Astronomers at Pennsylvania State University (USA) have criticized the arguments in favor of the Fermi paradox, according to which traces of the activity of alien civilizations are not observed in the Milky Way, although they should already be discovered if aliens really exist. According to scientists, the share of the studied space within the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, USA) project is too small to make any conclusions. The research preprint is published in the arXiv.org repository.
The Fermi paradox is used to describe the discrepancy between the optimistic estimate of the number of alien civilizations in the Galaxy, which is derived from the Drake equation, and the fact that no traces of their existence have yet been found. Scientists have offered several explanations for this: for example, aliens die before they are detected, they cannot make contact due to the planet's excessive gravity or a stop in technological development. One of the formulations of the Fermi paradox is "Fact A", according to which alien ships would have to frequent the solar system and the Earth.
However, the researchers criticized "Fact A", because even on Earth there are places where modern technologies created by humans have not penetrated. They also questioned Paul Davis' concept of "eerie silence", which indicates that there are no artificial "radio beacons" in the galaxy. Astronomers concluded that even though SETI radio listening began in the 1960s, too little has been studied to claim that there are not many radio beacons. Scientists compare this with the statement about the existence of marine animals in a glass of water scooped up from the ocean.
