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... ny logical reasons for why they have not yet reached Earth. Some, including SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) pioneer Frank Drake believes interstellar travel to be so costly and impractical that the aliens never leave home. Others believe that those capable of interstellar travel follow a code of noninterference with backward or emerging civilizations (Chang par. 12). It could be that intelligent civilizations are common throughout the universe, but they never survive past a certain point as a direct result of nuclear war, greed, pollution, or some other threat to civilization (Sagan, Cosmos 247).
Perhaps intergalactic travelers feel that we on Earth are not ready for the realization of extraterrestrial beings, and that we must first learn to live in harmony amongst ourselves. Maybe the aliens just havent reached this part of the galaxy yet (Chang par. 12). Maybe they have, but we are unable to detect their technology, or they are part of the wide range of incompletely understood phenomena in astronomy (Sagan, Cosmic par. 13). And who is to say that they even care to visit us in the first place? Retired physicist Michael Hart provides another case for disbelief in extraterrestrial life. He believes that the origin of life is an astonishingly rare coincidence (Chang par. 10).
In an ABC News online chat, he stated, The main problem is not life existing or evolving, but life originating in the first place (Hart). Stephen Hawking, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, and commonly thought of as one of the greatest minds of our time, provides an excellent counterpoint to Harts assumption. Hawking theorizes that if the origin of life were unlikely, it would take a considerably long time for it to begin. Subsequently life would evolve to intelligent forms with little time left before being destroyed by the swelling of the Sun at the end of its ten billion year life span. Fossil evidence proves that life on Earth began some 3. 5 billion years ago, a mere five hundred million years after the Earths environment is believed to have become suitable for life to develop. Hawking goes on to say that instead of taking the possible seven billion years to originate, life developed in only about one-fourteenth of the time available.
This suggests a good chance for spontaneous generation of life, in suitable conditions (Hawking pars. 10 - 12). Much of the doubt of extraterrestrial existence is directed towards SETI, an ongoing project devoted to detecting radio transmissions from outer space. Skeptics point out that since its beginning over forty years ago, SETI has not produced any affirmation of extraterrestrial life (Hart). Since 1992, SETI has analyzed over five hundred trillion signals, but has not discovered even one alien signal (Search par. 33). Many, including Tulane physicist Frank Title, believe the SETI project to be a waste of both time and money (Gardner). What most SETI doubters fail to mention is that Project Phoenix, Seti's current project, will only examine several stars out of every billion in the Galaxy.
Theyve only examined about one-billionth of the galaxy to date (Chyba 18 - 19). Nobody said that the chances for extraterrestrial intelligence were that great! In conclusion, the physical constructs of the universe, combined with the determination of life to adapt and survive, make it very hard to deny the great likelihood of life on other planets. Even the most logical of skeptics provide theories that are easily questioned. Though there is not currently any concrete proof of the existence of extraterrestrial beings, it would be impossible to prove that they do not exist elsewhere in the vast expanses of the universe. It is therefore imperative that we continue our search.
As author and internationally renowned astronautical engineer Robert Zubrin wrote, To be really alive as individuals, to be really alive as a civilization and as a species, we must be willing to continually seek out and experience the new when we cease exploring, we die (283). Works Cited Astronomy: First New Solar System Found. World News Digest. 6 May 1999. 17 Nov. 2001. web Brownsberger, Ken. Habitable Planets Around Other Stars. 1997. 3 Nov. 2001.
web By the Numbers: Search for Extraterrestrial Life. Issues and Controversies. 26 Mar. 1999 17 Nov. 2001. web Chang, Kenneth. Are We Alone?
Odds of Success. 4 Nov. 2001. web success. html Chyba, Christopher F. Extraterrestrial Intelligence. FDCH Congressional Testimony. EBSCOhost. 12 Jul. 2001: 44 pars.
Cowen, R. Evidence Grows for Nearby Planetary System. Science News. EBSCOhost. Vol. 158, Issue 6. 5 Aug. 2000: 84.
Gardner, Martin. Maybe. Los Angeles Times. 29 Nov. 1998: 8. Hart, Michael. Maybe No Ones Out There. Online Chat Transcript. 1 Jul. 1999.
ABC News Science. 4 Nov. 2001. web hart 990701. html Hawking, Stephen. Life in the Universe. 6 Dec. 2001. web Morrison, Philip. All Alone? (Or Not? ) Online Posting.
NOVA Online. 4 Nov. 2001 web Name, Robert. An Ocean for Ganymede, Too. Astronomy. EBSCOhost. Vol. 29, Issue 5.
May 2001: 26. Origins: Astrobiology. 2001. 3 Nov. 2001. web Sagan, Carl. Cosmic Search Vol. 1 No. 2. Smithsonian.
May 1978: 32 pars. 11 Nov. 2001. web -- -. Cosmos. New York: Ballantine Books, 1980. -- -. Planets. LIFE, 1966: 24 pars. 3 Nov. 2001. < web seti / planets .
html> Search for Extraterrestrial Life. Issues and Controversies. 26 Mar. 1999. 17 Nov. 2001. web Shostak, Seth. Our Galaxy Should Be Teeming With Civilizations, But Where Are They? Online Posting. 25 Oct. 2001. 4 Nov. 2001. web paradox 011024.
html Zubrin, Robert. Entering Space. New York: Jeremy P. Teacher/Putnam, 1999.
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