Communicating with other intelligent
civilizations in the universe

» The search for extraterrestrial life

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Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

 

or hundreds of years, humans

have asked “Are we alone in
the universe?” This question has
been particularly prominent in
the last century, as we begin to
learn much more about space
and the origins of the human
race. We are coming to realize
the sheer size of the universe and
the possibility of other Earth-like
planets, leading to speculation
that it’s only a matter of time
before extraterrestrial life is
found.

The Fermi Paradox asks the
question, “If aliens exist, where
are they?” There are billions
of stars just in the Milky Way
galaxy. Billions of stars older than
our own sun. The probabilities
suggest that at least some of
them—even a very small fraction
would still be thousands of
suns—have planets revolving
around them that are hospitable
to life, and are therefore “Earth-
like” in nature. Some of those
planets may develop life forms,
and if evolution takes its course,

: intelligent life capable of forming
: civilizations may exist. The

: amount of time these civilizations
: are thought to have had ona

: cosmic scale (i.e., up to millions

: of years longer than Earth has)

: suggests that the aliens would be
: capable of interstellar travel. If

: these space-faring beings exist,

: where are they? There has been

: no solid evidence of other beings
: in the universe, no visits to Earth,
: no galactic phone calls initiating
: first contact.

The lack of any detection

: so far of other intelligent life

: does not mean it doesn’t exist.

: The Milky Way is only one of

: an estimated hundred billion

: galaxies in the known universe.
: Each one contains a range of

: several thousands to several

: trillion stars within, many with
: orbiting planetary systems. With
: such a diverse field to choose

: from, many believe intelligent

: life exists somewhere out there.
: The question is not so much if

: we'll make contact with another
: civilization, but when.

First contact—a theme

: explored in many science fiction
: works—brings up a wide range
: of questions and issues. What’s
: the other civilization like? How

: advanced are they compared to

: humanity? Are their intentions

: toward humanity good-natured,
: or hostile and dangerous? The

: sheer diplomatic crisis and

: confusion caused on Earth by

: contact with aliens alone would
: change the world in major ways.
: They will most likely be more

: advanced in intelligence and

: technology than humans, which
: creates many issues in itself.

: That’s not even getting into

: the religious and philosophical

: implications caused by

: knowledge of their existence.

The Search for

: Extraterrestrial Intelligence

: (SETI) no longer exists in science
: fiction. In the last 100 years,

: many scientific initiatives have

: been started in an attempt to

> find whoever else is out there.

: These are mostly centred on

: manipulating and monitoring

: radio waves in an attempt to find
: energy sources, and therefore,

: signs of life in the universe.

: Recently, a $100-million deal

: sealed by prominent physicist

: Dr. Stephen Hawking, Russian

: billionaire Yuri Milner, and

: others was announced, known

: asthe Breakthrough Initiatives.

: This program is a 10-year plan

: funding major radio telescopes
: to detect signals from potential
: civilizations.

According to Dr. Hawking,

: “In an infinite universe, there

: must be other life. There is no
: bigger question. It is time to
commit to finding the answer.”

The program also includes

: plans to design and approve

: messages sent by Earth into

: the far reaches of space where

: others may one day read them.
: This brings up its own dilemmas.
: What should we say ina

: communication beamed to the
: far reaches of space, potentially
: read by an extraterrestrial

: civilization? Are the benefits of
: doing so greater than the risks?

The possibilities about

intelligent extraterrestrial life’s

: nature are almost as manifold

: asthe potential places that may

: exist. The universe is billions of

: years old. It’s entirely possible

: that vast interstellar civilizations
: existed and disappeared in

: that time frame. The size of the

: universe also suggests intelligent
: life may simply be too far away

: from us to detect through current :
: technology. It may surpass our

: lifetimes, or even a millennium,
: before we discover anything.

Image from Thinkstock

: There’s even a possibility, albeit

slim, that there is nothing out

: there, and humans are truly the

: most intelligent beings in the

: universe. As science fiction writer
: Arthur C. Clarke put it, “Two

: possibilities exist: either we are

: alone in the universe or we are

: not. Both are equally terrifying”

The existential and ethical

: debates on the existence and
: meaning of intelligent life forms

elsewhere will continue until we

: have a definitive answer. We may
: not know in the next 100 years.
: We may never know. Certainly,

our search for the truth will

: inspire philosophy, emotion,
: and science fiction for years to

come. We can only hope that

: humans like the answer when it
: does come. It may be uniting or
dividing. Popular astrophysicist
: Neil deGrasse Tyson suggests

“Our image of evil space aliens
surely derives from a fear that

: they will treat us just as we treat

one another.” True intelligent

: life could be anywhere in the
: universe—but perhaps it isn’t
: anywhere on our own planet!

For now, all we can do is

: tospeculate, research, and
: fund SETI initiatives, and keep
: watching the skies.