Exoplanets (and life?) in the Goldilocks Zone

I think by "like us", the other tropers are speaking more broadly than you're reading. Not humanlike aliens, but simply species who have developed technology as potent (or moreso) than ours.

I agree that we'll probably never encounter aliens with minds comparable to ours, but the universe is so vast it's just about given that they exist.

edited 13th Apr '12 4:46:47 PM by RTaco

@Fighteer; I'm not so sure I buy into that theory either. After all, we're assuming that any species that gets to the true space faring stage has gone through quite a few significant struggles with themselves. Most likely the same exact troubles; whatever the life looks like I am pretty sure that bigotry and avarice will end up being pretty universal things across intelligent species. Thus, having had to deal with that, presumably on their own, I think they'd be a little more willing to offer advice rather than assume we're going to be dangerous.

Plus, my earlier statement about it possibly not being feasible also applies to any attempt to "check us". Plus, it would also require that they be able to box us in from every single direction.

edited 13th Apr '12 5:01:07 PM by AceofSpades

I don't see the problem with creating an alien race by accident at the same time.

Given that astronomy has uncovered no evidence of space-faring civilizations, how likely is it that they exist anywhere nearby?

Exactly how much of the universe have we managed to explore up close and personal? would by my response to that. There's like a phenominal amount of the universe we have yet to actually see. So there's a pretty good chance, I think, that some kind of life is out there. What kind and how long it'll take to find is anyone's guess.

Given the size of even the largest conceivable starship compared to the size of planets and stars, the only way we could possibly detect such things, even within the boundaries of our own solar system, is via their drive emissions — and that assumes they use reactive thrust, which they may not.

True. Ya never know, stuff we see as science fiction could be in everyday use. Like true submarines and manned flight to the Moon were science fiction in Verne's works before the Nautilus got its version of the world's most expensive kettle fired up, a century after the publication of 20000 Leagues Under The Sea. The same deal for From Earth to the Moon.