Are we alone in the universe? If not, will we ever make contact?

Answer 1

I do not think we are alone in the universe. As said above the drake equations calculates the probability that life could exist on other planets. The number we get out of the equation is very small in comparison to the size of the universe. It gets even smaller when we talk about intelligent life. We are just now finding out about extremophiles which are bacteria that live in the most extreme of conditions here on earth. Now if we can have life in the most extreme environments on earth such as ice and near volcanoes then why can't this life exist on similar environments in space. I think we will find these forms of extremophile bacteria on planets, moons, and even asteroids and comets right in our own solar system in the very near future. As for intelligent life that we can make contact with, that may be in the far off future for us but I do not doubt that one day it will happen.

Answer 2

We do have the Drake equation, as mentioned before, which isn't a proof at all but gives a certain perspective about the possibility of life anywhere else in the universe. The problem is that it doesn't take time into account, only space.

If you think about it with time in the loop, considering that we exist, we can probably assume there were other forms of life in the universe, at some point in time. We can also assume that there will be others in the future.

However, as far as making contact, I can't tell but I doubt it. First because being alive doesn't mean you are intelligent enough to evolve and spread into space. Second, if you do evolve to that extent, a lot of things can happen to you before you can actually find another life form.

But anyway, we can always hope. And if we end up finding some form of life anywhere else in our solar system, we might find out that life is the norm in the universe, not the exception...

Answer 3

The universe is so big and the number of planets (probably) so huge, that it would be overwhelmingly likely (although not certain) that there is a civilization out there at least as advanced as ours, and probably much more advanced.

At the speed of light it would take a radio message 100,000 years to cross our galaxy and there are about 200 Billion Galaxies each containing about 1 to 2 hundred billion stars, many of which may have planets.

Because of the distances involved and the limitations of our present search capabilites it will probably be a hundred or more years before we make contact. This conclusion saddens me, but unless some new technology pops up soon, it seems that someone in their 50's like me may not be alive to see it happen, but it certainly is something I would LOVE to see.

Answer 4

We can't know for certain right now; we can only guess. But tools such as the Drake Equation make it easier to make more educated guesses.

The equation is N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL, and encourages us to think about what factors determine whether or not we are alone in the universe (although the equation is tailored just for our galaxy, since other galaxies are so far away). Whether or not we are alone depends on what assumptions you make for the various factors, wheN*re N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy that are able and willing to communicate with us.

N* is the number of stars in the galaxy, which is about 100 billion.

fp is the fraction of those stars that have planetary systems. We don't really know this, but the more we look, the more planet's we're finding in places we never thought we would find them.

ne is the number of planets per star that are capable of supporting life. We know of at least one is our system, Earth, and it seems likely that in the past and possibly the present, other planets may have been capable of supporting life. We know that Mars once had liquid water. It's possible Venus once could have supported life, and several of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn could possibly support life now, most notably Europa. On the other hand, many of the planetary systems we're finding today are around stars that could not possibly support life.

fl is the fraction of planets on which life can evolve where it actually does evolve. The only example we have here is Earth, and we've found evidence that life started pretty much as soon as Earth was capable of supporting it. Life has been around for most of our planet's history, so it seems reasonable to conclude that where life can exist, it will, so this will be a fairly large fraction.

fi is the fraction of planets where life develops where it also develops intelligence. Using the same criteria as above, this fraction is probably much smaller than fl, since while it took life maybe a hundred million to half a billion years to develop in the first place, it took four billion years to reach intelligence. Since this is about halfway through our planet's lifespan, it may be reasonable to assume that about 50% of life-bearing planets will reach intelligence at some point.

fc is the fraction of intelligent civilizations that develop the ability and have the willingness to communicate across interstellar distances. It took us about 6,000 years to reach this point, so comparing that to the 4 billion years it took to just reach intelligence, it seems reasonable that intelligence will naturally lead to communicative species more often than not.

fL is the fraction of the life of our planet that our species will exist as a communicating, intelligent life form. We've been communicating for less than 100 years so far, but how much longer we can go is completely subjective (as many of these factors are). How long do you think we'll last?

The website listed below explains much of this as well, and gives you a little toy where you can play with the various factors, give them your own assumptions and figure out how many civilizations YOU think there are in the galaxy. You can then use the spatial volume of the galaxy, about 30,000,000,000,000 light years, and figure out the statistical probability of how close our nearest neighbor is.

It means nothing, but using my own assumptions, I figure our nearest neighbor is about 80 light years away. Far enough that they'll be picking up our very first interstellar transmissions pretty soon, and it'll take another 80 years to hear back from them, but close enough that someday we'll reach them.

Answer 5

We are probably not alone in the universe.

We will probably never "make contact" with anyone.

The universe is a VERY large, VERY old place. the shear volumes of space and the incredible time scales involved mean that the likelihood of two civilizations existing in reasonable proximity of either time or space is so slim as to be improbable in the extreme.

Consider that the entire span of human history is about 5,000 years, while the age of the universe is about 13,000,000,000 years. For two civilizations to be "in contact" they need to evolve, reach a technological level, and not destroy themselves within a very small window. It's not completely impossible, but it is not something to bet your pay-packet on.

Answer 6

Unless they're the ones who are responsible for intelligent life on this planet in the first place, why would they want to contact us? Compared to some more intelligent species that probably exist in the universe, we could be to them like ants are to us - pretty stupid, so why would they want to bother with us?
Chances are, we aren't alone, but we'll never find them - they'll find us- since our space program moves along at less than a snail's pace.

Answer 7

No. Probabilatiy says it is almost impossible for there to be so many planets in our universe and not have atleast one other living organism. But contact is not so easy. For that so many variebles would have to be just right for that to happen.

Answer 8

impossible to think out of an endless amount of galaxies and solar systems that we are alone...and contact may or maynot be made. i guess it is possible to think for those that lack an open mind to accept such a concept...like the universe revolves around the earth.

Answer 9

I have hope that we are not alone. But any one out there might think we are a bit young. I mean, we have such stupid ideas! Racism, sexism, prejudice, and hatred. *_* We must look pretty lame to more advance life forms out there. We do tend to kill each other a lot. So maybe they are just waiting for us to grow up first. Be for asking us to join them.
TinckerBell

Answer 10

I will make a prediction that in the next few years some kind of contact will be public knowledge.