LOS ANGELES (KNX) - The universe is so big, we don’t even know how big it is.
The observable universe — that’s just the part we can see — is around 93 billion light-years in diameter, and it’s constantly expanding. There are at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy alone.
Which raises the question…why is it so quiet out there? Where are all our neighbors? Was it something we said?
Jim Al-Khalili, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Surrey, gave a rundown of a few possibilities on “I’ve Got Questions” with Mike Simpson. He says this conundrum is called the Fermi Paradox, named after physicist Enrico Fermi, who raised the question in 1950.
“The universe could be infinite, so where is everybody? Why should life only exist on this third planet away from a very boring star in sort of the outer suburbs of a perfectly normal galaxy?” Al-Khalili asked.
One possibility is that it’s just too difficult for life to develop. Earth could be an anomaly — one of the only planets with the right conditions to sustain life. And even if there is life on other planets, we may be talking about amoebas and bacteria, not little green men.
But what if there is intelligent life on other planets? Why don’t they reach out and schedule a get-together with us earthlings?? The problem may be the distance.
“The fact is, according to our current understanding, Einstein’s theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light,” Al-Khalili said. “The nearest stars in our neighborhood may be tens or hundreds of lightyears away. Then, even traveling at the speed of light, that’s how long it would take for them to reach us.”
And if the aliens do have the advanced technology to travel faster than the speed of light…they’re probably too cool to want to hang out with little old us. There could be so much life out there, we aren’t even interesting enough to warrant a drop-in.
Or maybe they’re just waiting, watching us — and tuning into our TV reruns.
“What makes me smile most is the fact that for over a century now, we’ve been announcing that we exist, because we’ve had radio and television, so electromagnetic waves have been radiating out into space,” Al-Khalili said. “So there’ll be an alien race who are just getting I Love Lucy transmitted to them.”
But what if we are alone in the universe? Or what if leaving your own solar system is so difficult, everyone who’s tried it has perished? For those answers, listen to the full audio above, and subscribe on Audacy, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and Spotify.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Related
Related
