Do Aliens Exist?

Toanswerthisquestionwearegoingtobreakitintothreeparts,the
probabilityofaliensexisting,theprobabilityofthembeingabletocontact
us,andtheprobabilityofthemevolving.Togetherthesepartswilladdress
theentirequestion.

The Drake Equation

Frank Drakes
interestingapproachtothisquestioninvolvedwritinganequation.This
equationshedslightonmanythingsthatyouneedtotakeintoaccountwhileaddressingthe
questionofalienexistenceinthegalaxy.

Whenyousolvethisequationyoufindthefollowing

So,theprobabilityofaliensexistingislookinggood,ifyou'reoptimistic.

Kardashev Civilizations

In1964,SovietastronomerNikolaiKardashevfirstproposedtheKardashevScale,which
isawayofmeasuringacivilization'sleveloftechnologicaladvancement.Thescalestartsat
TypeIwhicharesimilartowesterncivilization*,withmoreadvancedtechnology,andconsumes
inbetween10^12and10^16wattsofenergy.

Artist rendition of a Type I civilization:

*Currentlywearesomewhereinbetween.7and.72asfarastheKardashevscalegoes.

TypeIIcivilizationswouldengageinfeatsofplanetaryengineeringexpanding
throughouttheirentiresolarsystem.Theywould/couldmineandinhabitotherplanetsintheir
solarsystemwithouttravelingoutofit.TheupwardsendofaTypeIIcivilizationcouldpossibly
createaDysonSphere.Aspherethatenclosesastarthatwouldbeabletoharnessalmostall
ofthestarsenergy.

Dyson Sphere:

TypeIIIcivilizationsareahugestepupfromTypeII,TypeIIIwouldbeabletoharness
allofthematerialandenergyofanentiregalaxy(containingabout10^1110^12stars).ATypeII
civilizationconsumes10^12morewattsofenergythanaTypeI,andaTypeIIIhas10^12more
wattsofenergythanaTypeII.TypeIIIwouldofcoursebecapableofspacetravelandwould
haveanadvancedknowledgeoftheuniverse.Theycouldalsoenhancethemselvesbiologically
andmechanically,evencreatingcyborgs.

Hypothetical Type IV and V

TypeIVandVcivilizationswouldextendacrossentiregalaxiesandpossiblyourentire
observableuniverse.Theycouldmanipulatespaceandeventime(TypeV).Alsohighlevel
civilizationslikethesecouldcoexistinotherparalleluniverses.Rightnowthisisallspeculation,
butthesecivilizationscouldexistandbeleavingusaloneorstudyingustofindoutmoreabout
theirpast.

Can we Contact: Conclusion

Asyoucansee,thereisalotofpotentialforwhatwecandowithtechnology.Itlooksas
thoughwecancommunicatewithmostTypesofcivilizations,aslongaswecantranslatetheir
languagetoours.IfaTypeIII,IV,orVcivilizationexiststheymighthavecreatedafasterwayof
communicationsthanelectromagneticwavelengths,(radiowaves).Anotherpointthatmaymake
contactimpossibleisthattheuniverseisexpandingatanexponentialratemeaningthatthings
willbegettingfurtheraway,andinthefuturewewon'tbeabletoseeanything.

Intelligent Life?
Theprobabilityoflifearisingislow,andourownscientistsstillhavenotfiguredouthowwe
started.HoweverwecanNOTconcludethatthereisotherlifeintheuniverse,butwecan
speculate.Evenifintelligentlifeisnowhereelseintheuniversetheremightstillbesimplelife.
Therecouldonlybesinglecelledorganisms.Forinstancesomebelievethatlifeonearthstarted
fromanasteroidwithcellsonitcrashingontoEarth.Thecellsthenhadrightconditionstolive
andmultiplyandeventuallycreatecomplexlife.

Tardigrades
a.k.aWaterbearsaresmallcreaturesthatsomewhatresembleacaterpillar
butare,whenfullgrown,onlyaboutamillimeterlong.Waterbearscanliveaverylongtime
withoutwaterorairandcansurviveinincrediblycoldtemperatures,suchasinspace.Scientists
arestillstudyinghowtheydothis,butmanytestshaveconfirmedtheirattributes.Somebelieve
thattheyoriginatedonanotherplanet.Tardigradescouldbeevidenceofextraterrestriallife,
howevernonintelligentlife.

Tardigrades

Intelligent Life: Conclusion

Theirisnoconclusiveevidencetosupporttheexistenceofintelligentlifeanywherebutearth.
ScientisthavebeentransmittingsignalsoutintotheuniverseforalongtimeandHaven'tyet
foundanything.Alsowehavebeenlisteningtobackgroundsoundsforalongtimeaswelland
alsohavenotfoundanything.Toputthisintoperspectivewehavebeentransmittingradio
signalsintospaceforaround50years,andthesignalswearesendingtravelatthespeedof
light.Thesingleshavetraveledabout293,900,000,000,000miles,andwestillhaven'tfound
anything.Meaningthatsomeofthestarsyouseeatnighthaven'tevenreceivedasignal.

Do Aliens Exist: Conclusion

TheChanceslookveryslimastheyare,weshouldweverythankfulthatweevencameabout,
consideringwecannotfindlifeanywhereelse.Weshouldstillbeoptimisticthatwecanfind
otherlife,butthesearchcontinues.As
ArthurC.Clarke
stated,
Twopossibilitiesexist:eitherwe
arealoneintheUniverseorwearenot.Bothareequallyterrifying.