Extraterrestrial life is life originating from elsewhere in the universe. Irrefutable scientific evidence of extraterrestrial life is yet to be found, but a lot of better evidence is found every now and then. Most scientists accept the idea of extraterrestrial life, stating that taking into account that our universe’s size, the number of galaxies, and most importantly the number of earth-like planets, are beyond our imagination. The above shows that if no life is found in our solar system, then that has no proof whatsoever that no extraterrestrial life exists. The universe is vast, way beyond our imagination. The number of galaxies is also beyond our imagination, and we have only begun understanding the number of extra-solar planets in the universe. An extra-solar planet is a planet that revolves around a star. A group of these make up a solar system. Our planet, Earth, is an extra-solar planet, which is why scientists look for extra-solar planets for life, especially ones resembling planet Earth. The first extrasolar planet was discovred in 1995. More than 400 extra-solar planets have been discovered since then, some of which have been put under some serious research because of Earth-like features. But of course, not every extra-solar planet is habitable, which is a common mistake because some people think an extra-solar planet is a planet resembling earth, which is wrong. Another issue while searching for extraterrestrial life is water. On planet earth, every living creature needs water, whether it is directly, or indirectly, just like all living creatures need sunlight whether it is direct or not. Planets with drinkable liquid water have yet to be found, but some have been high in the contenders list. The star Gliese 581, which...
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... Something suggests it was an Earth-sourced signal that simply got reflected off a piece of space debris." That is why, despite all the speculation, the true origin of the “Wow! Signal” has yet to be found, and this debate will continue.
So, based on the above, science does not have one stance on the existence of extraterrestrials. Scientists have created several theories, tinkered with others, and have researched for proof. Based on what we know now scientifically, it is not impossible that extraterrestrial life does not exist. We might be alone, and we might not be. Science has yet to agree, or disagree with extraterrestrials existence. What we do know is that humans will keep asking this question for years and years to come, until undeniable proof comes in. And we also realize just from a few examples, how important the topic of extraterrestrials is to humans.
A number of weeks ago, I saw online this exact video which not just caught my eye, but also millions of people’s attention as well. This U.F.O. sighting shows a light hovering above the Dome of The Rock, in Jerusalem, Israel. This location is known as arguably one of the holiest sites in the history of the world according to both Judaism and Islam. Not only did the object hover, but it displayed a flash-like strobe light and sped upwards towards space afterwards. After viewing this video clip on the internet, I, a skeptic who does not believe in the concept of U.F.O.’s began to think that perhaps this was credible.
Extraterrestrial life has been a major topic for quite some time now, but has really escalated in the past two centuries. The movie we watched in class was called Extraordinary: The Stan Romanek Story. This movie so closely resembles the recent spike in activity that it seems to be the perfect example. This particular case had close to 200 different cases of videos, pictures, phone calls, health reports, and other forms of documentation. In my personal opinion, I believe that these cases were part of a hoax. Don’t get me wrong, I guarantee that there is life out there in the universe besides just us, but in this case, I do not believe Stan Romanek’s pleadings in the film.
Finding life in our solar system could potentially answer the questions humanity has been asking for thousands of years. Sarah Seager, a professor at MIT, mentioned some of these thought provoking questions, “why are we here? Why does our universe exist? How did Earth form and evolve? How and why did life originate and populate our planet?” Answers to these questions could give humanity a deeper understanding of who we are and what our place in the universe is. Steven Dick believes that humanity has “… deep psychological yearnings for companionship, superior wisdom, or ‘an ineradicable desire to see the skies filled with life’.” Those opposed may argue that a biological universe will have little effect on humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe because a biological universe simply does not exist. One may argue that life is exceedingly complex and the odds of conditions being just right for the production and the sustainment of life are slim. Our civilization may have managed to beat the odds, but many its unlikely to for this to occur elsewhere in our solar system. The proof to back this argument is the N =1 equation. The only solid evidence we have proves that only one planet has beaten these insurmountable odds and produced life. While this argument makes logical sense, relying solely on evidence we have at the moment, takes our focus away from the
Around June 25th, 1947 a pilot, Ken Arnold had reported strange objects in the sky while flying near Mt. Rainer, Washington. He stated that they flew like "saucers being skipped over water." This was where the term "Flying Saucers" derived from. The Roswell UFO Incident all started on the evening of July 3, 1947, Dan Wilmot and his wife were sitting on their front porch when they saw the distinct shape of a saucer flying through the sky. A few days prior to this sighting, military radar in the area was tracking an Unidentified Flying Object for four days. On Independence Day the radar indicated that the object had gone down about 30-40 miles Northwest of Roswell. A few days after the actual sighting from the Wilmot's, W.W. Brazel, the Foreman of the J.B. Foster Ranch went to check on his sheep after some intense thunderstorms the night prior. He happened to discover a very large amount of debris of an unknown metallic substance scattered throughout the field. It was also stated that he stumbled across a shallow trench in the ground that stretched hundreds of feet. Brazel would gather some of this debris to show family and friends. A few days after he would contact sheriff Wilcox of Chaves County. Once Wilcox had the information he needed, he contacted the Roswell Army Air Force Base, where Major Jessie Marcel was briefed to look int...
Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison published a paper in Nature in September 1959, in which they suggest a probable frequency at which alien civilizations would attempt to communicate: 1.420 GHz. This is the frequency of electromagnetic radiation emitted by neutral Hydrogen during a change of energy state. The frequency is an important physical and astronomical value, would almost certainly be known by any civilization capable of communication, and it requires only relatively simple technology to broadcast at this frequency. As Cocconi and Morrison put it, “It is reasonable to expect that sensitive receivers for this frequency would be made at an early stage of the development of radioastronomy. That would be the expectation of the operators of the assumed source, and the present state of terrestrial instruments indeed justifies the expectation.” In other words, it makes sense that aliens would come to the same conclusion about the 1.420 GHz frequency. If the aliens want to communicate with us...
It is without a doubt that the most fascinating thing about space is the possibility of life elsewhere beside Earth. It is estimated that the Milky Way Galaxy itself contains about 300 billion stars. Each star contains planets and some planets might even have moons. With these findings, the question is no longer whether life exists elsewhere. The probability that Earth is the only place where life exists in the universe is far too slim. NASA has identified many planets that have similar conditions to Earth but most of these planets are hundreds of light years away so traveling there to find out if there’s any living organism is not easy. Luckily, scientific evidences have pointed out that one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa, could be one of the places where life can exist. If the theories proposed by astronomers about Europa are true, life on Europa might not even be entirely different than life near the bottom of Earth’s oceans.
The universe, a vast, ever-expanding space full of mystery, just waiting to be discovered. With the mystery comes speculation; a multitude of researchers focus on one question, are there extraterrestrials out there? While highly controversial, scientists with the help of SETI have proved that this is possible. In order to be prepared for the possible ETs, researchers at SETI work constantly to find answers. Because of the growing research that Extraterrestrial Intelligence is possible, SETI, a credible organization, should receive funding from the government to continue their research.
Some time in July of 1947, a mysterious flying object zigzagged across the skies of New Mexico. Within twenty-four hours the object disappeared from radar just as mysteriously as it had appeared. It was last seen in a small town in the middle of the Arizona desert, it’s name, Roswell.
Should we as humans expect to find intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe? There are many reasons for and against this concept, but first we should trace just how our terrestrial life started.
Since 1976, when the Viking Landers took off toward the red planet, people have been wondering if there is life on Mars. There have been questions of pictures taken from Mars and skepticism about why some of the recent landings have failed. Scientists, up till now, have been doubtful about life on Mars.
Do aliens exist? For eons, mankind has pondered over this peculiar question and a revealing truth has yet to be answered. However, one thing is known for sure, the discovery of intelligent alien life outside of Earth would provide support to prove and/or disprove fundamental beliefs that have been held for centuries. In any case, the discovery would serve as a cornerstone for humanity to make the quantum leap in understanding the purpose of our existence. Based on numerous examples, it is impossible to deny the existence of extraterrestrial life outside of Earth. Reportings of sightings, ancient civilizations beliefs, and scientific proof from scientists and astronomers are all key factors that contribute to this statement.
While this idea may seem straight out of a science fiction movie, some evidence suggests that an extraterrestrial origin of life may not be such impossible idea.
Aliens. Extraterrestrial life. Humans have always had an interest in extraterrestrial intelligence. The speculation of extraterrestrial intelligence is popular these days both in mass culture and in science but belief in extraterrestrial intelligence goes back into ancient times. Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth. With the fascination of aliens among human, many became theorist. They believe that extraterrestrials with superior knowledge of science and engineering landed on Earth thousands of years ago sharing their expertise with early civilizations which forever changed the course of human history (Ancient Aliens). An example of this is Stone-hedge. How exactly did human place these heavy giant rocks on top of each other without any heavy machinery or tools. The only explanations one can come up with is with the help of extraterrestrials. So because of this, people have always tried to get in contact with extraterrestrial beings since the day of man.
A galaxy, also called a nebula, consists of billions of stars, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter which are all bound to form a massive cloud in which we live in. Although it cannot be very well explained, dark matter makes up at least 90% of a galaxy’s mass. Galaxies also contain billions upon billions of stars and their diameter can range from 1,500 to 300,000 light years. That’s huge! The Milky Way, the galaxy in which we live in, is one of about 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Our Sun is one of the billions of stars in our galaxy, and our eight planets revolve around this star in only a tiny part of our galaxy. “The Earth’s solar system is believed to exist very close to the Galaxy’s galactic plane, due to the fact that the Milky Way essentially divides the night sky into two virtually equal hemispheres” ("All About the Milky"). It definitely makes people second guess the fact of there being life on other planets.
One of the most common unanswered questions scientists find themselves asking is "Is there life on other planets?" Since the first famously documented UFO sighting in 1947, the idea of extra-terrestrial life has been debated almost non-stop. The subject has inspired many TV programs, such as The X-Files, and films (Mars Attacks, Independence Day, and the Men in Black films to name but a few). Scientists have come up with many new ideas and ways of trying to either prove or disprove the existence of life elsewhere.