Tag Archives: blog7

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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Post 7

The Fermi Paradox essentially states that given the size of the universe, there should be aliens. So where are they? This paradox is based on various estimation equations like the Drake and Seager equations, which are ways to estimate the number of other intelligent civilizations in the galaxy that should theoretically be able to contact […] Continue reading

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JUICE Explorer

As discussed briefly in class, the European Space Agency (ESA) just successfully launched the Juice (formerly JUICE: JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission on April 14th! I had no idea this mission even existed before it was mentioned, so I decided to explore it further. The goal of this mission is focused on Jupiter’s moons. While […] Continue reading

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The Statistics of Life

Artist interpretation of Kepler-452b, currently the most Earthlike planet discovered, which could potentially have an atmosphere and life Source: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle When faced with an effectively boundless universe, it inevitable to ask the question of how many other lifeforms are out there. In asking this question we tend to be a bit biased, looking […] Continue reading

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Binary in the Pioneer Plaques

About the size of a license plate, the Pioneer plaques were placed on the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecrafts with the hopes of reaching intelligent extraterrestrial life. The two circles on the upper left of the plaque represent two hydrogen atoms, the most abundant element in the universe. If you look closely, the line […] Continue reading

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Where is Everybody?

The Fermi paradox is a very simple question whose answer could have massive consequences for the future of humanity: where is everybody? With equations like the Drake equation predicting a huge number of extraterrestrial civilizations, it seems odd that we have detected no signs of life outside of Earth. In this blog post, I will […] Continue reading

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Extremophiles: Life Finds a Way in the Most Extreme Places!

Extremophiles are organisms that can survive in extreme environments where other life forms cannot. These harsh environments can have high or low temperatures, extreme pressures, high levels of radiation, and/or extreme acidity or alkalinity. Despite the inhospitable conditions, extremophiles have developed unique adaptations that allow them to survive and thrive. Did you know that three […] Continue reading

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Extremophiles: life finds a way

I remember first learning about extremophiles back in the sixth grade. Back then, I was fascinated by life’s ability to find a way to survive even in the ‘worst’ conditions. Now that I’m older, I am no less fascinated by these amazing organisms, their ability to thrive, and their connection to astronomy. (I only recently […] Continue reading

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the fermi paradox

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a British science fiction author, said that “two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying”. And he was exactly right! The more that we learn about and explore the universe, the more we learn about the possibility of life out there, […] Continue reading

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“Where is everybody?”

The Fermi Paradox has puzzled scientists and philosophers for over half a century. It is named after Enrico Fermi, the Italian American physicist who, during a lunchtime conversation in 1950, asked, “Where is everybody?” Fermi was referring to the apparent contradiction between the high probability of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and the lack […] Continue reading

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