Episode 59 — “Where is Everybody: The Aurora Hypothesis” — is now Live!
This week, I got into another proposed resolution to the Fermi Paradox (i.e., “Where is everybody?”) Inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel of the same name, the Aurora Hypothesis basically states that we aren’t seeing evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations because settling on other planets is hard! And it certainly makes sense. As we all know, space is inherently hostile to life as we know it. There’s the extreme cold and vacuum of space, the elevated levels of radiation, and it takes forever to get anywhere.
But what about so-called “habitable exoplanets”? Just how habitable are they to life that has evolved under entirely different circumstances. Even if a planet checks all our boxes and has oxygen, water, and temperatures that are in our comfort range, there’s no guarantee that indigenous life forms will take kindly to our presence. This could include everything from single-celled bacteria to poisonous plants and ferocious animals. There’s also the possibility that our presence will have a tremendous impact on the local life forms and environment, which raises massive ethical questions.
I highly recommend people check out by Kim Stanley Robinson and to follow the links below to learn more about this hypothesis he inspired.
Where to Listen:
Originally published at http://storiesbywilliams.com on November 19, 2023.
