Fermi Paradox Explained: Are We Alone in the Universe? Is Drake Equation the Solution?

Space reports recently came out with information about Fermi Paradox. As specified in the Live Science report, Fermi Paradox refers to the separation between the high possibility that extraterrestrial intelligence exists and that there is no evidence for such extraterrestrial beings.

Describing the paradox, Sir Arthur Clarke, a British science-fiction author, said there are two possibilities for such an occurrence: either humans are alone in the universe, "or we are not." Both, he added, "are equally terrifying."

Many experts since have contended with the same question about the reason, considering the multitude of stars and planets in the Milky Way, they say, "have we not heard from anyone?"

This issue is known as Fermi Paradox, and there are numerous possible solutions, some more terrifying compared to others.

Fermi Paradox

Essentially, Fermi Paradox is a problem that's asking where all the extraterrestrial beings are. If there is abundance in life, why hasn't the universe been visited by or heard from anyone else?

NASA said, in just the last 20 years, it has found over 4,000 planets outside the solar system, with trillions of stars believed to exist in the galaxy, most of which are hosting their own planets.

Considering life sprang up here on Earth, would there hasn't been expected to begin in at least one

other sites in the universe's last 14 billion years.

Enrico Fermi, an Italian-American physicist, was the one who developed Femi Paradox, according to the Planetary Society.

He is believed to have come up with the notion in a so-called "throwaway remark over lunch" together with his colleagues in 1950 when he asked, "Where is everybody?"

He wondered, given that the Earth was somewhat young compared to the universe, someone might have been expected to have been visited this planet by now, although there had been no evidence of that ever happening.

Solutions to the Problem

There are several solutions to Fermi Paradox. The most evident, and likely, is that researchers merely haven't looked hard enough to discover other life, as well as interstellar travel between stars, is a struggle.

The very first planet outside the Earth's solar system was only detected in the 1990s. It means that the surface of investigating other worlds has barely been begun to be scratched.

For instance, many planets that look exactly like Earth have yet to be found, orbiting stars like the sun, although future telescopes are hoped to have the capability of being able to detect in the coming 10 to 20 years.

Even then, the distances between the star systems are described as "colossal," making journeys between them a struggle.

The Great Filter and the Great Equation

Essentially, the Great Filter is the notion that catastrophic occurrences, either manmade or natural, result in intelligent life being extinguished on livable worlds before they get a chance to expand their reach into the universe.

These occurrences could be one of them among the many things. They might be powerful solar flares, asteroid effects, climate change, or probably, something of the own doing of the planet like a nuclear apocalypse, for one.

If such an idea is correct, it remains unclear if this planet has already passed the filter or it has yet to be reached.

In relation to this, the Drake Equation is an idea that American astronomer Frank Drake proposed in 1961 that several potential civilizations in the universe can be calculated if a few key variables are known.

Drake Equation is explained in BrainStuff's YouTube video below:

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