Tuesday's Saturday Six

I suppose my back is feeling a lot better, especially during the day. However, I'm still more easily fatigued than I have generally ever been, and by early evening I'm worn down and sore. And it's still impossible for me to turn over in bed.

Here's this weekend's Saturday Six.

1. Do you believe that there is some form of intelligent life on a planet other than Earth?

2. If there was, and we were to encounter it, which do you think would do more harm to the other: the Earthlings or the Extra Terrestrials?

3. If a close friend or family member told you that they had been kidnapped by aliens, how likely are you to believe them if they can offer no physical evidence?

4. Take the quiz: How likely is it that you would be abducted by Extra Terrestrials?

5. If you could fly in a spaceship to get a close look at any of the planets besides Earth, which would you choose and why?

6. If you had the chance to live on a fully-developed colony on Mars, would you do so?

1. I think it's a logical assumption to make, as long as we understand that pesky "is" to mean something a little bit broader than "is currently". The universe is a big place, and an old place. It's inconceivable to think that in the thousands of billions of planets in the universe, there is no other planet that hosts intelligent life. But we'll never know it. The distances involved are too great.

2. If aliens came to Earth, they'd have had to cross huge distances and develop technologies that allowed them to overcome or ignore a huge raft of physics problems involved in inter- or intra-galactic travel. I think we automatically assume that any species so involved in science would have to be peaceful and kind, but who are we kidding? Besides, there's the whole question of "what kind of harm are we talking about" to consider. Even if they didn't intend to, they'd probably harm us a lot more than we'd harm them.

3. Probably not.

4. I'll take my chances, but I'm not stupid. No driving alone in deserted rural areas at night!

You have a 33% chance of being abducted You have a fairly good chance of being abducted. You may be somewhat skeptical about the existence of aliens, but you know that they could exist… somewhere. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

5. I'd want to go check out the planets around Alpha Centauri, just to see if they had life.

6. This is a good question. On the one hand, I would love to see Mars with my own eyes. On the other hand, think of the trip. Ugh. I guess I'd have to say "No, but I'd like to visit." Which raises the question of whether there'd be actual tourism. I can't recall right now, but isn't it the case that the launch window for the Earth-to-Mars trip only comes up once every eighteen months?