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The great silence or why haven’t we found any aliens yet? (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 day ago by neutronbumblebee@mander.xyz to c/science@mander.xyz

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A long read introduction to the topic - from We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters

"The search for exoplanets is radically expanding our understanding of the cosmos. “We have learned that the universe is teeming with a fascinating variety of planets, more types than we could have imagined,” writes the astrobiologist Lisa Kaltenegger. But so far, it has found exactly as many extraterrestrials as radio astronomy has: zero. The more we learn about the universe, the more acute the Fermi paradox becomes."

Photo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi

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[–] neutronbumblebee@mander.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago

Well the Drake equation is quite speculative but we are gradually filling in blanks. Exoplanets for example. It's just those last few terms that are tricky. If we found evidence of prehistoric life on Mars that might help as well. But the general response that intelligent life is always doomed and we all deserve to die for making occasionally stupid decisions is unhealthy I agree.