Methane-based life?

[gekkogecko]

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/titan20100603.html

[PantyFanatic]

Only ego and dogma would allow us to believe we are the singular life form in the cosmos.

[Lord Snow]

It is my belief that we are not alone, yet to primitive for other life forms to bother with.

[Oldfart]

Anything trying to live at a couple of hundred degrees below zero would have to be living extremely slowly compared to us hotties.

Sci-Fi people may remember that Edward E (Doc) Smith created a cryogenic character in the form of Nadreck, one of the second stage Lensmen.

[jseal]

Back in the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. :)

[Oldfart]

When men were men and monsters were nervous.

[PantyFanatic]

Anything trying to live at a couple of hundred degrees below zero would have to be living extremely slowly compared to us hotties.....
We are certain that there are absolute limits where any life can exist, such as extremely high temperatures above 212F (100C), which is why we boil things to sterilize them, or in acidic environments like hydrogen sulfide or surely extreme hydrostatic pressure are inhospitable to any kind of life. :eek:

[PantyFanatic]

....Until 1991 (http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/life-in-the-deep-ocean/42-deep-sea-hydrothermal-vents) ,:yikes: when like every enlightened teenager that knows everything worth knowing, we then found it right here on our own infinitesimal planet.

Perhaps not knowing what we don't know is what keeps us going just that little bit further.

[Oldfart]

They're called extremophiles, critters which live in extreme environments. "Meaningful" life is a series of processes which feeds an onboard computer and is self-replicating. Life may be over in a blink like a mayfly or in a geologic time-frame. Mother Gaia lives.

[jseal]

So the ‘take away’ is to not jump to conclusions.

[Oldfart]

Yep.

[PantyFanatic]

The 'absolute' concept has to be used like a gun. Very, VERY carefully!

[gekkogecko]

Are there absolutely no absolutes?

[PantyFanatic]

Only mathematics, and for us. Not the rest of the universe.

[Lord Snow]

Even in mathematics there are only some absolutes. Let us not forget the imaginary numbers. Though if you think about, aren't all numbers imaginary? And philosophically speaking are we imaginary? Could we possibly be this methane based life form's dream and not reality? Or would that dream be our reality? I think I just confused myself.

[scotzoidman]

Even in mathematics there are only some absolutes. Let us not forget the imaginary numbers. Though if you think about, aren't all numbers imaginary? And philosophically speaking are we imaginary? Could we possibly be this methane based life form's dream and not reality? Or would that dream be our reality? I think I just confused myself.
"What if all this is just an illusion, & nothing truly exists? If that's so, I definitely paid too much for my carpet..." - Woody Allen

[Lord Snow]

Scotz! You survived!

[PantyFanatic]

It's about time you peckerhead, Zoid. I want you to send my one of your dirty socks today!:mad:

[jseal]

Even in mathematics there are only some absolutes. Let us not forget the imaginary numbers. Though if you think about, aren't all numbers imaginary? And philosophically speaking are we imaginary? Could we possibly be this methane based life form's dream and not reality? Or would that dream be our reality? I think I just confused myself.
Is Time an Illusion? (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-time-an-illusion)

[PantyFanatic]

Time is a dimension from our prospective.

[Oldfart]

The world is full of true absolutes like Pi, unity and the clarity of religious fundamentalism. Other "absolutes" like the value of 'g' at the Earth's surface, the value of the dollar and the universal application of Justice aren't.

Good to see you, Scotz, missed your input.