Well done Astronomy Ireland. - Our 'important' galaxy?

What's life anyway?

We living things are just mechanisms built by the DNA molecule for the purposes of replicating the DNA molecule.

We have but one purpose: reproduce.
And then we die, as Woodie Allen would say.

When we have replicated our DNA the DNA literally throws us away.
We all end up in the grave...but not the DNA which built us!

This "Life" thing is probably a common phenomemon throughout the universe.

To this end I support the likes of SETI, though I don't think that other "genuine" science projects that will provide beneficial, quantifiable results should suffer because of limited funding (SETI is expendable).

SETI does not receive state funding, that ended I think in 1992 when the US Congress voted to stop supporting it. So SETI is no longer "expendable" in the sense that state funds can be switched to what others may perceive as more worthwhile projects. That already happened. SETI is now privately funded so anyone who supports it financially or by any other means is doing so voluntarily. Much of that funding may very well be at risk if SETI does not detect a signal in the near future, a fact stated in its own Roadmap for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence titled SETI 2020.

NASA has its own Astrobiology Roadmap focusing on how did life begin, is there life elsewhere in the Universe etc.

All this talk of finding life in other galaxies is somewhat strange...nobody is even looking for life in other galaxies. At the moment, we haven't even found evidence for life in any other part of our own galaxy let alone any form of biosphere in our solar system and that is where searches are focused.

I go along with that article; our galaxy has no inherent characteristics that make it special, nor indeed has our Sun any unique characteristics to the other solar-like stars in our galaxy, which make up about 5% of all the stars.

All the belief that there is sentient life elsewhere matters not a jot without evidence. It's a sobering thought that of the estimated 50 billion speciations on Earth, only one ended in a species that was able to develop language and possessed the creativity and intelligence that has humans where we are today.

As reagrds sentient alien life, the Fermi Paradox is still alive and well. When you apply all the other various filters laid out in Stephen Webb's excellent book "Where is Everybody", your belief may be severely tempered. I do however think we should continue looking.

As for the teapot around Saturn,

There's a teapot in Sagittarius....


I'll get me coat

The issue of importance is not really relevant, my couch is important to me, I dont think it matters much to anyone else though.
In terms of evidence, I can say I believe there is life out there, but I cant say I know there is life out there.

Given the chemical make-up of life,I'm a believer of the theory that life was invented by water as a means of transporting itself.
As I've said on another thread, we may not be alone, but we may also never find this out, and even if we aren't alone, with the limitations of light-speed travel we may as well be.