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re: So what is NASA announcing Wednesday?

Posted on 3/9/17 at 8:05 pm to
Posted by Kentucker
Cincinnati, KY
Member since Apr 2013
19351 posts
Posted on 3/9/17 at 8:05 pm to
In this case "they" are scientists. The scientific community is unique in that it is probably the most chatty group on earth. There is absolutely no way to stifle them. It's like herding cats. Even China would be unable to silence a discovery of this magnitude. It would be the most profound discovery in history.
Posted by Commander Data
Baton Rouge, La
Member since Dec 2016
7291 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 9:49 am to
I am currently reading a sci fi book called the hercules text by Jack McDevitt and scientists monitoring a pulsar 2 million light years away notice that the spinning star stopped for a few days and then restarted. It was obvious that advanced aliens had manipulated the star announcing their presence. NASA had decided not to announce the discovery right away and 3 months later when they did the fallout of keeping it secret was severe. The scientific community would have leaked this info rather quickly if it happened irl. I imagine the president would hold a press conference should we find et life just like it happened in my book.
Posted by Kentucker
Cincinnati, KY
Member since Apr 2013
19351 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 11:15 am to
I don't know if you're old enough to remember when President Clinton held a press conference in 1996 regarding the possible discovery of alien life in the Allan Hills meteorite. It was a sensational moment in the hunt for alien life.

Looking at the photos that were released (1 and 2 below) showing magnifications of the meteorite, one could easily say that the objects are fossilized bacteria-like life forms. However, it was proved by opposing scientists that the structures could originate because of nonbiological processes. That didn't completely kill the idea that they're alien life because the argument that they could originate from biological processes is also valid.

The discovery spurred a closer look at meteorites from Mars. Figures 3 and 4 show possible fossilized life forms in other meteorites found in Australia.


(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)
Posted by Commander Data
Baton Rouge, La
Member since Dec 2016
7291 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 11:45 am to
I remember it well. I was still in the army and actually liked Bill Clinton. I remember some heated debates with my ultra religious parents over the idea of life in the cosmos following the announcement.

I think life is much more rare in the cosmos than what I thought back then but I still firmly believe that we are not alone.
Posted by karralum
southeastern conference territory
Member since Apr 2012
1138 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 4:35 pm to
Sts tether incident????
Posted by Commander Data
Baton Rouge, La
Member since Dec 2016
7291 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 5:21 pm to
quote:

Sts tether incident????


I am not big on conspiracies. Intelligent life in the galaxy are still bound by the laws of relativity just like we are. We will never meet any little green men even if we detect their presence.
Posted by Commander Data
Baton Rouge, La
Member since Dec 2016
7291 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 6:41 pm to
The wife just sent me a link about a possible pyramid on an exoplanet. If anyone is interested here is the LINK
Posted by Kentucker
Cincinnati, KY
Member since Apr 2013
19351 posts
Posted on 3/11/17 at 7:17 pm to
quote:

I think life is much more rare in the cosmos than what I thought back then but I still firmly believe that we are not alone.


I think life is ubiquitous wherever conditions exist that favor its evolution. It really isn't as mysterious as most people think. Here's a great link that shows life as a catalyst for metabolism, for example.

It's the development of consciousness and sentience that is mysterious. Simple life evolved as merely a complex chemical chain reaction on earth. It kept getting increasingly complex and has culminated in several conscious species, the most intelligent of which are humans.

In the link that I'm sharing, Eric Smith contends that life is inevitable under optimum conditions. I agree with his assessment.

However, intelligence may be much more rare. In fact, there's no reason at this point to think that we're not the only sentient species in our galaxy, maybe even in the Universe.
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