The Rare Earth Hypothesis

For those of you who don't know what the Rare Earth Hypothesis is, it is a theory that Earth-like planets are in fact, rarer than we think, and in turn, life, especially multi celled organisms, are rarer than we think.

The hypothesis is based on the improbability that another planet is under the same conditions the Earth is, the "Goldilocks Zone" is not enough to prove life can exist there. The planet must orbit around a suitable G2 star, hot stars can expand before complex life forms, and giant stars will also supernova. Not only that, but the planet must be in a suitable locations within a suitable galaxy, being too near the galactic center or the galactic arms of the Milky Way is too dangerous, extreme amounts of gamma and UV rays can ionize the atmosphere, stripping the planet of any conditions to sustain life. The planet's star needs to have an orbit that steers clear of any dense galactic locations, any elliptical orbit puts the star and its planet into one of these locations, therefore, a circular orbit is needed. Also, a planet needs a gas giant guardian, like Jupiter, to protect the planet from any asteroids or any rogue object, and the planet needs a large natural satellite, like our moon, to control the tides, etc.

An equation, Drake's equation, calculates the likelihood of the probability of life existing elsewhere:

The Drake equation is:



where:

N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible (i.e. which are on our current past light cone);
and

R* = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fl = the fraction of planets that could support life that actually develop life at some point
fi = the fraction of planets with life that actually go on to develop intelligent life (civilizations)
fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space




As you can see, using this equation shows how improbable life can exist elsewhere.
Fermi's Paradox also supports the Rare Earth Hypothesis, while Fermi was debating with fellow scientists, he mentioned, "If aliens are so common, why aren't they obvious?"

Do you support the Rare Earth Hypothesis? Why or why not?



More on the Rare Earth Hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_hypothesis

 

we talking about earth-like, like human survival or we talking about survival in general cuz like do we rly know if other undiscovered organisms need earth-like conditions to survive?? liek wyd

m also i got no idea about anything except the first sentence, so like sry

 

Well our definition of what can support life is limited to our planet.

There's probably some life-form out there that survives off of dust.

 

There are 2 sides of this. My side is that there is very very, little hope in finding other organisms, Here is some proof to back myself up.

Dr. Howard Smith, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard University, believes there is very little hope of discovering aliens and, even if we did, it would be almost impossible to make contact. So far astronomers have discovered a total of 500 planets in distant solar systems – known as extrasolar systems – although they believe billions of others exist. But Dr. Smith points out that many of these planets are either too close to their sun or too far away, meaning their surface temperatures are so extreme they could not support life. Others have unusual orbits which cause vast temperature variations making it impossible for water to exist as a liquid – an essential element for life. Dr. Smith said: "We have found that most other planets and solar systems are wildly different from our own. They are very hostile to life as we know it." The new information we are getting suggests we could effectively be alone in the universe. "There are very few solar systems or planets like ours. It means it is highly unlikely there are any planets with intelligent life close enough for us to make contact." But his controversial suggestions contradict other leading scientists – who have claimed aliens almost certainly exist.

Edit:

How tho? You are probably are correct because, of the length of the observable universe which is 46.6 Billion light years (The radius) which keep in mind might have one small organism. That is just what we can see but, scientist have said there is a lot more to explore.

 

Those life forms are microbial single-celled organisms, I'm talking about entire suitable ecosystems capable of supporting multicelled organisms.

 

Well, the Rare Earth Hypothesis does seem logical. We need newer technology to truly find the Goldilock Zones. My opinion on other intelligent life is this: I hope they stay where they are. Because if they can communicate or find us before we find them then they are more advanced as a species and civilization. That's a problem.

Anyway, if the universe is always expanding infinitely, then there will be at least One suitable planet however slim the probability. I think that Rare Earth Hypothesis holds some truth, but we may find suitable planets or have the technology later to terraform and all that jazz, like what happened in Destiny.

 

wasn't there like some cauliflower shaped stuff that that one time n like they said maybe bacteria or smth made it that shape

 

yes its next to impossible for a habitable planet to exist but yet there so many different galaxys there is bound to be a lot of planets with life plus your also forgetting earth was a very inhabitable planet 4 billion years ago but you see single celled organisms can live and strive in deadly inhabitable conditions and then the lead to other multi celled life

 

4 billion years ago, only microbial life existed, the Earth was still going through a heavy impact period at that time.

 

most stars below spectral class F9 or so can harbor habitable planets. not only G2. Also I can argue that types of lifeforms other than carbon-based lifeforms may exist, and they could live in conditions we would find inhabitable.

 

I heard that if a civilization becomes too strong and smart they will disappear from the universe