If we are not alone in the Universe, then why is the cosmos so quiet? Why can't we hear anything out there?

Question

I know that I am not the first to ask this question. Many, many have asked it before.

By the calculations of many prominent astronomers (like Drake) there could be billions and billions of intelligent civilizations out there in space. Many of them could be millions of years ahead of us. They might have developed radio technology MILLIONS of years ago.

So one would think that there would be endless communications, messages, pulses, and images floating around out there. There would have been things traveling through the cosmos from far, far away and we should be picking them up.

Why aren't we?

We have heard nothing, this far.

Why is this?

Could it be that we are alone? Or that it just happens that all the other civilizations out there are 'pre-radio'?

I just don't get it.

And while this question has been asked before, I have just never heard a really good answer to it.

What are your thoughts about this?

Thank you.

As far as I have heard, the SETI Project has never picked up anything that they think could be coming from another world or other lifeforms.

Answer 1

I'm going to put this really simple for you.........Research for yourself how big our solar system is,.....the distance to the next star system,.....Our Galaxy,.....the next galaxy,Andromeda,.....The local group of Galaxys,...etc......We have not even left our Solar System yet because we do not have the technology. Even if alien life forms are out there (I believe they are) , it would probably take them millions of years to reach us too.

Answer 2

To add just a few points to the good points already made...
It is true we have not heard anything because sound does not travel through a vacuum. What we have detected is an enormous variety of electromagnetic radiation in the form of light, radio waves, gamma rays, etc, all things that travel at the speed of light.

If there were life on other planets and that life had developed the intellegence and the technology to communicate by radio waves and they were using radio signals that varied in some manner that our analysis would recognize as communication (vs some "naturally occurring" source) then the time frame would still have to correspond to our ability to hear it. If this had happened millions of years ahead of us, then the chances are pretty good that their civilization became extinct millions of years ago as well. Since we have only had the technology to "listen" for a very short time and only very very recently begun to actively listen at all and even now we listen to only a tiny fraction of the universe we can see, it is not too surprising that we have not "heard" anything yet.

It is even possible we have heard communication but we did not recognize it. We can not even interpret the songs of whales, creatures we can observe directly while they are making sounds.

It may be that we are alone but it would certainly be interesting to discover that we are not.

Answer 3

the SETI project has been active since the 60's, so we have only been able to hear signals from 60 lightyears away.

and even if they developed radio communication millions of years ago it still not very likely it has reached us considering that the universe is an estimated 92 lightyears in diameter, and thats just the part we can see.

and what are the chances the civilization is even using radio signals. think about it, we havent been using them for that long, and im sure well find a new form of communication shortly. thats an extremely short period. the civilization could have already developed or just hasnt yet. maybe they just skipped radio altogether.

and SETI has received signals that could be extra terrestrial. look up the "wow!" signal

Answer 4

It's ridiculous to think aliens would use radio waves to conduct regular business. Contracts negotiated over 20 - 200 years??? No way! We're looking in the wrong place. We need to be looking at theoretical FTL communication systems. SETI is a waste of time and money.

Answer 5

Because if the Aliens were contacting us and they are about 5 billion light years away,it will take 5 billion years to reach us and by that time.We are now extinct.Mybe there signal is now along the way and we should wait to reach us.

Answer 6

ahhhh But you are wrong, In 1977 Seti did pick up a signal from 200 light years away in the constalation Sagitarious,, It is known as the WOW signal, After it picked up the signal it heard it for a short time and after that it was never heard from again,,

Here is a video about it,,, enjoy;)

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewvideo.php?id=3SkUChBl06c&tid=111870

Answer 7

It could be that they've all switched over to fiber optics, as we are now doing. Or a million other reasons.


Ummmm, B.? Radio waves do not travel at the speed of sound, okay? They are electromagnetic waves, and travel at the speed of light.

Answer 8

There could be other forms of life that do not communicate in the same ways that we do. Their technology (if any) could be totally different.

Answer 9

The distances are so vast, it takes a mighty long time for signals to cross all that space.

Answer 10

Sound travels faster through water than through air, faster at sea level than 50,000'. The denser the object the faster the speed of sound. the opposite is also true. Now the density of Space???