It is perhaps noteworthy that skepticism over highly developed life on Europa (or anywhere else for that matter), though based in science and fact, is by definition extrapolation from a one unit data set, Earth.
Even if all we find are the most profoundly mundane representations of alien life, it will offer us the first chance in history at interpolative conceptualization of the true nature of life in existence as a whole. And therein, my friends, lay the real and needful aspects of exploration of space, or of knowledge generally. Jack W. Reeve [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Robert J. Bradbury [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday 24 February 2003 14:16 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: What about intelligent life on Europa? On Mon, 24 Feb 2003, adam . wrote: > Personally i think it is very possible for intelligent life forms to evolve > naturally on Europa. Adam, you need to make a better case than simply "thinking". I would say a good place to start is in calculating free energy fluxes. On Earth one has at least a couple -- energy released in volcanic vents (from radioactivity and gravitational compression of the Earth) and energy generated via photosynthesis (obviously needing the evolution of "life" in the first place. If the free energy fluxes on Europa are much lower than on Earth I would estimate the odds for the evolution of "intelligent life" are much lower as well. > In the future i think we will find out that life can live in > pretty much any environment. Perhaps "can" but there may be some "highly improbable" situations to take into account. Life (as we know it) requires the storage and transmission of information. The storage is something that becomes more difficult as energy fluxes increase (say the middle of a volcano). While the transmission aspect becomes somewhat iffy at very low temperatures (which would tend to slow transmission down). > However, the chances that we are going to be able to tell, or be alive > within the lifespan of any form of intelligent life on Europa, is almost 0%. You can only assert this if you can maintain that "intelligent life" (a) has not already evolved on Europa and this likely requires some attention to the energy fluxes as I have discussed and (b) will not evolve in the next few billion years if we decide to preserve Europa that long. > I believe that we will never find another planet that has intelligent life. That is because "intelligent" life would never remain on a planet. A "natural" planet is an inherently dangerous environment and if one is "intelligent" one removes oneself from the planet or re-engineers the planet such that it is no longer "natural". Because Europa still exists, we can reasonably assert that there is no technologically capable "intelligence" on the planet at this time (unless they are so technologically capable that they have computed how long it is safe to retain Europa in its current form and feel safe to live there for now). > Humans just won't be around for that point in time. The chances that they > are at an intellignet state at the same time as us is very slim. It's all > about the time factor. For the next few hundred billion years (or perhaps a trillion+) depending on how galactic evolution proceeds, the universe will be accumulating "intelligence" -- it is the nature of "intelligences" (at least some of them) to accumulate technology and trump their hazard function. So the density of (technological) intelligences in the Universe should increase. The question is whether we are quite early in that process at this time. Robert == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/ == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
