It’s been kind of a roller coaster week for us Bros who love the possibility of life outside our solar system. (Which is all us Bros. How could you not be into that?).
First there was an Op-Ed in The New York Times that declared extra terrestrial life in the universe was a mathematical certainty.
Now, though, other scientists are saying it is going to be some time before we see them.
How long?
At least 1,500 years.
And even though the scientific community is making tremendous strides in advancing life expectancy, your ass ain’t rich enough to afford living that long.
Scientists at Cornell were attempting to solve the Fermi Paradox, the equation that tries to answer when we will make contact with alien civilizations.
Their estimate is that it will take another 1,500 years for the radio signals our planet is emitting to reach enough spots to be found.
From The Telegraph:
Aliens are likely to first hear TV and radio signals that are being sent into space all the time as a by-product of broadcasting.
These signals have been traveling from Earth for 80 years at the speed of light.
So far Earth’s broadcast signals have reached every star within about 80 light-years from the Sun, around 8,531 stars and 3,555 Earth-like planets. But our Milky Way galaxy alone contains 200 billion stars so there is still a long way to go.
“We haven’t heard from aliens yet, as space is a big place but that doesn’t mean no one is out there,” said student Evan Solomonides , who is presenting the equation at Astronomical Society’s meeting June 16 in San Diego.
The conclusion is that if we reach half the stars in the Milky Way, we will find other life forms. What’s one-and-a-half millennia anyway?
On the bright side, this equation doesn’t take into account the possibility of aliens just showing up here tomorrow, so there’s still hope.
But in all honesty, you will be dead first.