Saru Posted July 20, 2012 #1 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Edinburgh University is to become the latest to offer an online course on the search for alien life. Edinburgh University will launch a series of short courses accessible online to the public for free from late 2012, including an opportunity to study an "Introduction to Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life". Read more... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antilles Posted July 20, 2012 #2 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Edinburgh. The search for alien life. There's a joke in here somewhere.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldorado Posted July 20, 2012 #3 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) A course in Economics it is that the Faculty of Edinburgh Uni should be sent on. Edit to remove obscenities uttered. Edited July 20, 2012 by Eldorado 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super-Fly Posted July 20, 2012 #4 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Lmao, class. Not for me though, I dont do bubble gum. Thanks, 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ealdwita Posted July 20, 2012 #5 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Free, is it? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super-Fly Posted July 20, 2012 #6 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Free, is it? lmao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilly Posted July 20, 2012 #7 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Oh my, "a series of short courses accessible online to the public for free from late 2012". So, who's going to try one out? I'd be willing to give it a try (just once mind you). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schizoidwoman Posted July 20, 2012 #8 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Free, is it? Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it actually is free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpumper Posted July 20, 2012 #9 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Sounds like a huge waste of time. Much like most university courses nowadays. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ealdwita Posted July 20, 2012 #10 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Sounds like a huge waste of time. Much like most university courses nowadays. Especially now I've retired from lecturing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMolePatrol Posted July 20, 2012 #11 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Wow so many negative comments towards this, did it get posted in the Christianity forum or something? I think this is awesome; the more colleges offering classes related to life outside of our solar system, the better. There's religious schools that talk all up and down about religion, and we have our own opions on the value of education like that... but to call education geared towards the idea of life beyond Earth a "waste of time" is kind of closed minded. Maybe I feel that way about art classes, which are pretty much a norm today in most colleges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csspwns Posted July 20, 2012 #12 Share Posted July 20, 2012 this should be way more usful than the ghost hunting classes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guruman Posted July 21, 2012 #13 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) Im so with TheMolePatrol, the CLASS IS FREE PEOPLE, so if you dont like it why comment in here! Why even open this website when a lot of stuff is about aliens and ufos... I think its great! I already signed up to it, have fun in life people, dont you want to learn about anything out there? I do. Bubble gum? Try tallking about the every day politics, religion, guns, alcohol, drugs! Thats freaking bubble gum! Edited July 21, 2012 by Guruman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guruman Posted July 21, 2012 #14 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) I think its exciting! Edited July 21, 2012 by Guruman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldorado Posted July 21, 2012 #15 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Im so with TheMolePatrol, the CLASS IS FREE PEOPLE, so if you dont like it why comment in here! Why even open this website when a lot of stuff is about aliens and ufos... I think its great! I already signed up to it, have fun in life people, dont you want to learn about anything out there? I do. Bubble gum? Trytalking about freaking politics, religion, guns, alcohol, drugs! Thats freaking bubble gum! Cos it's MY taxes that are being used to give a freebie course to eejits, while folk who work for a living are being told to cut their cloth by our Government. That's why I can comment. Sadly, nationalists and socialists think everything is free......... until the auditors come a calling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badeskov Posted July 22, 2012 #16 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Frankly, I think this topic is a bit misunderstood. It is not about knowing what ET life is nor is it intended to preach knowledge about that. It is a means to seed interest among future students in the area of astro-biology (an increasingly important topic given that we spend more and more time in space) and the topic is how we look for life elsewhere in the Universe based on what we currently know. A very good topic to lure new students with, in my honest opinion. And at the same time educate others about how the search for ET is currently done. Cheers, Badeskov 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2F Posted July 22, 2012 #17 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Frankly, I think this topic is a bit misunderstood. It is not about knowing what ET life is nor is it intended to preach knowledge about that. It is a means to seed interest among future students in the area of astro-biology (an increasingly important topic given that we spend more and more time in space) and the topic is how we look for life elsewhere in the Universe based on what we currently know. A very good topic to lure new students with, in my honest opinion. And at the same time educate others about how the search for ET is currently done. Cheers, Badeskov I agree. This has nothing to do with UFO's or alien visitation as far as I can see. I think that those who think this is some sort of validation for the ETH are going to be a bit disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occams Razor Posted July 29, 2012 #18 Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) I think this is a great idea. What with CERN discovering the Higgs Boson particle and now looking into dark matter, things that will, before too long, give an insight into how we may develop a realistic method of inter-stellar travel, SETI is of more interest than ever. We have to find some critters out there to go and visit. Not next week obviously, but I think we are just beginning to scratch the surface of realistic deep space exploration. The search for dark matter immediately following the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle is very interesting, it suggests they're looking for a method of inter-stellar travel to me. I could of course be talking out of my backside, it wouldn't be the first time, but thats how it looks to me. The fact that space has a smell is interesting, as I would think a smell must consist of physical particles. It may be that what these astronauts are smelling on their space-suits is dark matter. They may have been describing the smell of dark matter without even considering that for years. Perhaps NASA should send some of these 'smelly' space-suits to CERN for analysis, they may be able to accurately identify the source of the smell, and save everyone a lot of time. We do indeed live in interesting times, as they say. I think I will contact Edinburgh University and get the details of this course, it sounds very interesting to me, if I can do the course from here in Australia I think I'll have a crack at it. Good on them for getting this subject out there. (No pun intended). Edited July 29, 2012 by Occams Razor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occams Razor Posted July 29, 2012 #19 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Oh my, "a series of short courses accessible online to the public for free from late 2012". So, who's going to try one out? I'd be willing to give it a try (just once mind you). I'll sign up. I think generating interest in finding ET and what sort of critters we might come across out there is fascinating stuff. With all the really interesting deep space/ET and physics stuff going on at the moment with CERN, the SKA and many other projects I think it's great to encourage this type thinking. Good on you Edinburgh Uni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occams Razor Posted July 29, 2012 #20 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it actually is free! Great! I can hardly wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Awesome Posted July 29, 2012 #21 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Seeing as no one has found alien life yet I'm guessing the failure rate is going to be really high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaperS_ParadoX Posted July 30, 2012 #22 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Seeing as no one has found alien life yet I'm guessing the failure rate is going to be really high. How do you mean?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaperS_ParadoX Posted July 30, 2012 #23 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I think this is an excellent idea also people need to realize just how incredible our universe is and maybe taking these classes will help with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Awesome Posted July 31, 2012 #24 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How do you mean?? If it's an alien search course the only way you should graduate is if you find an alien. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyche101 Posted August 1, 2012 #25 Share Posted August 1, 2012 I have to offer a positive two cents as well. With all the extra solar planets found in the last couple of decades, it seems a rather prudent move forward. Many minds and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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