There are 500 million planets in OUR OWN GALAXY capable of producing life

*Two aliens taking the %^$^ up planet tour. They look upon the greenish blue planet with wonder*


Alien: Hey come on, let's go down there... let's mess with 'em

Alien 2: Ay...ay shut the #&*$ up... they fight over black and white... we purple, what the $&$^ you think they gon' do to us?


credit: Eddie Griffin

Originally posted by Versa

The researchers studied environmental conditions similar to those that existed on the Earth before life began, when the planet was enveloped in electric storms that caused ionized gases to form in the atmosphere.

SOURCE

So, while I accept and agree that there may well be other forms of life that we are not currently able to recognise or understand, wouldn't this particular form of 'life' would need conditions similar to those that previously existed on the Earth?

Conditions a lot like those have probably existed in a number of places during the formation of the Solar System and therefore probably in many places in other star systems. They happen now on Jupiter and Saturn for a start.

In fact, as plasma life forms (if proven to exist), do not actually fit some of the current scientific ideas of what life is.

Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.en.wikipedia.org...

Living beings are thermodynamic systems that have an organized molecular structure.en.wikipedia.org...

The above definitions are examples of how scientists have been bound by an (almost) anthropocentric notion that we can only define life in terms of our own nature (i.e. apparently chemical). Plasma life forms aren't strictly chemical systems so are not covered by these definitions.

Living things are systems that tend to respond to changes in their environment, and inside themselves, in such a way as to promote their own continuation.
en.wikipedia.org...

We are on better ground with this explanation. Importantly, there are likely to be many such systems (not all carbon/water based) throughout the universe. Earth itself is a great example of one. See Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis.

The Gaia hypothesis, Gaia theory or Gaia principle is an ecological hypothesis or theory proposing that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeorhesis. Originally proposed by James Lovelock(snip) ..... The hypothesis is frequently described as viewing the Earth as a single organism.en.wikipedia.org...

One more thought. Take a look at this video from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Brilliant video isn't it. Jupiter is accurately described as the parent of over 60 moons. Watch that and then tell me you don't think there is just a chance that Jupiter is self organising and very much alive too




typo

Originally posted by StarblazerUK
Scientists have never discounted the chances of life on other planets, but they are rightly sceptical of any chance of visitation

Not this one. However, lots of scientists have not bothered to review the evidence that we have been visited and aren't in a position to make a positive statement. Not necessarily out of bloody mindedness, but because it is an extremely time consuming business. I have reviewed the evidence and am of the opinion that we have been visited. Like all opinions though, you are welcome to disagree.

Originally posted by Ph0en1x
This is a very interesting study nevertheless. For all we know, the universe could be teeming with life.

For the reasons I have given above, it looks pretty likely.

reply to post by Pimander

ok lol I'll give you plasma lifeforms... (I am very tired and having some small difficulty keeping up atm) as a precursor to life and I'll give you that the video of Jupiter was (as our American cousins say) awesome!!!!

But even given the possibility or even probability of plasma lifeforms the odds of us finding life that we can recognise as such are slim.

Its life Jim.... But not as we know it

Fact is, im sure there are at least hundreds of planets with life on them within our own galaxy. So, out of the billions of galaxies there are, im sure "complex life" exists everywhere, in many different forms. I wish I could travel to those planets and explore them.

I also believe that life is everwhere. To the point, that the planets we view are alive, in a spiritual sense. They were born, they will die. They have atmosphere's and storms just as Earth. They are just as alive as the trees we see outside. Everything to me is alive within this existence.

science never discovers anything. it just observes it for the first time. everything existed long before science and will exist long after science.

the odds are 99.99% that life exists on other worlds.

if you use earth as an example. we arent even the only species on earth, there are literally over a billion different life forms on earth.

I will say this. To those who say that we are "thousands" of years away from space travel (in terms of deep space, to other stars), you may be coming down on the wrong side of things. In the early 1900's no one was even thinking about going to the Moon. Nothing about computers, cell phones, or hell, most cars. Over 100 years later, we have become so dramatically techincally advanced that a person from 1910 would not be able to function in today's world.

Perhaps the idea of a "warp" ( I use it for lack of a better term) drive is hundreds of years off. But we progress faster than we give ourselves credit for. I have no doubt that I will see humans land on Mars in my lifetime (within 20-30 years), so who's to say in 200 or 300 years we won't have the technology to go to Alpha Centuri and back? Or heck, even 100 years? It may not be in our lifetimes, but it's probably not so far off either.

With that being said, as our tech advances, I fully believe that the self destruction capability of our species advances. We are in a very key moment in time where we either have the ability to begin to colonize off planet (effectively providing a safeguard against's Earth's destruction and allowing for the continuation of humans) or the ability to kill everyone on this planet through whatever weapons we should choose. And don't think we won't see things like anti-matter bombs in the future either. If you thought a nuke was scary...

