Episode 63 of SfS — “The Rare Earth Hypothesis” — is now Live!
This week’s episode revisits the Fermi Paradox, the question that launched a thousand scientific papers! To recap, this paradox takes its name from Enrico Fermi, the physicist who helped build the first nuclear reactor and one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. In 1950, during a lunchtime conversation with colleagues, Fermi famously asked: “Where is everybody?” (aka. where are all the aliens?)
One proposed resolution is the idea that the conditions for life are far more stringent than we think. When it comes to astrobiology, scientists tend to be optimistic, thinking that rocky planets with fluffy atmospheres that orbit within their suns’ habitable zones have everything they need to give rise to life. But using Earth as a template, things like plate tectonics, a large moon, a large gas giant in the outer reaches of the system, and other factors may be necessary.
If this is true, then life (and, by extension, intelligent life) is likely to be rarer than previously thought. Perhaps that’s why we’re not hearing from any of them! Check out the links below to hear more.
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Originally published at http://storiesbywilliams.com on January 20, 2024.
