Has NASA Made First Contact?

[littlewisp]

This article here makes me think it's probably something much more theoretical (and thus, less exciting) than space bacteria or amino acids or whatever.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/11/mediablogger-ex.html

Cue the sadface of pandas and lost kittens.

 

[Cowabungaa]

This article here makes me think it's probably something much more theoretical (and thus, less exciting) than space bacteria or amino acids or whatever.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/11/mediablogger-ex.html

Cue the sadface of pandas and lost kittens.

That's a freakin' huge thing for any biologist out there, a friend of mine pretty much WOOHOO'd when he heard that.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

I've never really considered that we would make contact with life outside our planet. I mean, I'm sure it exists but it never crossed my mind that we might actually make contact. This is exciting.

 

[Exile714]

If we do make first contact, it won't be to kill us or to enlighten us, it will be to sell us stuff.

The first ship to visit earth will be the intergalactic equivalent of a vacuum cleaner salesman. Of course, we won't have any space money, so they'll give us new technology on loan with a high interest rate. We have to make 100 million spacecraft toilet handles within 10 years or they'll repo our stuff.

Why is this scenario not a movie? Hollywood is so boring.

 

[Torrasque]

/excited

ANY kind of life would be amazing.
Whether that life is a speck of fungus on Mars, a piece of fungus on an asteroid, an invertebrate under the ice crust of Neptune, or a Protoss mothership holding orbit over a distant star, the simple fact that we are not alone in the universe, would be fucking awesome to experience.

 

[MadeinHell]

I hope it will be something as big as we hope.

Not just "hey we found bacteria on an asteroid. AND THEY ARE ALIVVEEEE!" (and than humanity dies).

I wonder if this will actually be the moment to talk about to my grandchildren (in case I have any).

 

[MadeinHell]

If we do make first contact, it won't be to kill us or to enlighten us, it will be to sell us stuff.

The first ship to visit earth will be the intergalactic equivalent of a vacuum cleaner salesman. Of course, we won't have any space money, so they'll give us new technology on loan with a high interest rate. We have to make 100 million spacecraft toilet handles within 10 years or they'll repo our stuff.

Why is this scenario not a movie? Hollywood is so boring.

I'm pretty sure there was a film (or at least a couple books) about intergalactic salesman visiting the earth to sell as "regenerative intelligent toilet paper".

 

[littlewisp]

That's a freakin' huge thing for any biologist out there, a friend of mine pretty much WOOHOO'd when he heard that.

Well fudge. I am not biology savvy in any major way, so I will probably have to show it to the only biology person I know and ask her to explain it to me in kindergartner terms. I think though why it doesn't immediately excite me is that it has implications that are not noticeably tangible to me. Ah well, time to go find her in the deep seas of the net. . .

 

[Cowabungaa]

That's a freakin' huge thing for any biologist out there, a friend of mine pretty much WOOHOO'd when he heard that.

Well fudge. I am not biology savvy in any major way, so I will probably have to show it to the only biology person I know and ask her to explain it to me in kindergartner terms. I think though why it doesn't immediately excite me is that it has implications that are not noticeably tangible to me. Ah well, time to go find her in the deep seas of the net. . .

That's what I warned about in another topic about this news;

In about 99% of the cases, what really excites scientists doesn't excite the 'general populace' in the slightest. Of course a part in me still hoped it was something grand and earth-shocking. Ah well.

 

[zfactor]

That's a freakin' huge thing for any biologist out there, a friend of mine pretty much WOOHOO'd when he heard that.

Well fudge. I am not biology savvy in any major way, so I will probably have to show it to the only biology person I know and ask her to explain it to me in kindergartner terms. I think though why it doesn't immediately excite me is that it has implications that are not noticeably tangible to me. Ah well, time to go find her in the deep seas of the net. . .

That's what I warned about in another topic about this news;

In about 99% of the cases, what really excites scientists doesn't excite the 'general populace' in the slightest.

*gasp*

Like superfluids! And taychons! And quantinum computaional devices! And Boes-Einstein condesates! And... other... stuff...

 

[littlewisp]

In about 99% of the cases, what really excites scientists doesn't excite the 'general populace' in the slightest.

Hehe, if it's exciting to scientists than at least further down the line, in some number of years, it will produce something that the rest of us will find exciting.

Though it does help if you know someone in a field who is excited and enthusiastic about something and can explain it well. The person I know started talking to me about micro-biology and engineering stuff (which she is incredibly dedicated to), and I found myself thinking it was pretty awesome. But, had I heard about it through a dry news post, I would have passed it by without much thought.

Maybe scientists just need a good marketing team. : /

 

[PrototypeC]

I have a terrible feeling that NASA is panicking right now looking at our comments.

Serves them right for being so cryptic.

 

[BlackStar42]

*crosses fingers*

Space babes... please....

 

[LogicProbe]

Amazing. What could this possibly mean for us as a species? If the life is bacterial, do we send probes to collect some specimens and study them? Or are we dealing with intelligent life forms? Are they advanced enough to start intergalactic communication?

This is actually happening! All our lives we've dreamed of life beyond our own and now proof of extraterrestrial life may be revealed!

 

[toapat]

Um, we have known life off of earth has existed since like, the 80s, when some random scientist noticed a rock in the polar ice cap, dug it up, and found it not only to be from mars, but to contain a few martian bacteria cells

if this is extra terrestrial Life, then Hubble apparently got a nice shot of an Alpha Centari Bug's Ass

 

[Kumomaru]

Since the "I, for one" has been done to death, I'll just sit in my corner and pray for Mass Effect.

I, for one, think that welcoming evil overlords after acknowledging they are evil is f-ing retarded.

Also funny =3

 

[marblemadness]

I love the escapist, but this was just a really poorly written article. It was fine up to the point that he mentioned alien overlords and robots...

 

[DSK-]

Something to look out for. I couldn't see anything on the NASA website about the announcement on Thursday though.

 

[TheColourSociety]

Um, we have known life off of earth has existed since like, the 80s, when some random scientist noticed a rock in the polar ice cap, dug it up, and found it not only to be from mars, but to contain a few martian bacteria cells

if this is extra terrestrial Life, then Hubble apparently got a nice shot of an Alpha Centari Bug's Ass

Thats wrong. It ended up being fractures in the rock caused by volcanic pressure, or the pressure from plunging into the earth's atmosphere or something similar to that. It wasn't martian bacteria cells. We have not discovered life anywhere else but earth.

EDIT: Or rather, it's not wrong ;

http://skymania.com/wp/2009/11/ancient-martians-were-carried-to-earth.html