Originally posted by cripmeister

I think it's important to bear in mind that this estimate isn't about complex life. We don't know if complex life can exist through out the Milky Way. The GHZ (Galactic Habitable Zone) theory for example states that complex life is impossible outside a defined circular region of our galaxy. This is thought to be because of radiation, meteor strikes etc. The GHZ is a theory and not necessarily true.

Interesting. I have never heard of this theory before.

reply to post by cripmeister


I've heard of this galactic habitable zone theory before but i'm certain i read an article a few years back, in it the article stated that the central bulge of our galaxy would be a very hostile place for life to form because of the immense radiation from the mass amount of stars in close proximity to each other etc. I don't know if this is true its just what i read.

It also talked about the immense interstellar winds radiation etc making it harder for planets to form around the stars in the central bulge. Because the effects from the proximity of stars more supernovas exploding per area would cause the dust gas matter forming the planets to be blown away etc... although we don't know this as a fact yet its just a theory i want to bring forward that i read about on space.com.

I've been reading space.com articles for around 6 years now and this news about these planets released from kepler is the most important discovery in space exploration ever.

We can now say that life is highly likely to be common in the universe i am an athiest/agnostic and do not believe in the silly fallacy religion of earth but i have a strong feeling that the universe exists for life to explore and live in.

Peace my brothers and sisters we may explore the universe together and Transcend to meet with our Alien brothers and sisters soon enough XD. Then we can truly walk the path of ascension and become gods ourselves j/k

reply to post by zcflint05


I believe at our rate we won't have anything close to warp drive for a few centuries i agree with you. Unless we discover some breakthrough in physics that allows us to bypass the basic law of physics (Quantam Physics) possibly

Originally posted by SystemResistor
Whats strange is how we only seem to think about these things now. The idea that we are the only life in the universe or that there arent any other planets with intelligent life is on an even par with the belief that the Earth is flat.

Before we did not know the frequency of smaller planets. I always believed personally that there were planets(smaller ones as well) for almost every star but we never had proof so i couldn't say for sure. Now that its been confirmed and i've been waiting many years for this telescope to gather this data. Now we can finally say to all the religions the naysayers the non-believers that our human species and the other living life on our planet, is just a small piece of the puzzle in our very intriguing universe which now seems highly likely to have life commonplace all over

For anyone who is disappointed by this data i feel very sorry for your pathetic soul because this is the most tremendous discovery in space ever (In my opinion). ITS FINALLY BEEN PROVEN.

54 PLANETS IN HABITABLE ZONES and thats only in the first 4 months of data out of 155,000 stars scanned with only a mere 0.6% chance of the solarsystems elliptical plane to be aligned so we can see the transit. So basicallly if you take the number
54( habitable planets) x 0.6% ( Chance To detect planets for every star converted into multiplication number)
so 100 divided by 0.6= 166.6

So 54x166= 9000

that gives exactly 9000 habitable planets per 155,000 stars and this is just the first 4 months of data.

so 9000 habitable ( Jupiters/saturn size planets and its moons, Neptune/Uranus sized and its moons, or earths, super-earths, smaller than earth planets all in the habitable zones of their planets 9000! of them) for only the first 4 months of DATA?

This is the raw numbers if you do the math of the stars they scanned it really is damning.

Also to note as a planet sits farther out in orbit from its sun it might not transit its star because it can be a little off its elliptical plane of the solarsystem so this should increase the number of habitable planets even further ( we just won't detect them)

PREPARE FOR THE NEW AGE.

DENY IGNORANCE
ASCENSION IS COMING

Something I found yesterday when I was messing around.

www.saers.com...


It talks about life on Titan and has a few images of the surface where it shows methane lake beds and what the scientist claims to be pant growth.

Originally posted by XRaDiiX
54 PLANETS IN HABITABLE ZONES and thats only in the first 4 months of data out of 155,000 stars scanned with only a mere 0.6% chance of the solarsystems elliptical plane to be aligned so we can see the transit.
(snip)
so 9000 habitable ( Jupiters/saturn size planets and its moons, Neptune/Uranus sized and its moons, or earths, super-earths, smaller than earth planets all in the habitable zones of their planets 9000! of them) for only the first 4 months of DATA?

There is more to this. The habitable zones used for this data are an underestimate. I will repeat what I have said in another post. Remember the habitable zones used for these calculations did not include the outer planets.

Originally posted by Ph0en1x
I know the numbers have been extrapolated and therefore do not necessarily represent the actual number of planets in the habitable zone. However, even if 0.001% of those 500 million planets have a real chance of having some form of life, that still amounts to 5000 planets with life (intelligent or otherwise). That is in our galaxy alone!

This data is bunk. There are far more habitable places. Lets take a look at Saturns moon, Titan - according to this data well outside the habitable zone.

