Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is life everywhere in the universe. How do you know this?
Trillions is an unfathomable number. There are trillions of planets out there. Statically there is life on one of the trillions of planets besides earth.
Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
31–40 of 67 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the first problem is long-range communication capabilities. I am not in this field, but I think a network of optical communication nodes which span light years is needed. I imagine each node should be small, cheap to manufacture, and self-repairing in some form [1]. The second step is meeting energy requirements for deep space exploration, and I think the answer there is nuclear-powered deep space probes whic…
Given the time required for space travel compared to human lifespans this doesn’t get close to the threshold for something I would worry about. Even if we launched a probe to the nearest planet tomorrow neither I nor any of my descendants for hundreds of generations will know what it finds. I get the impression that you have mixed science fiction, wishful thinking, press releases, and outright grifting together. A sp…
Oh, don't get me wrong--I am aware of current capabilities, but you're right that I added in a wishlist of sorts. I think humanity is always going to be blowing itself up one way or another, but some of this work might unite people around a greater purpose (settling other planets), and/or be useful for job creation.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#33The easier explanation is a higher power seeded life here. If you find a functioning phone on a beach, you don't just think a bunch of silicon molecules just evolved into a phone over millions of years. Someone is manipulating those molecules via complex processes. Most of the universe is entirely predictable. Planets and stars go in predictable orbits for billions of years. Climates are fairly predictable. But as so…
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#34My personal belief is that there are aliens out there but they aren't as advanced as us so no electricity to send signals or maybe they are too far away to send a signal yet?
It takes a lot more than electricity to send a detectable signal multiple light years. And unless we're lucky, the minimum is likely to be tens of light years. Assuming we even found a likely star system, built some huge focused transmitter, we'd still need to broadcast for probably hundreds of years for it to have a chance of being received. And that's hoping the other side are in exactly the right stage of their de…
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#35Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#36Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
It takes a lot more than electricity to send a detectable signal multiple light years. And unless we're lucky, the minimum is likely to be tens of light years. Assuming we even found a likely star system, built some huge focused transmitter, we'd still need to broadcast for probably hundreds of years for it to have a chance of being received. And that's hoping the other side are in exactly the right stage of their de…
I think we need to develop faster travel [1]. [1] https://www.inverse.com/science/ny-to-la-in-one-second
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#38Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#39The further away from Earth, the further back in time, the smaller the chance of highly evolved life.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that life is only on Earth?
#40May I ask why you find it so troubling? I mean, what if we were the only life in the universe? Would that be bothersome? What if we weren't? Is that more bothersome? Or is merely the fact of not knowing bothersome?
Per my understanding of how Mars used to be [1], I don't understand how there aren't even any records of microfossils. I also don't understand why the rest of the universe looks pristine. For example, intelligent life on Earth has created so much space junk in just ~300000 years since the earliest human civilization. It appears that intelligent life, once it forms, doesn't take much to go from pre-civilization to spa…