Scientists have solved the Fermi paradox
In 1920, Albert Einstein rightly remarked: "Why should the Earth be the only planet with life?" American scientists think so too. Experts published their research in the prestigious journal The Astronomical Journal. Scientists believe that they have developed a solution to the Fermi paradox, which sounds like this: aliens exist, but do not want to communicate with us. Or maybe they have already visited Earth billions of years ago and do not see the point in returning.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that there are several intelligent life forms in our galaxy. Study lead author Jonathan Carroll-Nellenbeck said in an interview with Business Insider: “If you leave out the motion of the stars when trying to solve the Fermi paradox, you are left with one of two things: either no one leaves their planet, or we are virtually the only technological civilization in the galaxy..
The researchers' theory is based on the fact that stars and planets revolve around the center of the Milky Way at different speeds and in different directions. From time to time, stars and planets are close to each other, so scientists believe that aliens can travel to those places in the galaxy that are closer to them. However, for this kind of travel, civilizations will need more time to settle in the galaxy than previously thought.
Taking this into account, scientists believe that aliens may not have reached us yet, or, if they had already, they could have visited Earth long before we evolved.
This is how the observable universe looks like. Perhaps alien civilizations are not so far from us.
The conclusions of the scientists are supported by the head of the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University, Israeli physicist Avi Loeb. He did not take part in the research, but he has been searching for life outside our planet for many years and has written over 500 scientific papers. The situation is complicated by the fact that we have no evidence of the existence of alien life forms, according to Loeb. We did not detect a single signal from distant stars in our galaxy and did not find any traces of aliens visiting our planet.
According to the scientist, the question is how to deal with this lack of evidence. “I have come to the conclusion that we must continue to look for evidence, because we can find it in the most unexpected places,” says Loeb. The physicist proposes not to pay attention to speculators and conspiracy theorists, but to continue looking for answers and conducting research. In the end, there is only one reality.
Promotional video:
How many civilizations are there?
If you've watched the 1996 sci-fi movie Contact, starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, you can safely assume that if alien civilizations exist, they don't last long. "Contact" is based on the book of the same name by the astronomer and popularizer of science Carl Sagan. The novel tells about the most scientifically realistic contact of mankind with an alien civilization. One of the main questions asked by the protagonists is the question of how developed civilizations survived scientific and technological progress and did not destroy themselves?
A still from the science fiction film Contact.
Avi Loeb believes that other civilizations could have suffered this sad fate. However, this does not mean that we will not be able to find evidence of their existence. After all, many studies in this area do not properly account for how the Milky Way galaxy moves.
However, if an alien civilization has existed for a sufficiently long time and has not sunk into oblivion before the nearest inhabited star system approached their planet, then such a civilization may disappear before the aliens leave their solar system.
How many intelligent civilizations do you think there are in our galaxy?
Lyubov Sokovikova
