Brian Greene tackles the question whether we are alone in the universe. Space is so vast it’s filled with trillions and trillions of stars. While we may get star struck when we look at the night sky and gaze in it’s seemingly endless sea of stars hosting countless Earth like planets, and think we could not possibly be alone in the galaxy, Physicist Enrico Fermi reminds us that we need evidence to infer the existence of aliens. Hence, his famous paradox.
But what if there was actual physical evidence to suggest extraterrestrials are communicating with us?
How would our world view change if we found out aliens made contact?
Theoretical physicist, Brian Greene thinks that one reason why we don’t see aliens all around us is because they may have destroyed themselves.
On August 15, 1977, The Ohio State University’s “Big Ear” radio telescope picked up a strong narrow-band radio signal which became known as the “Wow” signal. It remains the strongest candidate for an extraterrestrial radio transmission ever detected.
Of course radio signals are not the only way we think aliens would communicate with us. Perhaps there is a way aliens communicate that we can not even fathom. But that’s neither here nor there. Because in our perspective, there is no distinction between a civilization that is so advanced that we cannot detect, and one that doesn’t exist.
And there lies the problem with the surge of recent UFO footage. If fuzzy video clips of unidentified flying objects, or as the U.S government likes to call them, unidentified aerial phenomenon, are the only piece of evidence to suggest aliens not only exist but are also visiting us, then we most certainly are nowhere near of answering the question “Are we alone”.
If we do not hear from aliens at all, that doesn’t mean it’s evidence for their absence. But maybe that means we should be the ones that start exploring space and try to communicate with them.
If our civilization survives and goes to reach the distant stars to find life elsewhere, our descendants will be the ones who will be called aliens.
But who knows how far into the future that scenario lies, if at all.
#bgreene #aliens #science
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Sources:
“Renowned Physicist Brian Greene Draws Sold Out Crowd at College of DuPage 2018 5” by COD Newsroom is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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