Why are We Searching for Life in the Skies?
How can we test the idea that the transition from nonlife to life is simple enough to happen repeatedly? The most obvious and straightforward way is to search for a second form of life on Earth. No planet is more Earth-like than Earth itself, so if the path to life is easy, then life should have started up many times over right here.
Full article on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Fascinating article. And very persuasive. If it is easy for life to emerge, it should have happened more than once on earth.
Ken, there are alternative life forms here. I’ve met some of them.
Interesting article. Sentient life barely exists on Earth, so in spite of the interesting microbes we may discover on the home planet, there is still merit to exploring the universe for other intelligent life. The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest. For every grain of sand (10 to the 18th) there are 10,000 stars (10 to the 23rd).
Perhaps the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.
Acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking has some interesting thoughts on the merits of trying to make contact with alien life forms. Interviewed for a Discovery Channel documentary, he said…
“If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.”
Surely beings smart enough to travel through space would also be smart enough to know that trade is better (for all parties) than predation.
I don’t think it’s in our best interest to go searching for intelligent life out in the universe. I bet there’s at least one or two species of aliens that would find humans to be crispy and delicious.