Where are all the aliens? No, I don’t mean microbes on Mars or creatures floating beneath the ice layers of Europa or Enceladus, but honest-to-God intelligent aliens capable of space travel?
fermi paradox He asks questions. Given the enormous size of the universe, given the very high probability of intelligent aliens, why have we not detected them yet?
according to the guardianA NASA astrophysicist named Robin Corbett has an interesting, albeit disappointing, suggestion as to why.
Corbett’s view is that alien civilizations will never create technologies, such as interstellar travel, megastructures or interstellar communications that would make them detectable. After a certain amount of development, they become stable and keep to themselves.
Corbett’s theory is a version of the Great Filter, which posits that civilizations destroy themselves after reaching certain technological and civilizational milestones, perhaps due to nuclear war, environmental disaster, or AI running amok.
This idea unsettles one, because it suggests that a technological plateau is also the future of humanity, not some Star Trek-style future of exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, and boldly going where no one has gone before.
Other answers to the Fermi Paradox include:
- Aliens exist but we haven’t found them yet. Perhaps they communicate with technologies we have not yet developed.like neutrino beam or quantum entanglementOr, perhaps, we are not paying attention in the right place and at the right time.
- Aliens are hiding from us. Either they’re afraid of being attacked by some imperialist species like the Klingons from Star Trek or we are.”Prime DirectiveRestrictions, should only be approached when we are sufficiently advanced.
- great silenceWhich holds that as far as intelligent species developing technology is concerned, in the entire observable universe, we Earth humans are alone.
How, then, do we search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?
Scientists have been searching for radio signals from hypothetical alien civilizations using radio telescopes for decades. Currently, non-profit SETI Institute Has been a pioneer in searching the skies for signs of alien civilizations.
In addition to attempting to detect alien radio and video signals, some scientists have also begun searching for brightness of laser light -The theory is that an alien civilization could use lasers as a communication technology. The downside is that we are unlikely to detect such signals unless they are directed at Earth.
Another way to look for alien civilizations is to look for evidence of giant structures like Dyson spheres. A Dyson sphere is an outer shell formed around the Sun that can absorb its light and heat and where people can live inside said sphere.
In 2016, scientists thought they might have discovered somethingdyson sphereAround an object called KIC 8462852. object better known asTabby’s star,Following Tabby Boyajian, the astronomer who led the investigation of what was happening around the F type star located 1470 light years away.
Many stars will dim from time to time as their planets pass between them and Earth. However, Tabby’s star was decreasing on random occasions, sometimes by as much as 22 percent.
Theories for the cause of this event included dust clouds and swarms of comets. An interesting idea was the possible presence of a swarm of objects, which was actually a Dyson sphere, although it was more loosely formed than a solid shell.
Sadly, scientists are currently leaning toward a more natural cause of Tabby Star dimming.
Meanwhile, NASA is proposing a new space telescope that would be a successor to the Hubble, James Webb, and upcoming Nancy Grace Roman telescopes. Its current name isHabitable Worlds ObservatoryDesigned to image known extrasolar planets in the optical, infrared and ultraviolet ranges.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory will attempt to detect signs of life on worlds that are known to be habitable. Such signals include water, oxygen, and methane.
Once habitable worlds are discovered,A paper published by Penn State UniversityIt has been suggested to look for signals from such worlds to other worlds in their similar solar system. The idea is that an alien civilization would send probes to worlds such as Earth and would need to communicate with them.
If and when alien intelligence is discovered, we will know for sure that we are not alone in the universe. This will be a world historic event that will, hopefully, inspire humanity to escape the future suggested by Corbett and seek a future among the stars.
Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration titled “Why is it so hard to go back to the moon?” as well as “Moon, Mars and beyond“And, recently,”Why is America going back to the moon?He blogs hereCurmudgeon’s Corner.
