New study of Solar System speculates on life on other planets

University of Bath ^ | 12 September 2006 | Staff (press release)

[js1138]

curiouser and curiouser

[muryan]

The cause of global warming on venus is disputed but one major cause could be a giant asteroid/meteor hitting the planet. Basically think of it as a doomsday scenario on earth but it happened to Venus millions and millions of years ago. The basis behind that is venus is the only planet that rotates counter-clockwise, and it does so very very slowly. A very large asteroid hitting the planet opposite the motion of rotation could have caused the momentum to swing the other way. Burning coal and gasoline will never create an environment like the one on venus, but it does make for interesting research

[Buck W.]

Agreed.

[P.O.E.]

Where's Carl Sagan and his "bbbbilllions and bbbbillions" of planets when you need him?

[RightWhale]

Both the words speculate and possible are being misused. If we are to reason in the Platonic way we need to retreat to a prescientific stage. Plato was not familiar with the scientific method and did not have access to measurements showing the presence of water on these celestial bodies and would not have demonstrated any possibility at all of life on these celestial bodies. Now we have measurement of water on these celestial bodies and water has the possibility of life.

[TXnMA]

Thanks for posting that Hubble Deep Field image.

I suspect that we share similar views of God and creation.

It's hard to understand how any intelligent person can view (and comprehend) that image -- and still claim that this planet is the center of (and most important feature in) all of the universe.

(For those of "YEC" persuasion: there are less than a handful of individual stars in that photo. Almost all of the objects visible there are huge galaxies -- on the scale of our own Milky Way Galaxy.)

IMO, only someone with a terminal case of hubris (the Bible calls it "vanity") can view that image of a tiny (angular) area of space -- and still think that earth is anything other than trivial in the grand scheme of Creation.

[cripplecreek]

More like this eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5kRE_afI8o&mode=related&search=

[mewzilla]

[RightWhale]

We are supposed to go forth and multiply if I read the instruction manual correctly. If this is so, we are not even started doing what we are supposed to be doing.

[TXnMA]

Heads up! This thread may prove to be interesting...

[KevinDavis]

[KevinDavis]

People also speculated that the Earth was Round..

[Centurion2000]

However, if the surface ice were very thick, this would cut the water below off from oxygen and sunlight which are important for most forms of life on Earth, and so might have prevented life from developing.

That's a load of horsecrap. The first life developed under anaerobic conditions and would actually have died in an oxy/nitro atmosphere.

[GAB-1955]

Okay, let me get the troll postings out of the way:

1. We need to build a fence to keep the aliens from invading Earth.

2. This is what you get with RINOS in charge.

3. Obligatory Teddy Kennedy and Helen Thomas photos.

[RightWhale]

Point is good.

[COEXERJ145]

If they keep looking long enough, someone will finally find Howard Dean's home world.

[KevinDavis]

4. Blame Bush for doing nothing...

[Mark-in-Kentucky]

As I have an astronomy and space travel site myself (not-so-sneaky-plug, though I am in the process of redesigning and relaunching it), please add me. Thankee.

[cripplecreek]

We are supposed to go forth and multiply if I read the instruction manual correctly.

Years ago I read an interesting short story by a Russian sci fi author. The basic premise was that the "Bureau of God" sent millions of ships out into all corners of the universe in a hit or miss fashion. Each ship contained one man and one woman and enormous stores of genetic materials.

[MonroeDNA]

The life on other planets is just a single cell, not implanted yet.