Science
Related: About this forumA Physicist Has Proposed a Pretty Depressing Explanation For Why We Never See Aliens
sciencealert.com
The Universe is so unimaginably big, and it's positively teeming with an almost infinite supply of potentially life-giving worlds. So where the heck is everybody?
At its heart, this is what's called the Fermi Paradox: the perplexing scientific anomaly that despite there being billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy let alone outside it we've never encountered any signs of an advanced alien civilisation, and why not?
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-physicist-has-proposed-a-pretty-depressing-explanation-for-why-we-never-see-aliens
hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)lapfog_1
(29,223 posts)are only maybe 110 years old
so the sphere of planets who might be looking for planets like ours (their SETI project) have to be no more than a hundred light years or so from here... not that many stars are within that distance.
Any other visitor would need to run into us accidentally or simply be looking for "goldilocks" planets like ours (not too warm, not too cold, with water... etc)
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)which such species and civilizations might evolve but we do know that no species is static and that eventually they either cease to exist or in some cases evolve into other species.
5X
(3,972 posts)defeatist world view from Russia.
we may already have visitors according to some pilots.
i think they are tourists from an advanced civilization.
after all, it looks like tourists may be the first from our
planet.
brush
(53,847 posts)of an arm of one of a billion-some spiral galaxies, hardly Times Square, and as another poster noted, just discovered and sent radio signals 110 years ago, are not the subject of an all-hands, or appendages maybe, universe-wide dragnet.
I do however believe we've been observed by other beings with more advanced space travel technology. They've perhaps satisfied their curiosity but left us alone for the most part. That says something about our importance, advanced status or lack thereof, and our uniqueness.
As far as us being the top tech dog in the universe/multi-verse of trillions of stars/planets? Puh-leeze! And being the only life in existence, double, triple puh-leeze!
Response to 5X (Reply #3)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
2 physicists in my family, one agrees but the other is unsure. I think they've been visiting because I've seen one.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)So where the heck is everybody?
answered the question when they wrote: The Universe is so unimaginably big.
trev
(1,480 posts)Our space technology is only 60 years old. We can hardly come up with definitive conclusions based on the very limited evidence we have been able to gather.
Response to trev (Reply #6)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Enoki33
(1,587 posts)Response to Enoki33 (Reply #10)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
trev
(1,480 posts)I had to look that up. I can see why he wanted to change it. I'd always wondered why god would lead us into temptation; seems to me we're pretty good at it on our own.
And not just in stone, but carved into the Earth itself.
keithbvadu2
(36,906 posts)2 space aliens looking down on earth.
I see the dominant life form has developed space weapons.
Does this mean they are an emerging intelligence?
I don't think so. They have them aimed at themselves.
.
Judi Lynn
(160,621 posts)Have a question: is the person who created the cartoon the one who used to do the Pogo strips and books? I used to love his sense of humor, his personality, and that surely looks like his handiwork.
Just curious. I have forgotten his name. I doubt Pogo is running anywhere, but it was delightful.
keithbvadu2
(36,906 posts)Don't know, but they both made you think about their message sometimes.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)JustFiveMoreMinutes
(2,133 posts).. and never meet another soul.
"Alone"? <smile>
hunter
(38,326 posts)It's just recently that some humans have accepted humans outside their own culture as anything other than animals.
How would we recognize a star faring culture that didn't use radio, spaceships, or any of the others tools we think are "advanced."
Why would beings who are godlike compared to ourselves need spaceships?
Maybe the Neanderthals didn't go extinct. Maybe they saw a better place among the stars and simply walked there through some kind of portal our sort of human would fear as magic.
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)I also like what one of the posters above said:
"Just about anything we have to say about alien motives is anthropomorphization."