Why Haven't We Found Life Yet In the Universe?

[Dryson]

Why haven't we discovered alien life yet? Because we are the Ancients.

Latest News: Earth came early to the party in the evolving universe. According to a new theoretical study, when our solar system was born 4.6 billion years ago only eight percent of the potentially habitable planets that will ever form in the universe existed. And, the party won't be over when the sun burns out in another 6 billion years. The bulk of those planets — 92 percent — have yet to be born.

With Earth residing among the 8 percent maybe the reason why we haven't found life yet is because we are those ancients that we always see on shows like Star Trek as having been around millions of years before another civilization was born. This is one of the main reasons that humans need to seed the Universe that way we will be seen as Caretakers when the Young arrive as well as making certain that we are considered the Ancients.


We are those ancients just like the 1% of life that came before us.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/35/

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Yeah, that's one of my favourite hypotheses for explaining the Fermi Paradox. Some races get to be the Old Ones so why not us? Bags my turn to be Cthulhu.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

 

[Scotchy]

For most of human history people were oblivious to the fact radio waves bombarded the earth constantly from natural sources. Then we discovered radio, modulated and transmitted it for communication.
Unfortunately, we still think of radio as a means to communicate with another star. The time lag resulting from the extreme distance and speed of light limitations make this impractical.
I wonder if there is an as yet undiscovered method of communication that is used by civilizations other than out own. Something that once we realize it's there, we receive a tidal wave of transmissions that have been washing over us for centuries as we stood here oblivious. Just like early humans were oblivious to radio.

 

[Scotchy]

As far as life itself goes, I think we'll be finding life on other worlds in our own Solar system in the next 50 years or so. Enceladus, Europa, maybe even Titan.

 

[sojourner]

Why isn't this in the fermi paradox thread?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Because the OP doesn't know what that is?

If we're talking about our finding life elsewhere rather than the other way around, we really only just got started looking within my lifetime.

 

[scotthm]

This is one of the main reasons that humans need to seed the Universe that way we will be seen as Caretakers when the Young arrive as well as making certain that we are considered the Ancients.

Speaking for myself, I don't much care to be considered "Ancient".

---------------

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozMuMKxMRR8[/yt]

 

[Kor]

As Calvin once said, "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

Kor

 

[Trekker4747]

Because the amount of the universe we've "explored" in one form or another in any way at which we can detect life comes to looking at a single, tiniest, drop of water possible; finding no life in it, and then assuming there's no life in the entire ocean?

This is less a "Fermi Paradox" and more an "Aristotle Certainty," as it seems many humans want to be convinced that the Earth is the center of the universe and that anything that happens and can happen must happen in a way that we can observe otherwise it must not exist.

There's zero reason in the world to think that any life that's out there should have contacted us or that we should be aware of it by now. We can only observe so much, directly, with our earth-based and space-based telescopes and any incoming transmissions and stuff we only study in a narrow band and have only been doing so on a cosmic-scale a infinitesimal length of time.

The universe is utterly huge and we can only, sorta, see a fraction of it and are always finding new parts of it we never new existed (the infamous Deep Field image.) And right now have no way of looking directly at an earth-sized planet around a star in our own galaxy and in enough detail to see signs of a civilization on the surface. And because of this people want to jump to the question of "why haven't we found life in the universe yet?" What makes you think we're so special and great that we should have in only a few hundred years of even considering looking at space and a few decades of looking for signs of life on other planets?

It's like living on an isolated 100-acre farm in the middle of Kansas, stepping out on your front porch and going, "Well, I see no other humans. Must mean I'm the last man on Earth!" and then going back inside.

Kansas being the Earth and the entire universe being simply our local group of galaxies.

There's other life out there. There's other intelligent life out there. Sheer numbers and odds should tell us that that is certainty. We're aware of only life on our planet. But there's billions of planets in our own galaxy and billions of galaxies in the universe. What's more likely? That we're the only life in the entire goddamn universe or that there's life out there and it's just simply not on our front porch and it's going to take a bit longer, and more effort, to find it?

