Russian 'Scientists' Expect To Meet Aliens By 2031

Hypothetically speaking, I think the whacky Mr. Finkelstein has been hitting the vodka too hard.

"The whole time we have been searching for extraterrestrial civilizations, we have mainly been waiting for messages from space and not the other way," he said.

Anyone with the technology to travel through space has the technology to receive the gigaflops of data we transmit into the ozone every second of the day and night.

I think they'll all look like Del the Cat when they get here.

Strikes me that this Finkelstein chap is something of a dreamer. IMHO, it can't be anything more than wild conjecture.

If any firm evidence of extraterrestrial life^[1] (let alone intelligent life) had been found to date, I'd be a bit more sympathetic/willing to believe in such a timescale.

I think this bit: ".. aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head .." really suggests he's had one or two too many shots of spirytus.

Personally, I have little doubt that intelligent life^[2] exists out there, somewhere and somewhen, but this 20 year thing is bar talk.

[1] I think the "life forms found in meteorites" discussion is still in the air.

[2] Wait for the last verse.

I agree, it's pretty wild speculation to assume something humanlike - or can we just admit that we're only interested in finding something .. humanlike.

The basic shape: head facing forward, with (however many) arms/legs is something that occurs in various families of vertebrates. There's a logic to that shape, for an animal that has to move on land to find food and escape predators. Designed to move in one direction (forward).

I see no reason why there would be two legs and two arms. Four legs and four arms would probably do as well or better. But depending on how enthusiastic you are for Darwinian evolution of the 'fittest' (as opposed to more randomly shaped creatures which survive or perish by chance) I suppose there's always a rationale for why our shape is "best".

Personally I think it's more likely that aliens in the humanlike niche would be remarkably different in some unexpected ways. Look at marsupials vs mammals, for example, evolving on different continents on earth. Same niches, different design.

Also not sure whether the 'aliens' would necessarily be warm-blooded. Could be reptiles in the 'intelligent, technological' niche on another planet. The motive for an intelligent animal to develop technology is, generally speaking, to overcome our inherent weaknesses and design deficiencies, isn't it? Cold-blooded vulnerabilities might be a motive for technical advances...

They are a few years too late...

I've been walking this planet for quite some time, and many people have told me I must be from another planet. I do however have a head, two legs, and a couple of arms.

"Intelligent Life" Hrmm..... Not sure what that really means in the first place, The more I see, the less intelligent I believe the human race really is.

If we you do make contact, I'll make the assumption that the extraterrestrials will have a few more cards in their deck than we you earthlings do.

I think our solar system is off limits for aliens, humans are crazy!

If history is any indicator, I would think humans would most likely act in an aggressive/defensive manner. Humans tend to fear, and naturally act violently towards the unknown. Heck even other humans are singled out and killed because of things such as ideology, skin color, and even less meaningful things.

I hope we never do make contact. I wager that if we do make contact with intelligent beings, even if they do come in peace, humans will end up sparking an interstellar war. It's just the human way. If it's different, it must be bad.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a good example.

I've just got the book 'Chariots of the Gods' by Erich von Daniken! Makes interesting reading! Would anybody like to share their thoughts on 'his observations'?

I think the most likely contact with an intelligent race will be their archaeologists sifting through our ruins, trying to understand how many millennia have past since we've been gone, and what caused our extinction.

The chances of us bumping into each other before then are akin to a single sardine let loose from Alaska, and a single sardine let loose from Capetown actually meeting each other and mating.

If we lived closer to the core of the galaxy, our chances would be marginally better. In fact, I'd be surprised if there haven't already been monumental meetings between different planetary civilizations somewhere. But way out here on this backwater part of our spiral arm.... I'm not holding my breath.

1. We are a race obsessed with killing our own kind because of petty differences.

2. We're isolated.

Deck is somewhat stacked against us.

Ohhhh wait one second, I think I hear the 'Twilight Zone" theme music playing somewhere nearby.....

Did anyone ring Fox Mulder?

I didn't read the story, but the obvious answer as to why, is he's read UFO literature (which he probably wouldn't admit) and believes some of it. There are descriptions of "aliens," especially in older "accounts" about beings that are just like us -- not the large dark-eyed versions that seem to have become the de facto standard depiction of "aliens" in current popular culture.

Where the heck is Art Bell when you need him......

What makes you think that any truly intelligent being would want to have anything to do with humans?

Wellll.... humans are interested in bugs and all kinds of nasty creatures....

How and why would they get through all of this?

If I were from a planet that had not got its space exploration budget severely slashed and still had a vehicle that could get us to at least our moon, I'd have have to think twice before risking going through that.

I'm still having trouble meeting intelligent life forms here, why leave the solar system until I get this place figured out first?

Fredski

Exactly, actually I thought the Russian scientists were aliens....

Sundog

Any alien, human like or not must be mad to want to come here to Earth, we are the most destructive animal on Earth, and as such I doubt that any alien would dare step foot on our planet!

Humans are the virus/parasite of the known universe... Any smart and competent life-form that is aware of our existence should immediately exterminate the disease before it has a chance to spread to other solar systems.

But we have so much to share

Yes. Like reality shows, Sarah Palin, pet rocks, hip hop music, Snuggies, creationism...

We will join the galactic community bearing many many gifts!

Oh and dont forget I Love Lucy.....