In 1950, Enrico Fermi famously asked the question, “Where is everybody?” It wasn’t because his retinas detached; it was because he was curious about the lack of visits by extraterrestrials. If life in the Universe is ubiquitous, the argument goes, then surely the signs of it should be everywhere? Over the past 60+ years, we’ve developed a number of possible explanations for this puzzle, known today as the Fermi Paradox.
On the surface, this seems like a reasonable question to ask. There are billions of stars in the galaxy, many of which have Earth-like planets, and if Earth is fairly typical, some of these may have developed intelligent life. Many of us on Earth are working to develop interstellar travel, and even though the galaxy is 100,000 light years across, we’ve been around for many billions of years. If life is common, then where is everyone? A new paper claims to have the answer, but their conclusions are highly suspect.