[SpookyZalost]

so for a long time I've had an interest in both the paranormal and space, especially astrobiology, what's actually real and known possibilities.

that being said there's a huge unknown since we've really only found partial evidence for ET's on titan, that being some kinda microbe using processes beyond us to consume in methane, ethane, and other natural gasses and expel hydrogen.

so yeah let's keep this on topic, if you want to discuss UFO's and the like, keep it to known science etc, or setup a separate thread for the more paranormal side of things.

that being said, the possibilities of UFO's and such and likely technologies is fine, just as long as it doesn't drift too far off topic, being possibilities and what we know of so far.


now that all this is out of the way here's the facts as I understand them.

Life can probably form with more than just carbon based neuclaic acids with carbon being one of the easiest building blocks.

for life you need a molecule than can form complex structures, and some sort of solvent to help shape/disrupt it.

for water based solubility you have Carbon, Silicon, Sulfer, Boranes, arsenic, phosphorus, and metalic composites.

for solvents you also have ammonia, methane, hydrocarbons, Hydrogen sulfate and hydrogen fluoride.

there's more but these are some of the more common elements based on what we know and understand from studying life on earth.

for example, there are fungi and algae that are arsenic based.

early in earth's history life forms existed that expelled oxygen and consumed Carbon di-oxide and methane which made up the atmosphere of early earth, these were the first life forms.

you can also use acids and things in place of more typical solvents.

so yeah you can even make life using battery acid of all things... provided you have the right complex molecules to bond with it.

please note, the "habitable zone" is a region where liquid water can exist in orbit of a star on a planet, thus allowing life similar to earth norms provided the right conditions are present.

this is a huge topic but I wanted to start with the basics for anyone interested.

[Guardian]

I've never looked into the science behind it, but have always believed there has to be a catalyst for life to begin. Obviously, in the most base form possible before evolution begins to do its thing. I mean, it has to be possible, because we exist. Even if a freak accident, the fact that life was created in the first place scientifically guarantees that it is repeatable, if not fathomable for us. Are there multiple catalysts? Only one? Endless?

That's one massive can of worms. One that I'd love to see a scientific answer to.

[SpookyZalost]

considering all this though, even if we only stick with Earth type planets...

well let's put it this way, given the number that's been found, mostly looking in roughly one direction and averaging it out.

if the total number of long lived stars in our galaxy is roughly 200 billion, up to 20 percent could host earth like planets or so nasa says with the number between 11 billion and 40 billion based on what has been discovered so far, with roughly 11 billion orbiting stars in the A, G, and K classifications like our own sun.

so I'd say, barring things like galaxy spanning mass extinctions, nearby hazard zones (pulars, quasars, etc), and other such things.

that's still over 2 billion potentially habitable planets out there, which can have liquid water on their surfaces.

that's not including moons orbiting gas giants in the habitable zone, rogue planets with thick atmospheres, and other more fantastic things.

and that's only water soluble life which exists at similar conditions to earth.

silicon based life for example would exist in much hotter hellish places while some combinations such as methane and ethane based life might exist in colder places like titan.

so yeah, I'd say the odds are overwhelmingly stacked in the pro non terrestrial life's favor.

btw, though it's constantly irradiated on one side due to tidal locking, the nearest non sol planet to earth is literally next door orbiting proxima centauri, it is 1.3 earth masses, is roughly the same size as earth and orbits in the habitable zone, it's year is about 11 days long.

also... fun fact, the first planets found outside our solar system orbit a pulsar, it's theorized that they formed after the original star went nova.

granted nothing lives there, they'd be bathed in extreme radiation due to said pulsar, but still an interesting fun fact.