AT our meeting on February 1 we heard David Terry on the subject of extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Apparently 25 per cent of Americans believe there is life on other planets and many of the (alleged) sightings of flying saucers, aliens landing etc., have originated in the USA, from the 1950s onwards.
The origins of life on earth and the fact that bacteria are the most prevalent form of life was explained. The difficulty of establishing whether life could also have started elsewhere is hampered by the sheer distances involved and the time taken for signals to reach Earth. Unless unimaginable speeds can be achieved we are unlikely to know. The possibility of an asteroid striking the earth and wiping us out, as happened to the dinosaurs, was a sobering possibility.
If this was not thought-provoking enough, David finished by reminding us how life was thought to have started on earth which led to the philosophical question of whether life was accidental or purposeful, i.e. is there a divine creator?
We retired people are told to keep our brains active - regular attendance at Probus meetings certainly achieves that!
We meet at 10.00 every Thursday at The Boathouse, Evesham Rowing Club.
Our speaker on February 8 goes topless round Stratford and on February 15 we have a Music Quiz. Full details can be found on our website: http://www.eveshamprobus.co.uk
ALAN SMITH
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