Smart life is too far from us
Finding evidence of radio signals and other transmission technologies from other civilizations is doomed due to distance. Intelligent life could be too distant in terms of space and time, as the transmissions will only be discernible within a limited volume of space.
Already extinct
It is also possible that civilizations are not around long enough for us to pick up on extraterrestrial transmissions. In fact, a recent study co-authored by Frank Drake, the famous American astronomer who conceived the Drake Equation, argued that any extraterrestrial signals picked up by human observers likely come from a long-extinct civilization.
A cosmic oddity
It could be that we have not yet found any kind of intelligent life because it is a rarity in our universe and therefore, the time we have been looking for is not enough to find this needle in the haystack. It is a suggestion that fits with more conservative estimates using the Drake equation.
is hibernating
What if existing civilizations are in a state of cryogenization or similar? This possibility was suggested by Oxford research associate Anders Samberg and his colleagues at the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI). In their 2017 study titled, “That which is not dead can lie forever: the estivation hypothesis to solve the Fermi paradox”, they suggest that intelligent life could find itself in a prolonged process of lethargy waiting for better conditions to awaken.
We don’t know what to look for
At the moment, we only know of one planet that is capable of supporting life. Our. And only one example of technologically advanced life, the human being. For this reason, all of our searches for biosignatures and technosignatures are based exclusively on what we know. But, life could have many chemical forms and possibilities. Where do we start? Scientists are not very sure, hence our search for now is based on signatures of organisms as we know it, but there could be many other types of life out there.
We are looking in the wrong places
What if we are doing it wrong? For now we are striving to find life in terrestrial (rocky) bodies that resemble Earth. This is where Mars comes in, but many researchers feel our efforts should focus elsewhere in the solar system like Europa and other “ocean worlds.” A completely aquatic intelligent life perhaps?
We have been looking for a short time
In cosmological terms, humanity can be considered an “advanced” civilization for a very short time. Radio telescopes, for example, have barely existed since the 1930s. Perhaps not enough time has passed for aliens to pick up our radio transmissions or for us to identify theirs.
It’s here
How? Yes. One of the most popular suggestions postulates that aliens not only exist but have already been moving among us for a long time, a hypothesis at least striking that will surely delight all fans of the field of science fiction. Of course, until we find examples of extraterrestrial life, we will not know for sure how life could have evolved in a different way from ours.
Until then, “long life and prosperity.”
