(Photo: Pixabay/ Amber Avalona)
Humans have been searching for aliens for decades, but there is still no concrete proof of their existence. Some wonder why the extraterrestrials haven't contacted us when they are presumably more advanced than us, and here's one probable reason why.
Why Aliens Haven't Contacted Us
Various speculations and theories exist regarding the existence of aliens. Some believe they are already living with humans but have kept themselves hidden. Others speculate that they didn't want to be associated with us.
A recent study suggested that aliens probably did not contact us because it's challenging for intelligent and communicating life to evolve on other planets, suggesting a scarce alien civilization.
The likelihood of several active, communicating civilizations in space seems unlikely when additional considerations are taken into account, such as the percentage of habitable planets that house any life at all and the potential lifespan of a signal-emitting civilization.
An alien civilization's existence is "so rare" that we have little chance of communicating with them, according to Taras Gerya, a geophysicist at the research university ETH Zurich in Switzerland and one of the study's authors. He compared the prospect of an alien civilization to "winning the lottery."
The number of sophisticated, communicative civilizations in our galaxy is thought to be relatively high; however, estimates vary greatly. They all make predictions using the Drake Equation, a sophisticated yet straightforward method.
The Drake equation, developed in 1961 by astronomer Frank Drake, computes an answer by considering several inputs rather than making any predictions. According to a new hypothesis, the Milky Way galaxy should include at least 36 civilizations. Drake calculated that 10,000 or more civilizations might spread over our galaxy, creating a vibrant, Star Wars-like environment. On the other hand, the current research figures are far lower.
However, a recent study suggested fewer results. As few as four galaxies out of ten thousand may have a single civilization. However, having one or two in each galaxy is still feasible.
Other Theories Behind the Lack of Alien Contact
Astronomy professor Dr. Frederick Walter discussed the lack of communication between humans and aliens and shared one morbid theory about why we couldn't reach extraterrestrial civilizations.
He acknowledged that there were several possibilities as to why we still had not met aliens. One plausible theory is that there are no more alien civilizations because they have been wiped off by gamma-ray bursts (GBs).
A tremendous "supernova" of radiation is produced when a giant star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses under its weight. These powerful explosions, called GRBs, have been observed in distant galaxies.
Walter said it's a tight-focused beam, and when directed at a galactic plane, it could annihilate about 10 percent of the galaxy's planets.
Another theory suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) may have served as the "Great Filter." The Great Filter theory suggests that technological species cannot become multi-planetary, and with a single home, the species are more vulnerable to extinction or stagnation.
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