Several well-known people in the twenty-first century believe that the Universe is teeming with extraterrestrial life, but that humans are unable to find them due to a lack of technological means and a lack of understanding of cosmic norms. But how likely is it that this will alter in the near future?
This steadfast belief in extraterrestrial life stems from an intuitive knowledge of the Universe as a gigantic sowing mechanism that has distributed the gift of life and evolution to many places.
Elon Musk, the well-known visionary entrepreneur, is one of the believers in extraterrestrial civilizations.
He’s also on his way to becoming a new-age space exploration pioneer, with ideas that will spark humanity’s desire to explore space and make contact with our yet-to-be-discovered intergalactic neighbors.
Elon Musk’s brave endeavor is explained in an editorial by astrophysicist Adam Frank in the New York Times titled “Yes, There Have Been Aliens.”
His point of view suggests that humans aren’t the first intelligent humanoids to develop on the light blue planet. Humanity’s chances of being the only evolved species since the beginning of time are slim, less than 1 in 10 billion trillions to be more accurate.
This astounding percentage might indicate one of two things: aliens have a finite lifetime in comparison to the universal chronology, resulting in unanticipated calamities, or aliens are still present in substantial numbers among us and have developed a way to blend in globally.
This might mean that the first generation of life capable of broadcasting radio signals into space did not originate on the Sun. While no definitive evidence of alien life exists, scientists are having trouble calculating the number of intelligent species that may exist in the cosmos.
They do so by using variables from the Drake Equation, a complex and creative mathematical formula that may be used as a guide for anybody looking for definitive evidence of life in the cosmos.
While it may be tough to comprehend Drake’s Equation on your own, the scientific community is already working on a solution. The formula looks like this:
R = fp ne fl fi fe L N = R * fp ne fl fi fe L
The proportion of stars with planets is denoted by fp.
ne — number of planets that are similar to Earth.
fl – the number of Earth-like planets capable of sustaining life.
fi – the percentage of celestial bodies with life capable of giving rise to intelligent life forms.
fe — the percentage of intelligent species that can detect alien technology (i.e. ration transmissions)
L — the average number of years sophisticated civilizations have been transmitting signals.
By multiplying the two key factors with the period of time it takes for an advanced civilization to communicate, the total number of civilizations that have followed the same evolutionary path as humans is revealed.
Only if we’re talking about things that share our physical reality, not living forms from other worlds, is this accurate.
The difficult Drake Equation may be solved once correct values for each of its components are obtained. Experts think it will be conceivable in the future, but warn that searching for beings with capacities beyond those of humans will be fruitless.
According to scientists, around 3,000 nearby exoplanets have been discovered, with at least 20% of them being in habitable zones. NASA’s recent discovery of seven Earth-like planets just a few light-years away has increased the likelihood of discovering alien life in the future years.
As a consequence of this fast technical transformation, the next generation of infrared telescopes will transcend space and reach the very atmosphere of exoplanets discovered in our vicinity.
All world powers are participating to the search for extraterrestrial life, hastening the alien discovery process.
Only time will tell when and if we will discover our cosmic counterparts, but waiting for science to do the job might take far too long, so look for clues here on Earth.
After all, fresh mysteries arise on Earth every day, and there are plenty of leads to follow up on that may be categorized as alien.
