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Day in and day out, life on Earth passes through its cycles. Evolution had and continues to occur. Species have thrived and disappeared. Us humans have grown to become intelligent species that dominate Earth and its resources. However, are we the only planet in all of existence that has these events? Are we alone or not?
In the pursuit of knowledge about life beyond our planet, many questions arise. Some are shallow, barely mind-wracking. Others have spurred debate and careful consideration. For example, do we want to interact with aliens, otherwise known as extraterrestrial creatures? Would we be threatened by their presence? Could we recognize them? Does extraterrestrial life even exist?
For humankind to be the only species in existence unperceivable. As of now, we don't know the number of possible life-sustaining planets there are. The Kepler space telescope, launched on March 7th, 2009, finds hundreds of planets orbiting stars even as you read this. Even then, it only observes our section within the Milky Way galaxy, leaving the rest unimaginable.It could be possible that, yes indeed, we are the only form of life within this section of the Milky Way, or maybe the entire galaxy. We can go as far as to say multiple galaxies. However, for us to be the singular form of life within it all is similar to looking at a miracle, and miracles don't have anything for us to build any sort of foundation.
Humankind may be a spectacle, but we are not miracles. As such, it's important to open our minds to the possibility that other forms of life may exist. If they do exist (we don't yet know), how should we look for them? In 1984, the , Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, began, as its name states, began their search for signs of intelligent life. By utilizing their ALA's (Allen Telescope Array) capability to monitor the entire night sky and the Kepler space telescope, stars with orbiting planets are located and features surveyed. In this still ongoing process, tens of thousands of red dwarf stars have been discovered, along with their exoplanets in their habitable zone. There is no set number of these systems, but it is likely that millions, maybe billions, can exist. Maybe we can find the intermittent signal we are so eager to find. As SETi states, "The search has barely begun--but the age-old question of 'Are we alone in the universe?' could be answered in our lifetime."
For now, we don't know if other forms of intelligent life exists. We can't yet confirm nor deny it. Soon, though, with developing technology and our messages sent out on satellites, we may discover something, someone, or even get a response back. We'll never know, but we sure can be curious and look.
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30 Day Writing Challenge
RastgeleIt's just some random writing to stretch out the fingers for a good school year. Kinda. Nonfiction to fanfiction, it's kind of a mess, but I like it that way. And for all the AUs, I don't own the characters at all. I just love them. Simple as that...
