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E.T., PHONE HOME: THE SEARCH GOES ON
Is there Intelligent Life on Earth?
Date published: 8/31/2008
BOULDER, Colo. --Aliens are commonplace in the movies, and polls show that a substantial fraction of Americans also believe that aliens are here among us, visiting our world in UFOs. Scientists also take aliens seriously, though we remain skeptical of claims that they are already here, dropping debris in Roswell, drawing images in wheat fields,The first part of my question is easy to answer. Looked at broadly, the history of science has gradually taught us that, contrary to what our ancestors once assumed, we are not the center of the universe. Instead, we live on one small planet, orbiting one ordinary star, among more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and some 100 billion galaxies in our universe; the total number of stars is as great as the total number Understanding our tiny place in a vast cosmos is both humbling and uplifting: It is humbling in the sense that there is so much more to the universe than meets the eye, but uplifting in the magnificence of the fact that, despite our small physical size, we have discovered wonders far beyond what our ancestors could ever have imagined. Given this history, it seems almost inevitable that we will eventually learn that we are no more central to the biological universe than to the physical universe. Indeed, while we have not yet discovered life beyond Earth, scientific evidence from biology, geology, and astronomy points strongly to the idea that life should be common. In our solar system, I'll be more surprised if we don't find microbial life on Mars, Europa, or Titan than if we do. Beyond our solar system, the incredible number OVERLY SKEPTICAL?
Date published: 8/31/2008
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