Category Archives: Aliens

Life on Europa??

One of humanity’s greatest wonders is if life could exist outside of Earth. Surely humans are not the only living creatures to exist in the entire universe, but where could other organisms flourish? Scientists have identified three key criteria that make life possible: liquid water, chemistry, and energy. Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons and the […] Continue reading

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The Limitations of Light Speed

As we all (hopefully) know, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Light-speed is the universal speed limit, and no matter or energy can move faster than it, including radio signals or other forms of communication. This limitation makes me rather pessimistic about deep-space exploration. The Milky Way Galaxy is massive, at tens […] Continue reading

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The Fermi Paradox

The well-known Fermi Paradox is a simple question with no clear answer: “where are all the aliens?” Given the immense size of our galaxy (not to mention the size of the entire universe), it seems likely that life would have bloomed on other planets, and that on at least some planets, this life would be […] Continue reading

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Drake Equation

How many civilizations are there in our galaxy? As a kid, I was awestruck by the knowledge of just how small we are as compared to the universe. The concept of “me” is nothing more than a tiny stardust living in 1 of the 100 billion star systems in our galaxy. However, if there are […] Continue reading

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Blog Post 7: What Will Happen If We Do Find Life Out There In Space?

The common question when thinking about life in space is always “Is there even life in space”? But few people think about what would actually happen next if we were to find life out there beyond the stars. If we ever do receive a message from extraterrestrial beings, many people have this vision of it […] Continue reading

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Maybe Signs of Alien Life Would Not be Good a Thing

When acknowledging the vastness of our universe, it is inevitable think that alien life must be somewhere. The Fermi paradox has addressed just this; however, in todays blog I would like to consider the scenario of the paradox being solver. In other words, what could go wrong if we finally found intelligent life outside of […] Continue reading

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Blog 7 – The Fermi Paradox

When learning astronomy, one often wonders if humanity is alone in the galaxy. Physicist Enrico Fermi pondered this question, and ultimately came to a rather profound conclusion. Statistically our galaxy should be home to at least a handful of advanced societies more than capable of interstellar travel, so why have we not encountered any? Fermi […] Continue reading

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The Fermi Paradox

A possible solution to the Fermi Paradox? The Fermi Paradox attempts to answer the question about extraterrestrial life that so many humans have thought about for centuries. Enrico Fermi a physicist, in 1950, while discussing extraterrestrial life he began to wonder if aliens did in fact exist then how have they not expanded throughout the […] Continue reading

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Could We Even Communicate With Aliens If We Found Them?

After learning about the Golden Record, Arecibo message, and other ways astronomers have attempted to communicate with extraterrestrial life (if it is out there), I can’t help but think this outreach is very limited to civilizations that communicate in exactly the same way as we do. This seems unlikely to me, given the extreme diversity […] Continue reading

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Where Are All the Aliens? Potential Solutions to the Fermi Paradox

In class, Dr. G mentioned a Wait But Why article about the Fermi Paradox. I absolutely love this article and the entire concept of the Fermi Paradox–I even wrote about it in my Common App essay four years ago! The Fermi Paradox, first informally presented by physicist Enrico Fermi, describes the apparent contradiction between our […] Continue reading

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