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    We've never seen one reliable sign of extraterrestrial life, says science fiction fan, Jake Wylie. An earthlike planet must orbit a sunlike star for life as we know it to exist, he says. The "great filter" suggests a "wall" which all life must meet. Perhaps that wall is climate disaster as Adam Frank of the N.Y. Times describes.

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    We've never seen one reliable sign of extraterrestrial life, says science fiction fan, Jake Wylie. An earthlike planet must orbit a sunlike star for life as we know it to exist, he says. The "great filter" suggests a "wall" which all life must meet. Perhaps that wall is climate disaster as Adam Frank of the N.Y. Times describes.

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    52 views2 pages

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    We've never seen one reliable sign of extraterrestrial life, says science fiction fan, Jake Wylie. An earthlike planet must orbit a sunlike star for life as we know it to exist, he says. The "great filter" suggests a "wall" which all life must meet. Perhaps that wall is climate disaster as Adam Frank of the N.Y. Times describes.

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    of 2

    JakeWylie

    AreWeAloneorAreWeLonely?
    Thetypicalrangeoftotalstarsinouruniverseisabout10^23:thats10,000starspergrainof
    sandonearth.Whatsinterestingaboutthisisalmostallstarshaveplanets.Asasciencefiction
    fan,spaceandalienshaveforeverbeenthecenterofmydreams.Butforsomanyplanets,
    weveneverseenonereliablesignofextraterrestriallife.Isalienlifeevencapableofexisting?I
    believelifebeyondourplanetexistshowever,wearedestinedforloneliness.

    Perhapsonereasonwehaventheardfromextraterrestrialsiswehaventbeenlistening.The
    dreamofcommunicatingwithotherworldlybeingshasexistedsincethedawnofman,butonly
    in1960wasthefirst
    SearchforExtraTerrestrialIntelligencee
    xperimentconducted.Those55
    yearsarentmuch.Ouruniverses13.9billionyearexistenceprovidesplentyoftimefor
    civilizationstoriseandfall.Ifextraterrestrialstriedtomakecontact,bythetimewegottheir
    message,theycouldbelongdead.

    Anearthlikeplanetmustorbitasunlikestarforlifeasweknowittoexist.DatafromtheKepler
    SpaceTelescopesuggestsatleast5%ofstarsaresunlike:5billionstarsinourgalaxy,and
    that20%ofsunlikestarshaveearthlikeplanets:1billionearthlikeplanets.However,weknow
    thatlifedoesntneedanearthlikeenvironmenttosurvive.Earthsmicrobescansurvivefor
    extendedperiodsoftimeinextremeenvironments,whichhasledtotheoriesthatlifecouldexist
    onMarsormoonslikeEuropaandTitan.Evenifweneverfindlifeonthoseterrestrialbodies,
    weknowitspossibleforlifetoexistinsuchenvironments.Iflife
    can
    existinsomanycornersof
    theuniverse,wherearethey?

    TheFermiParadoxisthecontradictionbetweenhighestimatesoftheprobabilityof
    extraterrestrialsandhumanityslackofcontactwiththem.TheGreatFilterisatheoretical
    solutiontotheFermiParadoxsuggestingthatawallexistswhichalllifemustmeet,andthat
    itsperhapsimpossibleforlifetogobeyond.PerhapsthatwallisclimatedisasterasAdam
    FrankoftheN.Y.Timesdescribes.Perhapsitswar,ascryptologistMartinE.Hellmanpredicts.
    IftheGreatFilterdoesexist,itbegsthequestion,whereareweinrelationtotheGreatFilter?
    Wellneverknowuntilitstoolate.

    Weareonlyoneformoflife,ononeplanet,inauniversefilledwithplanets,butitslikelywe
    wonteverhearfromlifebeyondearth.Thefactthatwedontknoweverything,andthe
    possibilitythatwecanalwaysbewrong,drivesourquestforknowledge.Wemaybelonely,but
    sciencetellsuswearentalone.

    Frank,Adam."IsaClimateDisasterInevitable?"
    TheNewYorkTimes
    .TheNewYorkTimes,
    17Jan.2015.Web.04Mar.2015.

    Hellman,MartinE."TheProbabilityofNuclearWar."
    TheProbabilityofNuclearWar.
    N.p.,n.d.
    Web.04Mar.2015.

    Howell,Elizabeth."WhatIstheFermiParadox?"
    Space.com
    .N.p.,n.d.Web.04Mar.2015.

    Johnson,Michele."AstronomersDiscoverAncientSystemwithFiveSmallPlanets."
    NASA.

    NASA,n.d.Web.04Mar.2015.

    Urban,Tim."TheFermiParadox."
    WaitButWhy
    .N.p.,n.d.Web.03Mar.2015.

    "BillNye'sAnswertotheFermiParadox."
    BigThink
    .N.p.,24Dec.2014.Web.04Mar.2015.

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