NASA to announce possible life in our own solar system!

[Casper1]

Has to do with near-surface pools of almost freezing water on the Saturn Moon Enceladus erupiting in geyser-like plumes...

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8na.htm

http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Cassini-Huygens&single=y&start=5

[Kaw1000]

Cool.. water on Saturns moon...Lets go fishing for some space Bass!!

[B@tfinkV]

'near freezing' and 'geyser like plumes' just shouldnt go together.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by B@tfinkV
'near freezing' and 'geyser like plumes' just shouldnt go together.

Never been in the desert at night knockin back beer and chili, enh?

[Gunthr]

that would be tantamount to a lethal gas attack outside the boundries of the Geneva convention

[Hangtime]

LOL!

"Rasheed, we don't torture, but we do have ways of making you talk.  Sergeant!!, double this prisoner's meatless chili ration!!. IMMEDIATELY."

[USHilDvl]

Actually, I used the "we're not alone" on the more philosophical scale, than to suggest that I enjoy the company of bacteria...although I do run into a few people I'd classify as bacteria...but that's another thread!  Certainly a lonely night is not eased by a pleasant chat with a colony of bacteria in the sink  

I agree that free oxygen is not a requirement...just an enhancement to the odds of life forms we are most familiar with, and that might have an evolutionary future something like Earths.  As I recall my planetary science courses, an entire ecosystem existed prior to the pre-cambrian which thrived in a CO2-rich atmosphere.  Oxygen is actually toxic in  concentration, and highly corrosive.  The success of the first photosynthetic cellular life was such that the entire ecosystem eventually poisoned itself out of existance...leaving room for the adaptation to life chemistrys we are now famiiliar with.  It's all pretty cool stuff, which I remember incompletely now, but the story of how the ancient earth changed chemically is really interesting.  Did you know that at one time, the entire plant effectively "rusted"?  I think this was what either bound up or released carbon/oxygen to create a life-sustaining environment.  An expert, or some time reading a good overview, would be more informative than I seem to be...but it's been awhile since school.  I also remember that soil and atmospheric chemistry has changed so drastically, that some have hypothesized that even prehistoric life (i.e., dinosaurs) would not b able to thrive in our modern atmosphere, as the gas concentrations are significantly different.  So much for Jurassic Park!

Anyway, enough from me.

[Yeager]

the universe is thick with life, life has existed for billions of years (probably 13 or 14 billion, give or take a few hundred million).  Life will continue to exist and evolve for many more billions of years...perhaps as long as 30 to 40 billion more years but alas....eventually everything that is energy, life...will eventually be extinguished forever.  Our universe will eventually die.

The only problem with the universe is the absolute vast size of it.  We are constrained by the speed of light.  All matter is constrained by the speed of light.  Unfortunately, something being only 26 light years away is considered close by, yet we as a species will never go there.

Unless we can penetrate and travel through dimensions via worm holes.  Highly doubtful imo.

[tedrbr]

Alright! You're all now on the No-Fly list you...you...terrorists!

[tedrbr]

Originally posted by Yeager
the universe is thick with life, life has existed for billions of years (probably 13 or 14 billion, give or take a few hundred million).  Life will continue to exist and evolve for many more billions of years...perhaps as long as 30 to 40 billion more years but alas....eventually everything that is energy, life...will eventually be extinguished forever.  Our universe will eventually die.

The only problem with the universe is the absolute vast size of it.  We are constrained by the speed of light.  All matter is constraned by the speed of light.  Unfortunately, something being only 26 light years away is considered close by, yet we as a species will never go there.

Unless we can penetrate and travel through dimensions via worm holes.  Highly doubtful imo.

Heat-death of the universe......bummer man....now I is de-pressed.

I'll have to jump to an "intelligent design" website to cheer me up now....those people always crack me up....soooo silly......

[xrtoronto]

This is truly exciting! The agency has just released this picture of what the alien life forms look like:

[USHilDvl]

Yeager, I do believe you are correct...but a bummer anyway.  

However, that which dies, must also be born..so the cycle restarts.

As for the size and C issue, well...I'm not sure of your point, as the water discovery is within our solar system.  

And, I think there are some interesting questions on the table these days concerning the absolutes of Einsteinian physics..especially in light of quantum physics, which seems to put the lie to Einsteinian and Newtonian physics both, and return us to the realm of PFM  (Pure Freakin' Magic).  Remember, at the quantum level, a particle CAN exist in more than one place, and only appears in one place when observed.  Schroedinger's Cat, and all that.

Now, HERE's a thread going esoteric really fast!  

[Skuzzy]

Originally posted by Saintaw
If you would have said "Nothing to see here, move along" I would have started beleiving in deity... one with a beard, glasses... and a knack for pulling the wrong plug.

New image from NASA.

[USHilDvl]

Intelligent Design = Chuck Norris created the Universe!

[Nilsen]

ROFL!