Explains a lecturer at St. Andrews UniversityAre people really alone in the universe? And what is the chance that a meeting with aliens will still happen in the future? The answer is in the material.Discuss
According to the teacher of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews Martin Dominic, there are two answers to the question of the possibility of the existence of aliens in space. The first one is scientific. Scientists today do not know whether we are alone in the Universe or not. There is no scientific evidence for one or the other yet.
At the same time, from a philosophical point of view, the universe has a huge scale. Therefore, the probability of finding a planet suitable for life, and the possibility of the development of living organisms there, is very high.
There is a paradox. On the one hand, there is currently no evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. On the other hand, the possibility of such life in space is great. This phenomenon is called the Fermi Paradox.
Martin Dominic points out that humans have limited ability to explore the world around them, and the universe itself is too big. There is also an opinion that aliens should, if they exist, begin to contact people themselves. Why hasn't this happened yet?
One of the hypotheses related to this is the following. It is believed that any civilization that is advanced enough for interstellar travel will destroy itself before the aliens make contact with it.
Now there is hope that the James Webb telescope can help in the search for planets with Earth-like atmospheres. True, according to scientist Martin Dominik, the study of the planet's atmosphere and geology can tell people little about the likelihood of life on this planet. The problem is that humanity knows too little about the conditions for the emergence and development of life. It is in this direction that science should be developed.
Source: BBC Science Focus Magazine