If we somehow found a habitable planet, how would we start out?

[Darvince]

Look! A god! Omgwtfbbq!

jk.

[vh]

...what , the god of big brown queues?

.....

and no. the possibility of something random happening, like discovering humans on an axtrasolar planet is too remote to be worth considering.

yes. i said axtrasolar

[smjjames]

Given the likelyhood of finding humans on an extrasolar planet (lost/forgotten colonies and transplanted humans, such as in the Stargate universe don't count) and the vastness of the universe, something that looks exactly like us on the outside could exist somewhere, maybe not in our galaxy. Even THEN, the odds are incredibly low

I don't mean just humanoid to the point of having the same or similar body structure, two arms, two legs, a head and walking upright, I mean exactly like us, like the Star Trek aliens minus the prothsetics and makeup. Having the exact same organs in the same place though, those odds are so incredibly low that it's pratically zero that they could evolve naturally. Not having the same internal organs ups the odds slightly to where it's probable, but remote.

However, when we are talking about humanoids, four limbs, a body and a head, those are definetly possible. Even if they evolved using something other than DNA or are based on something other than carbon, evolution still folows basic rules and something that works well, will get reused over and over again in evolution.

[vh]

not necessarily. if the most basic lifeforms were just a bit off from what earth's were, then evolution might make the sentient beings completely different from humans. They had/have a completely different environment.

[smjjames]

Yea, I think there is an Edicarian fossil with trilateral symmetry and theres the Echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins, etc), which have five sided symmetry as adults.

You can also do the what if scenario on Earth, if events had happened differently or something else became successful or if something evolved in a different way, or if something became extinct or even didn't go extinct, the life forms on Earth would be totally different.

So even if the planet was literally a twin of Earth, it's history would be different and so the life forms could end up being greatly different.

My point was that evolution reuses successful features/traits, so we will probably see some familiar forms. Look at convergent evolution. Sharks, Ichthyosaurs, and Dolphins all look very similar, why? Because it's an efficient body shape that works.

As alien as the life forms would be, they still have to deal with the same physics.

[vh]

ah-ha!
"As alien as the life forms would be, they still have to deal with the same physics."

what about planets with dense atmosphere? less gravity? more gravity? etc.

[blotz]

not necessarily. if the most basic lifeforms were just a bit off from what earth's were, then evolution might make the sentient beings completely different from humans. They had/have a completely different environment.

So, before the humans existence, there was a super smart thing, and it created everything from us to flat planets with live chess stuff in games(that went on for years), wizards, stuff that wont come out of a super protective box until it is the correct time, and more stuff like that.

Putting aside fictional stuff, what if a planet hide behind the sun all the time? Very unlikely, but it might be. Or, there is life in or in an space, just floating by. The thing would have high resistance, and might land on a habitable planet(for it) and start going.  

[smjjames]

ah-ha!
"As alien as the life forms would be, they still have to deal with the same physics."

what about planets with dense atmosphere? less gravity? more gravity? etc.

I'm talking about the same laws of physics. Of course things would be different with different gravity or atmospheric density, but a wing still has to follow the same physics.

not necessarily. if the most basic lifeforms were just a bit off from what earth's were, then evolution might make the sentient beings completely different from humans. They had/have a completely different environment.

So, before the humans existence, there was a super smart thing, and it created everything from us to flat planets with live chess stuff in games(that went on for years), wizards, stuff that wont come out of a super protective box until it is the correct time, and more stuff like that.

Putting aside fictional stuff, what if a planet hide behind the sun all the time? Very unlikely, but it might be. Or, there is life in or in an space, just floating by. The thing would have high resistance, and might land on a habitable planet(for it) and start going. 

You took that from Homestuck didn't you? And what do you mean hide behind the sun all the time? It would have to not be orbiting to do that. The bit after that is the basic idea behind the Panspermia hypothesis.

[Bla]

If the universe is a part of a multiverse with infinite universes, there would be an infinite number of planets exactly like Earth, with me typing this to people like you. The probabilities are 0.00000... and so on, but as long as they're not 0, they will happen infinitely when you multiply them with infinity.
But the probability of finding the humans in our region of the universes would probably be 0%. But still an interesting thought.

[vh]

so do we kill more stars and live?

[atomic7732]

If the universe is a part of a multiverse with infinite universes, there would be an infinite number of planets exactly like Earth, with me typing this to people like you. The probabilities are 0.00000... and so on, but as long as they're not 0, they will happen infinitely when you multiply them with infinity.
But the probability of finding the humans in our region of the universes would probably be 0%. But still an interesting thought.

