--- title: "6 Exist Quotes By Seth Shostak" description: "6 Exist quotes by Seth Shostak. Plus more from Seth Shostak and more Exist sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/seth-shostak-2047_astronomy_if-gravity-were-somewhat-stronger-or-wea_727283.png" --- > [If gravity were somewhat stronger or weaker, stars wouldn't exist, and neither would you. And the same can be said of other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/if-gravity-were-somewhat-stronger-or-weaker-stars-wouldn-t-exist-and/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c56/seth-shostak-2047_astronomy_if-gravity-were-somewhat-stronger-or-wea_727283.png) > [Diminutive worlds are more likely to be rocky, and lapped by oceans and atmospheres. In the vernacular of 'Star Trek,' these would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/diminutive-worlds-are-more-likely-to-be-rocky-and-lapped-by-oceans/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/seth-shostak-2047_begin_diminutive-worlds-are-more-likely-to-be_835937.jpg) > [Even if the Moon didn't exist - even if it had been vaporized billions of years ago by cantankerous Klingons - there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/even-if-the-moon-didn-t-exist-even-if-it-had-been-vaporized-billions/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d1/seth-shostak-2047_been_even-if-the-moon-didn-t-exist-even-if-it_1595260.png) > [Astronomers still can't decide what the shape of our universe is. Is it closed and finite, which is to say, is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/astronomers-still-can-t-decide-what-the-shape-of-our-universe-is-is/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ff/seth-shostak-2047_beyond_astronomers-still-can-t-decide-what-the_1647238.png) > [The math is dead simple: it seems that the frequency of planets able to support life is roughly one percent. In other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-math-is-dead-simple-it-seems-that-the-frequency-of-planets-able/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/seth-shostak-2047_able_the-math-is-dead-simple-it-seems-that-th_2396153.jpg) > [The usual metric for whether a planet is habitable or not is to ascertain whether liquid water could exist on its surface.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-usual-metric-for-whether-a-planet-is-habitable-or-not-is-to/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/seth-shostak-2047_ascertain_the-usual-metric-for-whether-a-planet-is_3066973.jpg) ## Other authors on Exist ## More by Seth Shostak > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/as-far-as-i-can-tell-the-only-unambiguous-consequence-of-the-claimed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/look-science-is-hard-it-has-a-reputation-of-being-hard-and-the-facts/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/give-consideration-to-the-fact-that-alien-astronomers-could-have/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/in-a-movie-it-s-often-important-to-have-aliens-whose-gestures-and/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/sure-nobody-will-make-a-fortune-if-we-figure-out-why-the-big-bang/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [If you could drive straight down, into a tunnel bored through the crust of the planet, you'd hit this molten mess in about an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/if-you-could-drive-straight-down-into-a-tunnel-bored-through-the/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [While I have always thought that the motivation for looking for E.T. was both self-evident and patently worthy, it's possible that I'm a victim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/while-i-have-always-thought-that-the-motivation-for-looking-for-e-t/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/i-studied-latin-in-high-school-and-i-was-reading-stuff-from-cicero/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/about-the-only-things-that-are-unique-to-earth-are-our-biota-and-our/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/this-plucky-nasa-telescope-is-able-to-find-planets-en-masse-if-you/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [The most attractive habitats for synthetic sentience might be the vicinities of exceptional sources of energy - for example black holes, or even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-most-attractive-habitats-for-synthetic-sentience-might-be-the/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Buying insurance is no one's idea of fun. And it's especially easy to berate something as funky-sounding as writing checks to defend our neighborhoods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/buying-insurance-is-no-one-s-idea-of-fun-and-it-s-especially-easy-to/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/plate-tectonics-is-not-all-havoc-and-destruction-the-slow-movement-of/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist/seth-shostak/#itemlist", "name": "6 Exist Quotes By Seth Shostak", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If gravity were somewhat stronger or weaker, stars wouldn't exist, and neither would you. And the same can be said of other constants of physics. 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