Another Important Question: What Happens if We Do Find Intelligent Life in Space?

If we do, indeed, find intelligent life in space, what impact will it have on us? In particular, what will it mean for religion? Will it make any difference? Somehow I think it will have some impact. I'm convinced there are probably millions of civilizations out there somewhere that are just as advanced as us, and if we find one relatively close to us it will be proof that my assertion is true. So, what do we need for a civilization like ours? First of all we need a reasonably sized "habitable zone." This is the zone around the star where the temperatures are satisfactory for life most of the time. Our habitable zone ranges from about the orbit of Venus out to that of Mars. and luckily for us, we're right in the middle of it. We also need a planet that is about the size of earth. If it's too large, gravity will overwhelm anything there. It can be about three times as large as Earth and still be habitable. We have, indeed, found a few planets that satisfy these criterion. One of the best is Gliese 58id; it orbits a relatively small star (compared to our sun) called a red dwarf, that is about 20 light years away from us. The major problem is that it is like our moon in that it keeps the same face pointed at its star, and under normal conditions this would cause severe temperature problems. There are indication, however, that it has an atmosphere that might allow water to stay liquid and if so, some form of life could exist there. It's not likely to be an advanced form, but even a primitive form would give us hope that there's other life out there, some of which may be intelligent. It's interesting that Stephen Hawking has recently stated that if we do find life out there, we should keep quiet. I'm not sure I agree. But, of course, Hawking has also said recently that he doesn't believe there is a heaven.

Barry Parker, author of "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow. Website: barryparkerbooks.com

The "Ultimate Questions" About Life and the Universe

As a scientist I've often thought about some of the "ultimate questions" (as I like to refer to them) related to life and the universe. They are questions that are very difficult to answer, and indeed, most of them may never be answered. Nevertheless, they're worth thinking about seriously. (Some of them have to do with religion, and I don't want to step on anyones feet. If it appears that I have, I appologize)

I'll list several of the major ones I can think of, and I'm sure there are many more. I'll also comment on some of them, and will write longer blogs related to them later.

Here goes:

1. Are we really at the center of the universe?
      By this I mean: Was the universe created just for us?  This, of course, was the belief many years  
      ago, and many people still believe it.

2. Why is the universe so big (if it really was created just for us)? Indeed, does it even have an end?

     We are really a very insignificant speck in the universe. There are more stars in our observable
      universe than there are grains of sand in all the beaches in the world. And many of these stars
      have recently been shown to have planets.

3.  Does a universe without life make any sense?

     To me it doesn't. If there were no life in the universe -- what would it be here for?  Are we the only
      life in it? It seems unlikely.

4.  Is it possible that the universe just came into being on it own?

     We know for a fact that it is 15 -20 billion years old. So what was here before it existed? Also, is it
     possible that there is no "supreme being"  (i.e. God) behind the making of the universe? It seems
     impossible, but we have to ask if it is possible (by the way, I'm not an atheist).

5.  What would the discovery of other advanced life in the universe do to our views on life, religion,
     and the universe? What would it mean? What would their beliefs and religions be like?

6.  Are the "God" of the Bible and the "Supreme Being" that created the universe the same?

    You can no doubt think of many other questions of this type and I'd like to hear them. I think this is a good start, however.


  Barry Parker, author of "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow"
                        Website: Barryparkerbooks.com