Astronomy / Space The Fermi Paradox — Where Are All The Aliens?

Jaybong

Jaybong
Either you put a time stamp on your link or I have watched this right to the end before... I bet you put a time stamp on it though ;)
Here's one proposed explanation, I prefer it because the jump between Eukaryote and Prokaryote took so awful long in life's history on Earth. And when life did make that jump it EXPLODED in variety.
[video=youtube;aspMV6ERqpo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aspMV6ERqpo[/video]
 

FuzzySpider

FuzzySpider
It's not a paradox. We don't see life elsewhere because it doesn't exist elsewhere. Life is, scientifically, a chemical reaction that occurred on earth many years ago which hasn't finished yet. Nothing more, nothing less. Why would that happen anywhere else? And even if it did why would it on other planets in the same way it does here on planets that almost certainly have different chemical composition to earth?

It's faith-based
 

Apos

Apos
Life doesn't necessarily mean intelligent and/or technologically advanced life.

A planet with microbes would still be a planet with life.
 

specialsymbol

specialsymbol
The aliens are there.

FTL travel and comms exist.

We don't know how it works yet, so we can't notice it.


If we stopped wasting our energy, creativity and knowledge on oppressing "others" and wars we might be able to figure FTL out, too - just in time before we render the world totally unsuitable for human life (quite soon, I guess).
Then we'll find out real quick that we're absolutely not alone out there - only really uninteresting.
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
Bill Watterson

intelligence.jpg
 

Privata

Privata
Well there the thargoid and then there the small number of non tech based lifeforms that live on there own planet
 

Varrag

Varrag
Yeah it is strange that all we are seeing in universe is dead wasteland. Considering the huge scale (size and age of the universe), at least one older and much more advanced technical civilization should have left their marks all over the Milky way by now.

IMO, the most logical explanations for this so-called "Great silence" are that we are either: a) all alone; b) first, or among the first technical civilizations currently arising (bear in mind that it took 4+ billion years of evolution for intelligent life to appear on the Earth... this is a long time even on cosmological scale); c) interstellar travel is impossible; d) civilizations always destroy themselves, or degenerate (biologically) before they can really leave their home planet.
 
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Bladesteel

B
In this game we have faster than light travel, which may or may not be possible on reality. We have a huge number of commanders that have the resources to go explore, and guite a few of them do that. And yet we have barely scratched the surface of the milky way.

If there was a space faring alien race out there in real life, with FTL travel. Unless spaceships and exploration need incredibly little resources it wold take a lot of luck for them to visit any system within range of our old radio transmissions.
 

Enride

Enride
FuzzySpider said:
It's not a paradox. We don't see life elsewhere because it doesn't exist elsewhere. Life is, scientifically, a chemical reaction that occurred on earth many years ago which hasn't finished yet. Nothing more, nothing less. Why would that happen anywhere else? And even if it did why would it on other planets in the same way it does here on planets that almost certainly have different chemical composition to earth?

It's faith-based
Click to expand...

Since life emerged on this little rock, what makes you think it couldnt emerge on other rocks?
 
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specialsymbol

specialsymbol
Enride said:
Since life emerged on this little rock, what makes you think it couldnt emerge on other rocks?
Click to expand...

There have been a few recent break-throughs in this.

One is that the complex molecules needed to form DNA have been found pretty often in the universe. Not just carbon and hydrogen, molecules.

The other recent discovery was that, unlike in earlier experiments, no big energies are needed to create suitable proteins (and proteins are g complex). I think someone managed to show that you can produce proto-proteins with something like lightning and the proper ingredients, but it was relying on - well, lightning for example.

The more recent research showed that you need far less effort. Too tired now, but I can look that all up later. Have it bookmarked or posted somewhere.
 

Varrag

Varrag
Enride said:
Since life emerged on this little rock, what makes you think it couldnt emerge on other rocks?
Click to expand...

Sure it could/should. Problem is that we're not seeing nor hearing anything, not in the Milky way, not in other galaxies. It's hard to imagine that 13 billion years have passed without one single civilization managing to colonize our galaxy.

It is theorized that even with the technology we have at our disposal, we shouldn't need more than few million years to visit/colonise literally every single star in Milky way; no FTL involved. And million years is nothing on cosmic scale: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/scien...my/how-long-would-it-take-colonise-the-galaxy
 
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Privata

Privata
Varrag said:
Yeah it is strange that all we are seeing in universe is dead wasteland. Considering the huge scale (size and age of the universe), at least one older and much more advanced technical civilization should have left their marks all over the Milky way by now.

IMO, the most logical explanations for this so-called "Great silence" are that we are either: a) all alone; b) first, or among the first technical civilizations currently arising (bear in mind that it took 4+ billion years of evolution for intelligent life to appear on the Earth... this is a long time even on cosmological scale); c) interstellar travel is impossible; d) civilizations always destroy themselves, or degenerate (biologically) before they can really leave their home planet.
Click to expand...

Remeber there are other galaxy out there , so if we are the only ones here there could be others somewhere else
 

GJ51

GJ51
specialsymbol said:
I think someone managed to show that you can prodlexuce proto-proteins with something like lightning and the proper ingredients, but it was relying on - well, lightning for example.
Click to expand...

Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey - 1953
 
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Draxxen

Draxxen
Varrag said:
That's true. However, recent study of 100.000 nearby galaxies in which we were looking for signs of Kardashev's type III civilization returned zero result: http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...izations-absent-from-100-000-nearby-galaxies/
Click to expand...

The thing, though, is that all info is reaching us at the speed of light, which is pretty old info when you are looking for signs of life in other galaxies, let alone our own.

If another intelligent species outside the Milkyway had equipment that managed to pinpoint Earth and look at us directly, they would see a planet in early development. Depending on how far away they are, they might see dinosaurs, or no sign of life at all. Or no planet even.
Andromeda is the closest galaxy, 2.2 million LY away. They would see the earliest stages of man.
 
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