Where Are the Aliens?

With the large abundance of stars and planets in the Milky Way and beyond, is the chance of alien life that impossible? This contradiction is named the Fermi paradox, whereas though there is a large probability for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, there is a lack of evidence. There are many hypothetical explanations from sociological, economic, and evolutionary standpoints, such as that alien species have yet to develop advanced technology, that alien species may not live on planets, and that physical travel is too costly and slow through space. An explanation that is the most plausible is that there has only been a small space in time that humans have tried to contact aliens.

Before the radio telescope was invented in 1937, there were not many ways to detect life outside of Earth. On a cosmological scale, between then and now is not a large amount of time. It is possible that humans have not been looking long enough and that it may take longer to find a substantial amount of evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. During those years, not much was found, and not much can be explained. For example, the Wow! Signal, a radio signal found in 1977, was thought to be sourced from an alien intelligence, but since, the signal has not been replicated. There is no way in knowing the source of where the radio signal actually came from and is still argued by many scientists. Because space communication is rather new, there is a lack of past knowledge, thus there are not any plausible explanations for the Wow! signal. Nevertheless, as advancements and experiments continue, there may be an answer.

Recently, there have been many attempts with new and improved technological devices to search stars and galaxies for radio and laser signals that could indicate extraterrestrial life. Some rovers trek through the nearby planets of the Solar System, like Mars, to find evidence that some type of life, whether it be large or small, exists somewhere other than Earth. As time progresses, more expeditions and missions will occur, where new discoveries will be found. Hopefully, with new and advancing technology and ways of communication, extraterrestrial life may be known. Being patient is key.