The Royal Society recently held a conference to mark 50 years of searching for extra terrestrial intelligence. One of the questions that we all ask ourselves from time to time is whether we are alone in the universe or whether life exists on other planets.
Recently, however, voices in the scientific world have been warning that it might not actually be wise to search for life on other planets. They argue that as the Universe is about 14 billion years old and the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old then if there were life on other planets they are likely to be far more advanced than we are. If that was the case and they happened to find us because of signals we have sent out then it is possible they may not be as friendly as we had hoped. Therefore, some scientists say that we should keep quiet just in case !
They raise an interesting point but I have to say that I would have thought that Earth would have received some sort of electronic signals by now if there was advanced life somewhere out there. So far, there has not been any sort of signs that life may exist elsewhere.
I happen to think, though, that us humans are unique and that life on Earth was caused by a unique accident so rare that it was a one off. In other words, I think that we are alone and it is us that will one day inhabit other worlds when our own has run out of resources.
I have to say that I have, of course, no evidence whatsoever to back up my opinions, apart from the fact that I haven’t seen any sign of any alien spaceships myself yet !
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