 

[N-121973]

It's like living on an isolated 100-acre farm in the middle of Kansas, stepping out on your front porch and going, "Well, I see no other humans. Must mean I'm the last man on Earth!" and then going back inside.

Kansas being the Earth and the entire universe being simply our local group of galaxies.

Unless its the Kent Farm .

On a serious note I believe the British scientist and broadcaster Brian Cox said its possible we're the only civilisation currently in the Milky Way.

 

[Magellan]

Because the amount of the universe we've "explored" in one form or another in any way at which we can detect life comes to looking at a single, tiniest, drop of water possible; finding no life in it, and then assuming there's no life in the entire ocean?

Maybe I've got this wrong but isn't the paradox part of Fermis paradox that if life were common in the universe it basically would be everywhere. Mathematically it only take a few or even one sentient species to begin colonizing the galaxy to have the whole thing teaming with life in a blink of an eye(on a cosmic scale). That no aliens have even come to us so far is a bit odd if sentient life is common. It took Homo Sapiens about 45,000 years or so once leaving Africa to colonize just about every nook and cranny on earth. It would only take a few million year to do it to the galaxy. If sentient life developed on earth during the Mesozoic(totally possible right) it could be everywhere in the Milky Way by now. So where is everybody?

 

[scotthm]

On a serious note I believe the British scientist and broadcaster Brian Cox said its possible we're the only civilisation currently in the Milky Way.

It's possible we're on the only civilized planet in the entire Universe.

---------------

 

[Trekker4747]

Because the amount of the universe we've "explored" in one form or another in any way at which we can detect life comes to looking at a single, tiniest, drop of water possible; finding no life in it, and then assuming there's no life in the entire ocean?

Maybe I've got this wrong but isn't the paradox part of Fermis paradox that if life were common in the universe it basically would be everywhere. Mathematically it only take a few or even one sentient species to begin colonizing the galaxy to have the whole thing teaming with life in a blink of an eye(on a cosmic scale). That no aliens have even come to us so far is a bit odd if sentient life is common. It took Homo Sapiens about 45,000 years or so once leaving Africa to colonize just about every nook and cranny on earth. It would only take a few million year to do it to the galaxy. If sentient life developed on earth during the Mesozoic(totally possible right) it could be everywhere in the Milky Way by now. So where is everybody?

This assumes there's any realistic or practical way to travel between star systems. It's "easy" to assume it's possible to come up with near-light or FTL methods of travel but it's just as possible that there's simply no way it can be done; or if it can be done no civilization anywhere has reached that technological level. Which also takes us to the notion of a civilization being able to reach the point of developing such technology and using it without destroying themselves. Atomic energy wasn't exactly thought of as a means to destroy cities and used in war but that's the application it got most heavily used in.

Same could be said for any FTL technology, it's too tempting to use it for destruction during internal struggles as opposed to using it to travel through the stars. Which brings in the economical considerations, if other civilizations developed any kind of economy similar to ours here it's a cost-benefit think. What's the benefit of traveling to other stars especially if it takes enormous amounts of resources to do it?

It's entirely possible that there's no way to travel the enormous distances between systems, let alone habitable or inhabited systems. It may be possible to bend and fold space, to create wormholes and so forth but the energy it takes to do it cannot be generated by any form of technology that can be achieved or if it can, no one has done it yet.

On a serious note I believe the British scientist and broadcaster Brian Cox said its possible we're the only civilisation currently in the Milky Way.

It's possible we're on the only civilized planet in the entire Universe.

---------------

I'm going to say that that is literally impossible. Simple math should tell us that. There's a countless number of planets in the universe. Utterly, totally, and completely countless. It's an absurdly huge number that throwing one out there is meaningless because it's not a number that can be grasped. It's almost too much of a number to grasp on just how many galaxies we know about.

Sectillions?

Septillions?

