[Closed] I know it’s a stretch to even think about but what if Kepler 452b is in fact inhabited?

Well I sure haven't seen any in Sacramento or DC...

And all this is assuming no traffic.

No, I'm saying that we (humans) have only been as far as the moon...

...we have no other physical evidence (in our hands) of anything beyond (save for the occasional meteorite, of course).

Precisely! My comment was to counter Mike De Torrice's post...

specifically, the difference between what we believe & what we can actually prove. Mike's statement was that "...there is (and has been) life...". That's a statement of fact & no one can really make that statement...because no one really knows...because no one has any physical proof...because we humans have yet to (physically) venture beyond the moon...

I (for one) do believe there is life out there somewhere, but...where's the proof? Some believe that the builders of the pyramids were able to achieve that feat because they were visited by an extraterrestrial entity that bestowed upon them the knowledge to construct those pyramids - knowledge that was previously unknown & obviously "light years" ahead of their time...but where's the real proof that "ET" has been here? It does not exist - anywhere that we know of.

We can prove gravity, aerodynamics (et al) & we probably have the ability to prove that life does exist elsewhere, but we have to find it first. It's a big universe out there & scientific theory (or conjecture) does not yet prove that life exists out there somewhere.

And don't forget your AAA Card.

Doesn't observation count as sufficient evidence?

Depends on how far we can "see"...

Linear perspective illustrates that the farther away an object is, the smaller it appears, so our sight line limits what we can distinguish clearly.

I'll go so far as to say that we can now include Mars, given that we've remotely landed there with a "machine", but there's no solid evidence of life there, not really even a suggestion of it.

Again, I'll state that I do believe life exists elsewhere in the universe, but even Hubble can't provide much more than a deduction based upon an analysis of "light" (to clarify - it's the scientists that do the deducing & analyzing). We might be able to deduce from that analysis the elemental construct of a distant planet/star/galaxy, but we're probably (at best) only getting a small fraction of the total picture...still begs the question "is there life out there?"

What about all the hub-bub over Pluto being or not being a planet? Now that we've done a "fly-by", the photographic evidence suggests to me that our initial assessment of it being a planet was the correct assessment. What will the scientists do now - change their minds again?

There's so much that the human race has yet to learn about the universe...

DOH!! ... I forgot my decimel point ... I meant 2.6 !!!!!

Pluto was reduced from planet status mostly because of its composition of ice. It has been said...

... that based on that calling it a comet would be more accurate. The other factor is how planetary bodies clear surrounding debris in its orbit. Since Pluto is in the Kuiper belt with many other icy objects (some as largoe or almost as large as Pluto) it was decided that planet didn't apply and status should be downgraded. Other discoveries of large icy objects would also have to be considered planets. After the downgrading, Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet or Plutoid.

I love this stuff. Astronomy is my other passion to cars!

I love this stuff too...

I took astronomy as an elective back in college (about 40 years ago) - I loved every minute of it. I should invest in a telescope, but since my brother has one, I just enjoy his...he too, is a "space geek".

Definitely none in D.C., just a bunch of maroons!

Actually, we have no final "proof" of anything in science ..... there is only evidence.

And (if one is willing to actually look) there is very good evidence of life beyond that currently existing here on Earth.

Of course NASA (through it's Director, Dan Goldin) itself announced in August of 1996 that alien life has been found in meteorite ALH84001 from the planet Mars.

To refresh your memory, here's some items from the news at that time :

"NASA announced Wednesday that a primitive form of microscopic life may have existed on Mars about 4 billion years ago.

The announcement was made in Washington at a news conference to discuss the findings, made by researchers from NASA and various universities.

Before the news conference, a source close to the agency told CNN, "I think it's arguably the biggest discovery in the history of science."

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin had said Tuesday the research is based on a sophisticated examination of an ancient Martian meteorite, labeled Allan Hills or ALH 84001, that landed on Earth about 13,000 years ago. The meteorite was found in Antarctica in 1984.

Researchers examining the rock from space say it contains organic compounds that are unmistakable evidence that life once existed on the red planet......"

And there's a lot more evidence than that.

Mike

Not really. 67P is considered a "comet" but is not primarily water ice at all.

Dan Goldin said the discovery was exciting, but not conclusive. Subsequently, further analysis...

... concluded that although compelling, the final analysis of life was inconclusive. Yes, there has been evidence that extraterrestrial life COULD have existed but none declared yet. When that day comes, it will be huge news and the entire world will know about it.

That doesn't change that Pluto is primarily ice. I'm OK with going with the determination of...

... astrophysicists. Aside that their knowledge supersedes mine by a very wide margin, they do have a consensus on re-classifying Pluto as a dwarf planet and not full planetary status.