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| Personal background |
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| I'm 26, I live in the UK & I make pizzas for a living. I am also currently studying computer programming. I did briefly study astronomy & still have a strong interest in this field, regularly reading the latest books & generally keeping up to date with the latest discoveries & developments which affect the way that we perceive ourselves & the Universe in which we live. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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The evidence for the existence of life with origins outside earth, is staggering. Apart from the statistical near inevitability due to the sheer amount of possible extraterrestrial environments, scientists are continually finding life on earth in places where, a decade ago, it was thought life couldn't exist. We know now that primitive life exists in places with high pressure, extreme temperature, without sunlight & even kilometres deep within the rocks making up the earth's crust. Away from the earth we have detected water on Mars, Europa & comets, we have detected the basic elements required by life throughout the interstellar medium &, most surprising of all, there is evidence that acids including some amino acids are formed out of the matter ejected by some stars upon their death. All this, & more, suggests that the Universe is almost geared up to creating not only life, but life as we know on earth.
As for intelligent life this is a much harder question. The main reason intelligent life has developed on Earth is that for last few million years conditions have been relatively stable, with any climatic or tectonic change happening slow enough for most life to adapt to. We cannot yet know that this will be the case for any other earth-like planets, there are many factors which have allowed for life to become so developed upon earth, so many, in fact, that I believe that the possibility of us finding intelligent life in the foreseeable future is slim. Although I do believe that intelligent life does exist it is probably too far away for us to have any meaningful communication, although just the evidence of their existence would be enough to challenge definitively the way most people on earth perceive their own lives.
In reality the collective computing power which we have available would be put to better use looking inwards not outwards, running one of the ever increasing number of screensavers which help in finding a cure for cancer & other diseases. But I run SETI@home. Why? Just curious, I suppose. |
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