The atmosphere of Titan is largely composed of nitrogen; minor components lead to the formation of methane and ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog. The climate—including wind and rain—creates surface features similar to those of Earth, such as sand dunes, rivers, lakes and seas (probably of liquid methane or ethane) and shorelines, and, like on Earth, is dominated by seasonal weather patterns. With its liquids (both surface and subsurface) and robust nitrogen atmosphere, Titan is viewed as analogous to the early Earth, although at a much lower temperature. The satellite has thus been cited as a possible host for microbial extraterrestrial life or, at least, as a prebiotic environment rich in complex organic chemistry. Researchers have suggested a possible underground liquid ocean might serve as a biotic environment.[11][12] It has also been suggested that a form of life may exist on the surface, using liquid methane as a medium instead of water; and anomalies in atmospheric composition have been reported which are consistent with the presence of such a life-form, but which could also be due to an exotic non-living chemistry.[13]
en.wikipedia.org...

Jupiter's moon Europa may also be a candidate.

On Earth, liquid water plays this role. Water has some chemical properties that make it particularly favorable as a medium for life, although we probably should not rule out the possibility that other types of liquid, such as organic liquids, might play this role in other types of biology. If liquids truly are necessary for life, then the potential abodes for life in the outer Solar System are quite limited. Europa and Titan both have been proposed to have oceans and are therefore the best possible candidate locations for life in the outer Solar System.
solarsystem.nasa.gov...

So if Saturn and Jupiter, by virtue of their moons, should classed as in the habitable zone then the results of this study are a massive underestimate of the number of habitable planets in the Milky Way to say the least.

reply to post by Tephra


I applaud your (and I'm sure most visitors of this site) understanding of the faults of humanity, however as of now there's no proof that life exists on other planets. It's highly probable, but as of now we live on the only planet known to harbor life. I doubt we're living alone in this universe but claiming definitively that life does exist on other planets is false until undeniable evidence is provided. There are probably a near infinite number of "Earths" in our universe each with governments, divided land, war, famine and every other nifty little thing that we have come up with. When you glance at the starry night sky do you ever wonder if one of those suns has in its clutches a planet teeming with life? Maybe one day we'll know for sure.

Originally posted by Pimander

Originally posted by XRaDiiX
54 PLANETS IN HABITABLE ZONES and thats only in the first 4 months of data out of 155,000 stars scanned with only a mere 0.6% chance of the solarsystems elliptical plane to be aligned so we can see the transit.
(snip)
so 9000 habitable ( Jupiters/saturn size planets and its moons, Neptune/Uranus sized and its moons, or earths, super-earths, smaller than earth planets all in the habitable zones of their planets 9000! of them) for only the first 4 months of DATA?

There is more to this. The habitable zones used for this data are an underestimate. I will repeat what I have said in another post. Remember the habitable zones used for these calculations did not include the outer planets.

What do you mean by the outer planets? i don't understand my math is correct i've been following all the releases for a while. Not to mention i actually am on planethunters website searching for planet transits. Did they not include the ones near the edge of the habitable zone? Or do u mean to say about the data only being 4 months of the data. I clearly stated it was only the first 4 months of data i was referring to as the 9000 habitable planets per 155,000 stars XD peace. I said 9000 planets per 155,000 stars was just the first four months of Data. please expound further on the subject

reply to post by iversusvsversusi


I just wonder if we are the only planet that is what I term as greedy. Star trek had it right as far as the human need for "stuff" needs to end before we can become part of the universal community. The only need a living being needs is food and water. The rest is greed. I think that is one reason we haven't been contacted as a whole planet. When we end war and just use our resources to survive we will be contacted and the universe will be open to us

Originally posted by XRaDiiX
What do you mean by the outer planets?

Sorry, I ordered my thoughts badly there. It wasn't your calculation that is wrong, it's the one in the OP. Sorry mate, I'm tired and better sleep. I will explain in the next day or so when I have slept as I don't want to cause any more confusion.

Must sleep... Gotta go to work in less than 3 hours...

Whoops!

Originally posted by Versa

So far Kepler has found 1,235 candidate planets, with 54 in the Goldilocks zone, where life could possibly exist.

The number is reduced again for 'complex life' and reduced again for 'intelligent life' there are 2 million plus forms of life on earth and only humans have discovered science.

Science isn't a discovery it's a method.. there are certain species of monkey that leave nuts out to dry for a week and then smash them open with rocks; science.
Dolphins that kick 'nets' of silt up around schools of fish and feast in the panic; science.
Knowledge through observation; science.

excellent post !! i am not surprised one would have to be dumb deaf and blind to think 'we' are the only life out there. so much for god creating us, like where that special.... S&F mate yayyyyyyyyyyy

reply to post by Pimander


NP mate peace be with you( Not religious) and may our universe be plentiful with life!