It sure would be weird life forms though.
Whether made of rock or ice, Sasselov says Super Earths will be only 1 or 2 times the actual size of Earth because they become densely compressed as they gain mass. This higher density will result in greater gravity. Sasselov says the most massive Super Earth would have about 3 times the gravity of Earth. Tests of human resistance to vertical G-force, where the blood is pulled down to the legs, have found the typical person can tolerate up to 5 Gs before losing consciousness. So while you might feel much heavier walking on a Super Earth, the extra gravity wouldn't be beyond what human explorers could endure. Of course, any life that evolved on a Super Earth would be adapted to the greater gravity, just as a human feels comfortable on the 1 G surface of Earth.
That means that these creatures would probably be super strong to handle that atmosphere for very long. I wonder if their extensive musculature would have an effect on their brain power? It would seem that they would need most of their added nutrients to keep them standing upright on a +5G planet so not as much will be going to brain development. It is also nice to see that scientists have the same belief as I do about the so-called Fermi Paradox.
Sasselov's own suggestion for the Fermi paradox relates to the age and evolution of planets in the universe. When the universe was young, only hydrogen and helium were available. Generations of stellar evolution were needed to produce the heavier elements, such as silica and iron, which build rocky planets. Even though the universe is approximately 14 billion years old, our solar system only formed about 4.6 billion years ago. (Astronomers did find a 12.7-billion-year-old Jupiter-mass object in our galaxy, but Sasselov thinks this so-called ancient planet could instead be the remnant of a red or brown dwarf star that was stripped of some of its mass.)
You would figure that most alien races close by us would be about as old as we are so they wouldn't develop truly advanced technology like things that can tap the power of their suns or develop faster than light travel. However, I can see them just sending a spaceship with slightly more advanced life support on them in the 20 years that it would take to get to get back and forth from their planet.
Even if you look at our planet we had a false start in the dinosaurs that were wiped out before mammals developed. That could easily happen on other planets too. They could have an alien race as evolved or more evolved then us suddenly get wiped out by solar radiation, a comet, an asteroid hitting their planet, or even a world war. Then they will be back to the stone age again and the race would have to rediscover everything.
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