As we continue to explore the universe, will the truth about extraterrestrial life and extraterrestrial civilization become closer and closer? This question is difficult to answer, after all, we still know very little about the universe. However, some scientists have made speculations about extraterrestrial life and extraterrestrial civilizations based on some existing data. Some of the conjectural conclusions may still have certain reference significance for us.
I believe you all remember that British scientists calculated that there may be 36 alien civilizations in our Milky Way . These potential alien civilizations are similar to us humans and can also use radio signals to communicate. We haven't discovered these potential alien civilizations yet because they are too far away from each other, with an average distance of more than 17,000 light-years. In other words, even if we send a set of radio signals to these potential alien civilizations now, it may take 17,000 years for them to receive them. Such a long time is obviously meaningless to us, because there is no way to establish effective contact with these potential alien civilizations.
There may be 42,777 alien civilizations in the Milky Way
Now some scientists have once again estimated the number of alien civilizations that may exist in the Milky Way. On the American biweekly website "Forbes", there is an article called Scientists say there may be 42,777 intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way. In this article, researchers believe that there may be 42,777 intelligent alien civilizations in our Milky Way. An alien civilization. As for when these potential alien civilizations will send messages to us humans, it may be sometime in the next 2000 years.
In this paper, researchers not only estimated the number of alien civilizations that may exist in the Milky Way that can communicate with us humans, but also speculated on the reference time for these potential alien civilizations to establish contact with us humans. Of course, this study is only the result of researchers' speculation based on existing data, and this value is not necessarily accurate. Researchers believe that the error value may be around a few hundred.
If there are really so many alien civilizations in the Milky Way, then we humans may really not be alone. Maybe some friends are worried that if these advanced alien civilizations exist, will our earth be in danger?
From a development perspective, if there are some alien civilizations that have developed tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of years earlier than us humans, their development level will inevitably far exceed our current technological level. If these potential advanced aliens If civilization wants to invade our earth, we humans will be almost vulnerable. If this is really the case, then the invasion of advanced alien civilizations may be the "end of the world" for us humans.
In view of such risks, some friends are opposed to our exploration of the universe, believing that our active exploration of the universe may directly expose our earth to advanced alien civilizations. For example, more than 40 years ago, when the Voyager 1 and 2 probes were launched, there were various controversies. One of the disputes was whether we should let the Voyager 1 and 2 probes fly into the universe carrying copper records. Deep down, because these copper records record some basic conditions of human beings, the earth, and the solar system. If intercepted by alien civilization, our earth will be exposed and the earth will be in danger.
However, such worries are actually not necessary. First, from a cosmic perspective, the flight speed of probes such as Voyager 1 and 2 is too slow. According to the current flight speed and flight direction, they will need to fly tens of thousands of years to leave the solar system and reach the next Near the star system . If there is no alien civilization in the next star system, it means that it is almost impossible for an alien civilization to intercept Voyager 1 and 2 in the next few years. Even if there is an alien civilization in the next star system, it will be difficult to find the remains of the spacecraft floating in the deep space of the universe.
Second, for ordinary alien civilizations, such as alien civilizations with a similar level of development to us humans, even if they discover our earth, they will not pose any threat to us humans. If it is an alien civilization whose technological development level far exceeds ours, even if we humans do not take the initiative to contact them, they are fully capable of discovering us humans and the earth on their own. Therefore, whether we will be invaded by alien civilization depends largely on the development level of these potential alien civilizations, rather than mainly on whether we actively contact them.
"Super habitable" planet discovered
Of course, whether it is the 36 alien civilizations that scientists previously believed may exist, or the 42,777 alien civilizations mentioned now, these are just speculations by scientists, not Said that scientists have discovered so many extraterrestrial civilizations. Therefore, we only use these studies as reference. Although we have not yet discovered extraterrestrial life or civilization, there is a high probability that we humans are not alone, because there are many planets with superior environments that may even be more comfortable than the earth.
Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets . Scientists have formulated standards for "super habitable" planets and selected 24 "super habitable" planets from these known exoplanets. According to data observed by the Kepler telescope, these "superhabitable" planets may be more suitable for supporting life than our Earth, and for a longer period of time.
Because these "super habitable" planets generally orbit K-type dwarfs, the mass of these K-type dwarfs is much smaller than that of the sun, so their temperature and brightness are much lower, and their lifespan will be longer, generally up to 70 billion years. In comparison, stars like the sun only have a lifespan of about 8 to 10 billion years. In other words, our earth will not be habitable for a long time, but the habitable time of those "super habitable" planets may be billions or even tens of billions of years.
These "super habitable" planetary environments have remained habitable for such a long time, and there is enough time and space to develop extraterrestrial life and extraterrestrial civilization. If the origin of life appears on these "super habitable" planets, and the origin is hundreds of millions or billions of years earlier than the earth, it is likely that advanced alien civilizations have already appeared.
Looking at the entire galaxy and the entire universe, there are too many "super habitable" planets like this. If these "super habitable" planets that may have a more superior environment than the earth do not have extraterrestrial life or civilization, it will indeed be impossible. It doesn't make sense, why can the origin of life appear on the earth, but not these "super habitable" planets with superior environments?
