Are we alone?
October 14, 2022
In an inky void of darkness, hidden within an isolated alcove of the Milky Way galaxy, life evolves. And for all we know, our planet is its sole occurrence, a cosmic anomaly of this universe. As we lie on the Earth’s surface, gazing up into the infinite abyss of space, human curiosity compels the question — might there be another us?
“By observation, nature never does anything one off ever,” said upper school astronomy teacher Dr. Eric Nelson. “If you look at where we are, there’s no one of a kind anything that nature produces. So I would expect that life would not be a one-of-a-kind event on Earth.”
Indeed, Earth does not harbor life because it is special — far from it. According to a University of British Columbia analysis, an estimated 6 billion Earth-like planets are scattered throughout our galaxy, each with optimal conditions for producing life. Yet each planet we’ve examined has come up empty. Perhaps we are looking for the wrong signs.
For the last few decades, research has been primarily focused on searching other planets for technosignatures, chemical and electromagnetic signals caused by technological activity. Even light years away in space, these technosignatures are easily observable, a telltale sign of living organisms. As we scour through the universe, examining the billions of planets that might conceal life, technosignatures are our primary target. However, this strategy assumes that all life mirrors us, with sprawling cities and bustling machinery – such may not be the case.
“Intelligent life is infrequent,” Dr. Nelson said. “If you look at the history of the Earth, life has been evolving for about four billion years, and the dinosaurs dominated for 250 million years. Dinosaurs would not have gotten anybody’s attention unless you did a fly by. Nobody would have known they were here because they did not become technologically advanced.”
While technosignatures are unable to detect primitive lifeforms, given the amount of planets that may contain life, some scientists are optimistic we will eventually discover another intelligent civilization. A driving factor of our estimates on the probability for intelligent life is the Drake Equation. Utilizing constants that range from definitive, like the average rate of star formation, to highly ambiguous, like the fraction of intelligent lifeforms that develop interstellar communication, the Drake Equation has been the starting point of extraterrestrial life research for decades. While the equation’s creator Frank Drake passed away on Sept. 9, his work continues to direct our search.
As for non-intelligent lifeforms, they may be closer than calculated estimates suggest. NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has begun collecting rock samples in early 2021, many of which show promising signs of life. Given that such a finding would be unlikely, scientists will need to conduct additional examination back on Earth. As for now, only time will tell how this discovery shapes the search for extraterrestrial life.
While this progress gives hope for the future, many additional technological advancements could further our understanding of life in space. The question is, which ones would be most impactful?
“[Traveling at] warp speed, if we could do that, but being able to actually travel someplace farther outside our galaxy and being able to hear transmitted [messages],” said aeronautics club adviser Anthony Silk.
Though a warp drive would certainly be helpful, recent developments have also had a tremendous impact. The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope earlier this year is one of the premier advancements in recent history, expanding the potential scope of our search. Since initially releasing images in July, the telescope has pictured a multitude of intergalactic landmarks, notably capturing the clearest image of Neptune’s rings in 30 years. With the ability to produce such high-resolution photos, illuminating even the most hidden crevices of space, this novel technology may be one of the keys to unlocking the secrets of extraterrestrial life.
While advancements in technology can allow us to potentially discover such intelligent lifeforms, we might not be prepared for the ensuing ramifications. Movie cliches of being invaded by monstrous extraterrestrials are far-fetched, but if we happen to uncover a more technologically advanced civilization in the deep recesses of space, there may be cause for concern.
“The human history of when a more advanced technological civilization runs across a less advanced one has never worked favorably for the less advanced culture, ever,” Dr. Nelson said. “I don’t think there’s an exception to that.”
Regardless of intent, more developed civilizations can destroy less developed ones without ever being actively hostile. Consider humanity’s impact on the natural world. From a squirrel’s perspective, it is inconceivable to cut down a tree. Yet, we clear forests not out of hostility towards squirrels, but out of a desire for resources and land, motives incomprehensible to them. Likewise, if we encountered a more technologically advanced civilization, they may have incomprensible motives that inadvertently harm us.
Foreign pathogens pose yet another issue. Each planet has specialized microbes that function in its biosphere, and contacting extraterrestrial lifeforms holds a high risk of transmission. In an interconnected age where diseases can cause economic shutdowns across the globe, an interstellar virus would have unfathomable consequences. With no Earth-based precedent to conduct research or develop antibodies from, such a virus could easily eradicate the human population.
Then why should we search, or should we be searching at all? Should the potential dangers be enough to dissuade us?
“There’s an adage that says that a ship can stay safe if it stays in the harbor,” Dr. Nelson said. “But that’s not why ships are built. You got to send them out, you’ve got to take those risks. Otherwise, we’ll never get out of the harbor, never do anything.”
This mentality drives scientists’ search for extraterrestrial life. We pursue knowledge relentlessly in the hopes that our discoveries will expand our understanding about the world we live in. For, at the heart of scientific discovery lies the intrinsically human desire to explore the unexplored, to comprehend the incomprehensible. It is this unquenchable curiosity that has brought us thus far, and what motivates us to pursue the next chapter of our interstellar tale.
“[Searching for life] could tell us more about how the universe works,” Silk said. “And who knows what it could actually be? Sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking for until you actually find it, so some people are searching just to see what’s out there.”
Over a millenia ago, the first European seafarers sailed to North America. Harrowing tales accompanied their journey, telling of mythical beasts and demonic fiends that might wish them ill. Yet they embarked nonetheless, traveling into uncharted waters with no knowledge of what might await them. The search for extraterrestrial life is the same. We are unaware of what we may discover, and what the potential impact may be. But if we do find life, our world will be forever changed.
“If [extraterrestrial lifeforms] turn out to be superior to us, in terms of technology or other [advancements], then that would probably be a wake-up call that we’re not the most advanced out there,” Astronomy Club member Audrey Cheng (10) said.
Human-centric thinking remains prevalent in many communities, beliefs that the universe centers around humanity. Discovering life in space would eliminate this perspective, shattering this idealistic lens that we view ourselves through. With the potential for such great disruption, our curiosity urges us to continue searching, to ascertain a definitive answer regardless of the possible dangers.We have only explored but a small fraction of the known universe, searching on the slight off-chance that we may find something. But according to NASA, despite the improbable odds to find life, how could we possibly not search? Our desire for understanding is too strong, the potential for impact is too great. Entranced by the siren song of the universe, we cannot help but wonder at the enigmatic nature of life. It is a clarion call to our inherent curiosity, a culmination of everything that science stands for. It is what makes us human.