NOVA scienceNOW | Hello, this is Earth | PBS

[bertus198]

@ProbableHypothesis we are extremely rare. We could be alone. i agree that life is porbely extremely rare but alone no of the miljoens maybey biljoens planets that there are let say 1% change of live still leaves hundreds of plantes with life

[t0mat0juic3]

unorganized cacophony....

[xkrazyxboix101]

I think we have been listening for signals for about 30+ years so it's safe to say intelligent life isn't in a 30 light year radius.

[rafpac6]

how did you get the number 30 light years? Or where did you hear of it? I am not flaming just interested.

[BruuuceWayyyne]

He LOL's

[trailkeeper]

I sent a comment but dont see it and I'm not sure if you need approval or anything so here goes again: The best way to transmit information about aliens is with black and white digital images then other forms can follow.

[trailkeeper]

Maby some kind of continuous wave signal would mean communication, but if you want anything more than that it would have to be digital black and white images since numbers alone could not say anything about them other than they use numbers. What else could be used?

[charlee567890]

HOw do we watch the videos on the web site PLZZ tell mE PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Teflonmonkeyjumps]

OK but I get to ride in THE MACHINE ok?

[Darkfoster22]

No need to reply we only been seening out radio signals for 80 years?

[ProbableHypothesis]

The key to life is the fact that we have water and the right ratio of gases in our air, our planet is tilted on it's axis creating the seasons, we rotate on our axis enough to keep temps in range, we are the right distance from our sun (which is the right size and temp), combined with our atmosphere keeps temps in range. The list goes on. The chance we'll find other life out there is more slim than you really think. We are one in an astronomical number, we are extremely rare. We could be alone.

[TheSim666]

@ProbableHypothesis How can something be rare in the infinity of space?

[bertus198]

@ProbableHypothesis we are extremely rare. We could be alone. i agree that life is porbely extremely rare but alone no of the miljoens maybey biljoens planets that there are let say 1% change of live still leaves hundreds of plantes with life

[MazeleyFanClub]

@ProbableHypothesis Life has adapted on earth which doesn't even breathe oxygen. Life MAY be rare in the universe but it isn't unique. However, civilizations probably destroy themselves as a matter of course. Either with climate change, or nukes, or if not then something else. In fact, it's hard for me to imagine a technological civilization surviving for long. Tech advances too fast for animal nature to deal with it.

[jayjasonjay]

I'm sure if there's aliens, they wouldn't want anything to do with us. We're violent and stinky among other things. But hey! I'm still hoping they come say hi!

[prozrachno]

Actually, all the alien stories and alien mania exists since the cold war. Even the word "Alien" is a quite new addition to human vocabulary

[hillbilly8757]

very well said. I'm sure I wouldn't want representatives from Earth fighting over who's gonna get in the camera, like on those MTV rap videos, where everyone's trying to fit their mug in the TV screen. How chaotic and out of control would we look to a more civilized, advanced race? We would look like idiots.

[ScottMana]

This question about life on other planets is not an age old question. It really is only about 4,000 years old.

[wolfgang8u]

i think that Sagan said it best any civilization out there will see our planet as war mongering bigots. Our history is that when we want something we take it. The universe is crawling with life maybe they will show themselves when we show them that we are not going to bomb there children. We cant even live with the neighbor down the street let alone from another planet.

[bralen24]

Welcome to earth! please don't eat us. :)

[username1066]

I love astronomy, and I whole-heartedly support funding of all sciences. But this is a ridiculous waste of money.

Reason: The inverse square law.

Sure, we can pick up radio signals from stars and distant planets, but it's because of their mass. If a civilization tried to send a structured signal from 10+ light years away, it would become unintelligible 'noise' from the distance it travels... unless of course they use entire stars as transmitters somehow.

[JhnWalker19]

She is wrong, an advanced civilization would not send a radio signal where it could be picked up by people who would tell the world, religions would be turned upside down and wars from that would surely ensue. Besides, who's to say they use radio signals, eh? If they did it would take way too fucking long to receive one, we'll all be dead by the time it reaches Earth if they sent it today, assuming their planet is out of range of modern telescopes, the operation is a huge waste of money!!!

[Twodaystogo]

i think we need to have stuff fare out into space....like so gravity and magnetism  from the sun and Jupiter do not mess with the sounds coming in.

[AirelonTrading]

Given the Drake equation, and that for decades of listening?

No one is out there.

[mumbels24]

Her intentions seem noble and honest, how ever the federal government's undisclosed intervention that's alarming

[Dieguinyyy]

I think it is impossible that there is no other life besides the life on Earth; the size of the universe is simply too great. there must be not hundreds, not thousands, not millions, not billion of planets suitable for life but more than trillions of them.

[redshift40]

It would take too much time to respond. Most likely they will be thousands or millions of light years away.

[Netanehka]

or from Saturn

[TECHKLEC]

That is exactly the problem.

[JMHamilton1]

Stop thing if we are alone and face that we are not and life will be clear here on earth.

John

[xjaskix]

lol

[Idtelos]

Elly from Contact (both book and movie) were based on Jill. :)

[Idtelos]

first!

[qualisarx]

They will not let us know untill we get past the nuclear decsion!

[eshninerforest]

If it is a message from another race I dont believe it will be in a language we would be able to understand. Even if it was in a computer language based on 101010101. We would not understand, however first contact will be an exciting moment, on both ends of the spectrum. :)

[countrygurl1002]

she sounds so logical..She doesn't say we've been visited or there are actual UFO's and Aliens..I personally think we've never been visited but if we are and she discovered this, I would love to know and she makes it sound so logical....