Which proves, fillies and gentlecolts, that Equestria IS real.

* atomic7732 hides

[Bla]

Well we'll have to prove that an infinite multiverse is real first, but if it is, and Equestria is possible, yes.

* An infinite number of Blas kolkolkol.

[FiahOwl]

This message is only viewable with Universe Sandbox Galaxy Edition. Access it and much more with promo-code '47611'.

[Darvince]

But that also means that a 20 dimensional gory, communist, dark, toxic, radioactive wasteland also exists.

[Bla]

But that also means that a 20 dimensional gory, communist, dark, toxic, radioactive wasteland also exists.

Except that it makes no sense, since Communism is an ideology which you can base a society on, and a wasteland is not a society. And I don't see any reason to think that there are exactly 20 dimensions.
2-dimensional cubes won't exist either.

[Darvince]

2-dimensional cubes don't exist in this universe, but 2-dimension cubes can exist in a 2-dimensional universe.

[Bla]

2-dimensional cubes don't exist in this universe, but 2-dimension cubes can exist in a 2-dimensional universe.

No, because the definition of a 2-dimensional cube is a self-contradiction. In the two-dimensional universe, it would be a square, because a cube is pr. definition 3-dimensional.

[FiahOwl]

This message is only viewable with Universe Sandbox Galaxy Edition. Access it and much more with promo-code '47616'.

[Bla]

But the third dimension in the cube is not time, and the second dimension in the square is not time either. They're independent of time, I think.
And I can split this topic if you people think we're going too far away from the topic.

[blotz]

If the universe is a part of a multiverse with infinite universes, there would be an infinite number of planets exactly like Earth, with me typing this to people like you. The probabilities are 0.00000... and so on, but as long as they're not 0, they will happen infinitely when you multiply them with infinity.
But the probability of finding the humans in our region of the universes would probably be 0%. But still an interesting thought.

Which proves, fillies and gentlecolts, that Equestria IS real.

* atomic7732 hides

So, in some universe, there is a planet with some kind of life forms.
Sadly, its distance is "infinity and beyond!" and unless we adapt to space and grow wings, we are doomed.

[atomic7732]

But that also means that a 20 dimensional gory, communist, dark, toxic, radioactive wasteland also exists.

The universe, as far as we can tell is only 11 dimensions.

So, in some universe, there is a planet with some kind of life forms.
Sadly, its distance is "infinity and beyond!" and unless we adapt to space and grow wings, we are doomed.

I've got wings covered, but adapting to space... And wings wouldn't help in space anyway, don't rockets work well enough?

[blotz]

One flap will do, but it might take a few trillion years. no gravity.

[vh]

one flap? of what, a chicken? that wouldn't do anything. You'd just get collided up to the nearest/largest grav effect star.

[blotz]

One flap will do, but it might take a few trillion years. no gravity.

That's hoping you dont encounter anything like that

[vh]

then you won't move. at all.

unless you move your wings from front to back and keep them there for trillions of years.

and thats not flapping

[smjjames]

One flap will do, but it might take a few trillion years. no gravity.

That's hoping you dont encounter anything like that

Impossible, you can't escape gravity, it just gets ever more feeble as distance increases, but it's there, and no, flapping won't do you any good in space without an atmosphere, not even a dense nebula (Earths atmosphere is far denser than that).

Unless by flap, you mean extend/adjust solar sail wings, but even then, flapping won't help.

@Bla: I think this thread has derailed into sillyness already, but eh whatever, I'm not complaining and nobody else is.

@NeutronStar: Well, if they evolved in a near vacuum environment that may as well be outer space. Rockets work well as long as you have propellant. Otherwise, for anything to survive in space for any extended period of time without a spacesuit, an advanced civilization would either have to use extremely advanced genetic engineering or use nanites/nanotechnology to adapt their bodies to the environment (used in at least one Science Fiction book I've read).

[atomic7732]

One flap will do, but it might take a few trillion years. no gravity.

A solar wind would do more good!

[FiahOwl]

This message is only viewable with Universe Sandbox Galaxy Edition. Access it and much more with promo-code '47637'.

[Darvince]

It will happen, in an alternate universe.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN

[vh]

the chances of a habitable planet in an alternate universe might be higher, but i think we'd find one in this universe first.

and fiah, no one is going to bother to read your miniature text.