What's 'Out There?' Space.com's Mike Wall Dishes on the Search for Aliens
What's 'Out There?' Space.com's Mike Wall Dishes on the Search for Aliens
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Why have we not heard of aliens? Scientists do not know, but they have a couple of ideas, and Space.com senior writer Mike Wall addresses that question and many more in his new book. "Over there: a scientific guide on extraterrestrial life, antimatter and human space travel (for the cosmically curious)"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018) Space.com caught up with Wall via email to talk about the book, when we first discovered extraterrestrial life and how he brought concrete and scientific answers to speculative questions.
Space.com: Why did you decide to write this book?
Mike Wall: These are very interesting times. The search for extraterrestrial life has moved from the periphery to the main scientific current, and the revolution of private space flights led by companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin allows us to think seriously about the solution of Mars and other worlds beyond Earth. .
The[[Read an excerpt from "Out Out"]
I guess I wanted to convey this feeling of emotion to the readers, to let them know that they are living an era that future generations can consider as a turning point in our understanding of the place that humanity occupies in the universe and in our quest to get outside. of our planet and outside in the solar system.
Space.com: What topics did you find most fascinating to cover?
Wall: I have always been more interested in the search for extraterrestrial life. It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in science, after all: Are we alone?
And there are so many secondary questions that arise from that big one. If we are not alone, how common is life throughout the galaxy of the Milky Way and in the larger universe? What kind of life is there? Just "simple" organisms, like microbes, or technologically intelligent creatures able to reach us in some way? How could we find these organisms, if they exist? What kind of evidence would be needed to convince everyone (or almost everyone, it is difficult to imagine the unanimity) of a period discovery, and how would society react to the news?
Space.com: Your book deals with many hypothetical situations. How did you bring the reality of existing research to answer these speculative questions?
Wall: It must extrapolate according to what happened here on Earth, because that set of data is the only one we have. For example, we know that life had taken root here some 3.8 billion years ago, suggesting that it may not be terribly difficult for microbial life to get going. We also know that life on Earth remained. only microbe after 3 billion years, which seems to indicate that the jump to multicellularity can be a serious obstacle to life in general.
And it seems reasonable to suspect that extraterrestrial life, if it exists, can be based on carbon and use liquid water as a solvent. That's what happened here, and complex carbon compounds and water are incredibly common throughout the cosmos.
But you do not want to be stuck in the example of the Earth as the only way things could happen. That is unjustifiable, given how little we know and the amazing diversity of alien worlds, both in our solar system and in others. So, it is a fine line to walk: informed speculation, with an open mind. With luck, I have managed to stay in that line, more or less, throughout the book.
Space.com: Do you think we'll ever meet extraterrestrial life? Under what circumstances do you think it is more likely to happen?
Wall: I do, and I think it will happen relatively soon. I suspect that microbial life is common throughout the cosmos. And our own solar system harbors multiple potentially habitable alien environments, from the clouds of Venus to the Martian subway and the buried oceans of the satellite Saturn Enceladus and the moon of Jupiter Europa.
I think we'll find evidence of microbial life in one of these worlds in the backyard of Earth in the coming decades. We could also detect biosignature gases in the atmosphere of a nearby exoplanet in approximately the same time frame. This is just a hunch, of course. But I'm optimistic.
I am more agnostic about the discovery of intelligent alien life. That, to me, is such a hard fuck that it is difficult to make predictions about it.
Space.com: Why intelligent aliens can be quiet?
Wall: I do not think there is an answer for Fermi's paradox; It is likely to be a combination of factors.
For example, I would bet that intelligent extraterrestrials are rare throughout the cosmos, since it is difficult to jump from microbe to multicellular life to a technologically intelligent creature, and because supersmart species can be destroyed once they reach a certain level of technique. fitness (the ability to build an atomic bomb and / or greatly alter the climate of your home planet, for example).
And then there is the immensity of space. If the "advanced" aliens are scattered throughout the universe, it would take a long time to get to their missives or star ships, and there is no guarantee that the moment will develop. For example, we may have received a ping 3 billion years ago, or 100 million years ago, or 500 years ago, and we lost it completely.
And then there is the question of motivation: we can not assume that each extraterrestrial civilization would want to reach its neighbors. Many may be silent for security reasons, afraid to betray their presence to species with colonization mentality that could end them.
Of course, the most depressing answer is the simplest: we are alone.
Space.com: Do you think we should keep silent too?
Wall: This is a subject of much debate within the SETI community (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), and I see merit on both sides. Stephen Hawking was right, of course, when he stressed that we can not know what advanced aliens can think of us or want to do with us. Therefore, the spread of signals in the galaxy could be inviting our own destruction.
But it is also true that we have been transmitting such signals, in a passive and diffuse way, for a century now. So, perhaps the advanced aliens already know that we are here, and they are just waiting for a signal that we want to speak, or that it is worth talking about, that we deserve inclusion in the "Galactic Club".
I have not completely decided, but I'm probably more inclined towards opening. After all, attempts to send messages to the ET have already occurred, and will undoubtedly continue. It is difficult to keep almost 8 billion people online and off the airwaves.
You can Buy "Out There" on Amazon.com. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and in Facebook. Original article about Space.com.
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