Fermi’s Paradox

For decades, scientists have searched in vain for hard evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence, and it raises a question. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Vakoch: in 1950, the Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi was speculating on aliens and the universe and he said, “You know, if they’re out there, why haven’t they come to earth?” And so ever since then, that’s been called the Fermi Paradox.

Doug Vakoch is president of METI International, which stands for Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Well, the best explanation probably is that we just haven’t looked far enough. SETI researchers have only looked very carefully to a few tens of thousands of stars. So maybe the answer to the Fermi Paradox is we just haven’t looked at enough of them, and in the next decade or two, we will.

Another answer to the Fermi Paradox is that, in fact, the extraterrestrials are watching us but they’re just not ready to engage with us. It’s as if we humans are in a galactic zoo and the zookeeper (is) the extraterrestrials are looking at us, but they’re not ready to engage. Then the question is, is there something that we can do as creatures in the zoo, that will provoke a response?
If you imagine going to a zoo, you’re watching a bunch of zebras and they’re communicating with one another, well that’s all very well and good. But what happens if one of those zebras turns toward you, looks you straight in the eye, and starts pounding out a series of numbers. That establishes a very different relationship with that creature, and it may just be enough to get your attention and get you to reply. That’s what we’re trying to do with METI.

What sort of attention-getting message do you think we should send into space? Let us know on Facebook. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. You can hear this and previous programs on our podcast.

Fermi's Paradox

If theyre out there, why haven't they come here?

Air Date:10/17/2017

Scientist:

Transcript:

Fermi's Paradox

For decades, scientists have searched in vain for hard evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence, and it raises a question. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Vakoch: in 1950, the Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi was speculating on aliens and the universe and he said, "You know, if they're out there, why haven't they come to earth?" And so ever since then, that's been called the Fermi Paradox.

Doug Vakoch is president of METI International, which stands for Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Well, the best explanation probably is that we just haven't looked far enough. SETI researchers have only looked very carefully to a few tens of thousands of stars. So maybe the answer to the Fermi Paradox is we just haven't looked at enough of them, and in the next decade or two, we will.

Another answer to the Fermi Paradox is that, in fact, the extraterrestrials are watching us but they're just not ready to engage with us. It's as if we humans are in a galactic zoo and the zookeeper (is) the extraterrestrials are looking at us, but they're not ready to engage. Then the question is, is there something that we can do as creatures in the zoo, that will provoke a response?
If you imagine going to a zoo, you're watching a bunch of zebras and they're communicating with one another, well that's all very well and good. But what happens if one of those zebras turns toward you, looks you straight in the eye, and starts pounding out a series of numbers. That establishes a very different relationship with that creature, and it may just be enough to get your attention and get you to reply. That's what we're trying to do with METI.

What sort of attention-getting message do you think we should send into space? Let us know on Facebook. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. You can hear this and previous programs on our podcast.