Are we truly alone in this universe?

Question

If there are an infinite number of stars out there in this great big universe, then where are all the alien races? Why have they not contacted us yet? Why are we not picking up any ET signals? This can only mean one thing: We ARE alone in this universe. It must truly be a lonely place indeed. If not, then we are the only intelligent beings in existence? This'll also be pretty lonely for us. Does any1 agree?

Answer 1

So far we've seen no verifiable evidence of other sentient species. That said, I believe with some certainty that somewhere in our galaxy at some past, present, or future time, a sentient species did/does/will exist.

Why haven't we heard from them?

Perhaps they are not technologically advanced enough to be heard. They may be mastering stone knives right now, or experiencing their own Rennaisance.

Perhaps they are here right now. Any species sufficiently advanced to travel interstellar distances would be able to hide or masquerade with ease. That Boeing 737 that just flew by may be a surveillance craft.

Perhaps they are so far away they will never notice us and vice versa.

Perhaps they existed a million years ago and died out.

Perhaps they will exist a million years from now.

It is really impossible to know for sure.

The Drake Equation suggests that there is sentient life out there. The Fermi Paradox casts doubt. Play around with the calculation form at the second link and see what you think.

Answer 2

Maybe they're not advanced enough to send signals to space.
Maybe they don't care to.

Maybe they're just too far, and signals from them wouldn't have reached here yet. Did you see the movie Contact? It makes the good point that humans have only been making electromagnetic signals strong enough to reach into space for about 70 years. There are only about 30 stars within 12 light years. Even if we assume that it increases a lot after that, that's still a tiny portion of all the stars in all the faraway galaxies.

There could still certainly be life, although it's difficult to say how common it is or how likely it is that we'll eventually encounter it.

Answer 3

1st of all there is NOT an infinite number of stars in the universe, this is explained by Olbers' paradox. Which states, if there where an infinite number of stars in the night sky, every point would be filled with starlight and the sky would constantly glow. Now, the universe is only 13.4(approx) billion years old. Life on earth has only been around approximately 20,000 years. When we send signals into space, it takes an extremely long time for them to reach even the nearest star which is Proxima Centarie. This star is 4.3 light years away, meaning it would take 4.3 years for radio signals to reach us. Assuming life on another world occurred, say, 30,000 years ago, and we also assume it took them the same amount of time to produce radio signals, they would have been broadcasting for about the last 10,000 years. Meaning life has either advanced beyond using radio signals or it is more than 10,000 light years away(If they started 10,000 years before us which is unlikely)

Dear Person below me: Good job, not to often you find some one who knows what there talking about but, look up the paradox, light dos not disappear it thins, if there were an infinite number of stars than every point (you are thinking of negative infinity, the paradox is difficult to explain, just think EVERY point has a star and leave it at that) would contain star light, also the universe is about 13.5 years old, we no this because of red shift...I will stop there, or i will go on for days, I canot direct you to a site (But im sure they exist) but I can recomend a good book on the subject, Parallel Worlds.

Dear person FAR bellow me: lol you think your an alien...moron

Answer 4

We have visited earth for eons. You have not been evolved enough to deal with us and you may not survive as a species long enough to do so. Over the centuries, your planet was a curious place to visit once or twice and was not considered very interesting . Sure, your wars showed us how undeveloped you are as a species. Your infantile,(in cosmic terms) dependence on god concepts does not bode well for you and neither does your penchant to breed beyond your planet's ability to sustain you. We are now showing an interest in you because it is not often that we get to observe a species commit suicide. You are so close to maturing as a sentient species and it will be a shame to see you kill yourselves. There are just not enough of you becoming rational enough to force the issue. You let the least among you determine your fate, so be it.

Answer 5

No one knows the answer to this. We know of a universe of 93 billion light years in diameter containing 70 sextillion (7 x 10^22 )visible stars. But we have found no evidence that we aren't alone.

Answer 6

That we have not seen extraterrestrial it doesnt essentially mean that they do not exist. it sounds,I believe,a bit selfish from our part to say that in the universe only in the earth there are living beings.Why we do not have communicated with them is another subject. many things can be happening as that also they are in the same situation with us:cannot communicate for technical reasons. Not because they are not intelligent beings(im not saying that this can not happen).

Answer 7

First of all, there COULD be an infinite number of stars - not all of them shine in the same intensity. In fact, out of the trillions upon trillions of stars we can only "see" around 20000 in the night sky on both hemispheres - so according to your theory are there only 20000 stars in the universe?

It would be terribly egocentric of ourselves to think that out of the unfathomable number of solar and potential solar systems, we're the only one in the whole universe. The expanse of space needs to be understood before claims like "no body's calling me" are to be taken seriously. I think you should visit this site (http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/) and try to build a solar system with some conceivable measurements (like making the Earth 2cm in diameter)... and just get a grasp of how big our solar system is.

Apply that to known technologies, like Radio and the speed of light, and you'll soon discover that we (as the human race) are very far from having the tools to explore or be explored by current technologies. There would have to be a few centuries worth of technological progress before such steps could be taken... even to detect some superior presence. As advanced as they should be to cover such distances, being invisible shouldn't be too hard for them. So even if we're being visited... there's no way for us to know at this time.

Answer 8

we are able to speak approximately odds. we are able to speak approximately unique telescopes and scientific instrumentation that would not yet exist. we are able to speak approximately radio telescopes and the "Wow" sign. it particularly is all organic hypothesis. to this point as i'm worried, we are thoroughly on my own interior the Universe (a threat that even Carl Sagan took heavily-- watch the sequence "Cosmos", the place he discusses the very fact the "somebody should be the 1st"). If we are no longer on my own, then we ought to act and behave as though we are. there has been no touch by using radio sign, no beacon interior the night, no shining deliver dropping silently into our ecosystem. If there are different civilizations interior the variety of our searches, they have been remarkably silent. If we sometime get carry of the evidence you assume, our international gets replaced constantly. until that day would come, we ought to understand that our place is beneficial. we actual are not doing the flaws that could point out that we are attentive to our unique place interior the Universe.

Answer 9

Probably most of the inhabited planets are populated by dumb animal species with no intelligent ones. Earth has God knows how many dumb species and only one intelligent one, so the dumb species is probably going to be far more common elsewhere also. Interstellar travel is also far more difficult than most people realize.

Answer 10

Have you seen television or heard radio? If you were an intelligent life-form, would you come to Earth? I'd look at the images and think, "Those guys are crazy. I'm not going anywhere near them."