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Contacting aliens could end all life on earth. Let’s stop trying
- bediger4000 5y agoThe author starts from an arguably false premise: Most stars in our galaxy are much older than the sun. If civilizations arise fairly frequently on some planets, then there ought to be many civilizations in our galaxy millions of years more advanced than our own. This may be technically true, but effectively false: most of the elements that comprise terrestrial life are the products of novas and supernovas: the oldest stars wouldn't have planets other than maybe gas giants that are mostly helium and hydrogen. There are probably other conditions that might mean million-year-older civilizations don't exist: the gamma ray burst frequency was almost certainly much higher a few billion years in the past, for example. I conclude that this is just fear mongering, and WaPo published it as a sop to "science writing" or something.
- cyanydeez 5y agothe very idea that we could exit our solar system is indistinguishable from magic, as there exist no technology or testable theory on interstellar travel. hell, even the low rent "generation" ships make no sense since we cant even manage ther earths atmosphere or civil societies. the existence of intelligent life is meaningless if the currently examined universe holds physically true.