We evolved to our specific environment. Of course it is that way. And the universe has billions of tries; it was bound to happen on one planet or another.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

They have found thousands (I believe) of other planets which are in the same kind of position as Earth, capable of sustaining life (meaning roughly the same distance from a sun-star and roughly the same size as Earth, obviously life has not yet been found). My point is, Earth is not unique in it's position to a sun nor it's size. It's also probably not unique in having life. I can't seem to find the article saying the number of terrestrial Earth-like planets they have found, but if I do I'll link it. Also, my Exploring the Planets professor told the class this, if that helps.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I personally think it's incredible that of all the planets that supposedly COULD sustain life, none do. Only Earth has life on it and it's perfectly designed for life (from the distance from the sun, to the tilt of the axis, to the different atmospheres, to the moon, etc.) Everything about earth screams "LIFE!" It boggles my mind that so many people (in the general population) don't seem to recognize how far-fetched it would seem that EVERYTHING about ONE planet helps sustain life on it, and yet, no other planets have any number of combinations of life-sustaining factors. They may have one aspect that could sustain life (E.G. Distance to sun) but on the other hand, the atmosphere would prove deadly. Oh well. To each their own. :)

by Anonymous 12 years ago

They don't know if these planets contain life or not. They've only just discovered that these planets exist. How can you possibly say that only Earth has life? There are thousands of planets, millions even. The idea that there ISN'T life out there is absurd! They're still exploring the possibility of life on Mars. We've never been able to explore many other planets, especially not a planet in a different solar system. But we will, and I'm quite certain we will find life somewhere. You simply cannot say that there is, with absolute certainty, NO life anywhere but Earth.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Hopefully I'll be long dead before we have to go live on Mars; that place is a shit hole!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

We can still visit, or send our children to boarding school...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If you read my comment, I never once say that with, absolute certainty, there is no life elsewhere. I just said that thus far, Earth is the ONLY planet with ALL the factors that are needed in order to sustain life. This is not an opinion, it's a fact. All other planets discovered so far may have one factor that could possibly sustain life but another that absolutely would kill it. In the case of Mars, the atmosphere and temperatures do not allow for water on the surface, except in small quantities under special circumstances. So, this is a huge problem with regards to having life. Yet, on Earth.. The atomosphere is not just sufficient for life but it's PERFECT for it. There is not just sufficient water but an ABUNDANCE of it and there is even a natural cycle that ensures that there is no end to the water on the Earth. Like I said before, EVERYthing about the Earth screams life. You cannot say that about any other planet thus far.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The only KNOWN planet with the right circumstances for life. You just said again that Earth is the only planet that can sustain life and that that's a fact, which isn't true.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I said "thus far" it is. It's the same as saying it's the only KNOWN planet, only with different words.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

So what? If things were slightly different on Earth, life could still exist. Life can exist in some pretty extreme circumstances. And we only really know very few planets. I'm sure they'll find life elsewhere eventually.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"If things were slightly different on Earth, life could still exist." Really? Like what things? If our distance from the sun was slightly different, we would either burn or freeze to death. If our tilt was slightly different, one part of the Earth would be always cold, and the other always hot. If our atmosphere lost a few layers, the greenhouse effect would disappear, making Earth a lot less habitable. Not to mention we'd get hit by meteors a lot more often. I could go on.. But do tell, what could be changed about the earth and still have complex life exist?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It wouldn't burn up if it was 10 km closer to the sun. Also, they found sulphur based creatures, suggesting that a planet with a lot of sulphur could sustain life (just not carbon based life). There is a huge amount about life we don't know. But they've already found a few planets that, based on what they know of the atmosphere and size and distance from it's sun, suggests there could be life. We have the conditions to thrive as we are. That doesn't mean other life couldn't survive in different circumstances.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But that's the thing.. Sure microorganisms could survive on other planets but they don't need much to survive. The ultimate test for any planet is if it could support complex life, like humans. As you said, the Earth has conditions for our life to thrive. Plus, not only do we have the conditions to LIVE but also, to enjoy life. (Colour, stunning landscapes, magnificent animals, different seasons, etc.) And THAT, I think, is absolutely wonderful.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Other planets have stunning landscapes. Anyway, that's irrelevant. Life is life. I think discovering life on another planet will be more than wonderful. It would be truly amazing. Even tiny microorganisms would be amazing. I mean, that's all Earth started with. It means something beyond what we already know. I really hope they manage to discover life on another planet within my lifetime.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You just said that Earth having the perfect conditions for complex life wasn't amazing to you. Now you're saying even the most basic form of organic life on another planet would be "truly amazing." I'm confused.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I didn't say it's not amazing. I'm saying it would be amazing for US to find life on another planet. I'm saying that life is complex, but there's no reason to believe that there is only one planet in this whole universe to sustain it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Quit arguing things you don't understand. I dunno if you noticed, but all your comments are down voted.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree, there are hundreds of billions of planets in the Universe, two billion Earth like planets in just the Milky Way, it's kinda arrogant to assume that we are the only planet with life on it especially since we don't have the technology to even leave our solar system, which is a tiny tiny tiny speck in the grand scale of how ginormous the Universe is.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's humanity, though. Since the beginning we, as a species, have been fighting against anything that doesn't put us at the centre. We believed that the earth was the centre of the universe, and fought like hell against anything suggesting otherwise. Saying we're the only planet in the universe with life makes us that much more unique and thus amazing. It's human nature, it seems, to want to be on top. It's quite selfish and arrogant.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Actually, life is designed for the earth, not the other way around. Go look up evolution. Also, there could be plasma based lifeforms in dust clouds. That's a bit cooler than your thing.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It took over a billion years to form Earth, it was bound to be "perfect." The planet evolved to form us, and actually for a LARGE chunk of Earth's history it was completely uninhabitable for humans. It was only recently (recently in scientific terms) that Earth had the right conditions for carbon based life forms.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I just want to say that you probably should have added 'life as we know' Because we are probably not the only form of life in the universe A completely different form of life could have evolved over time to suit the circumstances on their planet

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Thanks for proving God exists

by Anonymous 12 years ago

This is not even remotely proving God exists. This is exactly why everyone thinks Christians are a bunch of idiots. You take something with a simple explanation, and go insanely overboard with it; casting out the idea of listening to the explanation and instead being all gung-ho about something just because you're too stupid to understand basic science.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I take offense to that. I understand basic science just fine. Why can't God and science correlate? Why can't it be said that God started everything off, gave it a little push, and then science and nature just..took over from there? It's really not that hard to accept both of these.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If you really understood science you wouldn't need to think that. You'd be able to see how evolution and natural selection caused everything to be the way it is today. Just because it's unfathomable to you, doesn't mean an invisible man made it happen. Science you can see (prove) that it's happening with your OWN eyes and past evidence shaped into rock (fossils), there's nothing saying God or any religion had any part whatsoever in the shaping of the world; let alone Earth.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"there's nothing saying God or any religion had any part whatsoever in the shaping of the world; let alone Earth." There's also nothing saying that He didn't..

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It is God.

by Anonymous 12 years ago