religion. But due to the elusive nature of the phenomena, I very much doubt that government, writ large, has any better handle on the situation than well-placed veteran private researchers.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...-aliens-are-on-earth-disguised-as-humans.html

According to a large survey, it appears that 40% of Chinese and Indians believe aliens are currently living on Earth, disguised as humans. Since mainstream western science can find no evidence of anything like this, I question what would prompt otherwise modern, rational and intelligent people to provide such a response to a survey?

Personally, I believe UFO's exist because I have seen them. Earlier I have suggested that they are poorly understood natural phenomena, albeit sometimes very weird and having a property which can affect human consciousness and perception.

Respectfully submitted,
Dotini

 

[DK]

Well, a UFO stands for "Unidentified Flying Object". So that doesn't necessarily mean the Millennium Falcon, the Death Star or the U.S.S. Enterprise. It could just mean a Tesco bag caught in an updraft.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18775-mysterious-radio-waves-emitted-from-nearby-galaxy.html

Hopefully sober but certainly puzzled British astronomers have detected a mystery object in a nearby galaxy. It is emitting a uniquely strong and steady radio signal, and apparently headed towards us at greater than light speed.

 

[Famine]

Apparently moving at greater than light speed - moving towards us quite fast, but not faster than the radio waves coming from it (otherwise we wouldn't detect them before it). But as the article notes, apparent above light speeds aren't exactly uncommon in the universe.

 

[DK]

Apparently moving at greater than light speed - moving towards us quite fast, but not faster than the radio waves coming from it (otherwise we wouldn't detect them before it). But as the article notes, apparent above light speeds aren't exactly uncommon in the universe.

So it's kind of like those things are using the intergalactic Autobahn, then?

 

[Dotini]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...-alien-life-is-out-there-scientist-warns.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207.ece

The science popularizer Stephen Hawking is warning that aliens are out there, but that we should not talk to them. He likens them to Europeans invading the Americas!


Edit: Now BBC is reporting this: "Prof Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm

I wonder if he thinks we should shoot at them first and ask questions later? Would you?