• Question: do you believe that life can survive on other planets apart from earth

    Asked by kartikv on 13 Jun 2023.
    • Photo: Ian Duffy

      Ian Duffy answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      Yes, but it might not look like life on earth.

    • Photo: John Grasmeder

      John Grasmeder answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      Yes, most probably. Based on what we know about life on earth, scientists believe liquid water is essential for life to exist. There have been several star systems identified which appear to have planets similar in size to ours, orbiting a star at a distance called the “Goldilocks zone” which is a region in which liquid water can exist on those planets’ surfaces.

    • Photo: Sharron Kenny

      Sharron Kenny answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      yes i think it will be possible because why would we be so special to be the only one. but it may not be life the way we think of it

    • Photo: Ferran Brosa Planella

      Ferran Brosa Planella answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      I totally agree with Sharron.

    • Photo: Alice Ind

      Alice Ind answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      There are lots of things about our planet that enable life to survive, but that doesn’t mean ours is the only one with such conditions. There are many (I wouldn’t be able to some up with a reasonable estimate) of other galaxies and planets in the universe, so it seems likely another planet could also support life.

      The discussion of what constitutes a living thing though, even on earth when you look at viruses and prions it becomes an interesting question. And that is before you start considering if artificial intelligence is a form of life!

    • Photo: Luke Humphrey

      Luke Humphrey answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      Yes, the Drake equation is a fun simple way to think about the chances of this sort of thing. Given the mind-boggling scale of the universe and how many stars and planets there are then chances are even if life is very rare it will still have evolved independently on many planets.

      Agree with others there’s no reason to think it will be anything like life on earth though. Even some earth creatures look like aliens (think about deep sea fish and squid) but in reality they are still distant relatives of humans. Aliens would be completely different to anything we’ve encountered. That said, if the planet is similar to earth, maybe nature would evolve similar sorts of creatures since the environment is similar.

      Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

    • Photo: Amy Stockwell

      Amy Stockwell answered on 15 Jun 2023:

      I’ve always loved science fiction and am a Star Trek nerd, so I do believe in life on other planets.

      Scientifically as others have said it might look very different to life on Earth.
      The chances of life evolving are very small, but the universe is a very big place. It might even be too big for us to ever meet other life, but I hope we do.

    • Photo: Alexander De Bruin

      Alexander De Bruin answered on 16 Jun 2023:

      yes. There are some planets that are nearly-habitable (like Mars), and some that are much further away that will almost certainly be able to support human life.

    • Photo: Tom Price

      Tom Price answered on 21 Jun 2023:

      Yes, I definitely think there is life somewhere out there on another planet. I don’t know if we will ever find it though, because it might be too far away

    • Photo: Chathuri Silva

      Chathuri Silva answered on 28 Jun 2023:

      Yeah, I do. Of course. After all, space is such a vast area with number planets we cant even finish counting

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