DO ALIENS EXIST? – JA NEE SAY SCIENTISTS
The law of probabilities backs theories
that we are not alone in the universe.
Given the vastness of the universe, I personally think
man would be very naïve to assume that we are unique
and that life in some form or other exists does not elsewhere.
But, this is one of the great unknowns,
and man, by nature, is notorious for his fumbling speculations
concerning all things unknown.
At a two-day conference hosted by Britain’s
Royal Society this week as part of a series of discussions
on major scientific issues to mark the academy’s
350th Anniversary, this again perfectly illustrated.
For example, astrochemist at George Washington
University Pascale Ehrenfreund speculates ‘Life
on Earth may have been kick-started thanks to carbon molecules
and dust that drift through interstellar space. If so,
the basic building blocks of life as it is recognised
on Earth must be widespread in planetary systems in our
Milky Way and other galaxies.’
Simon Conway Morris, a professor
of evolutionary palaeobiology at the University of Cambridge,
however, offered a contrasting view.
"My own opinion is that the origin of life is a complete
fluke," he said. "I fear that we are completely
alone... there's nothing (out) there at all, not a thing."
I agree with Lord Rees, president of the
Royal Society who said the only sensible thing at this
conference of the so-called experts and great minds at
the forefront of science on Earth.
‘It is essential that we admit to
our present ignorance,’ he said!
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