Octillions?

To think that we're the only planet in all of that with intelligent life on it is utterly arrogant and deluded.

1 planet in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000+ has life?

Pretty damn hard to accept because it brings into the question of what's the point of literally everything else?

We may never truly really know, either in our lifetime or in anyone else's lifetime. There's just way too much to consider when it comes to the distances and trouble in even viewing distant worlds. I think the only thing we can do is just look at the numbers and see that those alone say there's other life out there, and not just some microbe clinging to a damp rock somewhere. Somewhere out there there's intelligent life, intelligent civilizations and they struggle with the same questions.

They're just simply way too far away to see or ever visit and there's no practical way whatsoever to reach them or communicate with them.

 

[Paradise City]

Why would another species be corporeal even? Or look the way that we could even begin to assimilate, identify or even relate to?

My guess is that the universe is teeming with even sentient life. But like ships passing in the night we cannot even perceive each other.

 

[Magellan]

This assumes there's any realistic or practical way to travel between star systems. It's "easy" to assume it's possible to come up with near-light or FTL methods of travel but it's just as possible that there's simply no way it can be done; or if it can be done no civilization anywhere has reached that technological level. Which also takes us to the notion of a civilization being able to reach the point of developing such technology and using it without destroying themselves. Atomic energy wasn't exactly thought of as a means to destroy cities and used in war but that's the application it got most heavily used in.

Exotic technologies aren't required to spread life throughout the galaxy. Realistic technologies like ion drives/nuclear propulsion/solar sails are all sufficient to travel interstellar distances it just takes a while. Heck, even conventional rockets could do it in a few thousand years. Suspended animation isn't necessary, although it is a perfectly plausible technology. Just ships full of embryos and a robot to take care of them is enough. All technologies humans will likely have in less than one hundred years.. Nothing contrary to the current understanding of physics.

Point 2 is possible that no one else has the technology to do it. Just like the o.p. said maybe we are among the first.

I agree about the destructive potential of technologies. It is possible that most civilizations destroy themselves before achieving interstellar colonization. I'm not sure how I feel about that. If there were millions of sentient species in out own galaxy and they ALL manage to kill themselves.....well it's not impossible but seems harder to swallow than they just didn't exist in the first place.

 

[scotthm]

It's possible we're on the only civilized planet in the entire Universe.

I'm going to say that that is literally impossible. Simple math should tell us that.

No, your imagination tells you that.

Pretty damn hard to accept because it brings into the question of what's the point of literally everything else?

We do seem to at least agree that there is a point to the universe.

---------------

 

[Trekker4747]

It's possible we're on the only civilized planet in the entire Universe.

I'm going to say that that is literally impossible. Simple math should tell us that.

No, your imagination tells you that.

Perhaps, but an "imagination" rooted in numbers.

1 planet with life in a universe with an unfathomable number of planets in it? I think I feel good putting my money on the chances of there being another planet, lots of other planets, with life and even intelligent life on it. Because the chance of Earth being the only planet with life in it, anywhere, is pretty much 1 in infinity.

(Touch hyperbolic, since there's a finite amount of matter in the universe, but we are talking about incredibly huge numbers.)

Why would another species be corporeal even? Or look the way that we could even begin to assimilate, identify or even relate to?

For the same reason why when we look for life on solar bodies we consider things like water and the composition of any atmosphere. As far as we know life can only exist under those conditions. Before we start looking for life that's non-corporeal and doesn't need an oxygen and water-rich environment (which we've no reason to believe is possible) it's better to go with what we know.

 

[scotthm]

I think I feel good putting my money on the chances of there being another planet, lots of other planets, with life and even intelligent life on it.

Don't get me wrong -- I was never questioning your enthusiasm for the idea, just your rationalization.

Personally I can take or leave the notion of extraterrestrial civilization. If it doesn't exist then fine, and if it does we'll likely never interact with it.

---------------

 

[publiusr]

It also means we have no competition.

We can have Foundation.