Will the search for extraterrestrial life ever succeed?

In a dark and clear night, many a human beings often wonder is there any other life form outside of planet earth? One cannot but gaze in awe the expanse that is countless dots of big and small stars. Given that the Sun within this particular solar system is itself a star, then how can there not be life out there since that many heavenly bodies’ increases chances that extraterrestrial life exists. This makes the question will the search for extraterrestrial life ever succeed a potent one worth answering. To date, it is highly unlikely that humanity will succeed in this particular quest.

Developed countries big on scientific research and development have for many decades made massive investments towards establishing the existence of extraterrestrial life forms in other parts of the universe. According to Crane (2017), the search for alien life can be equated to looking for a needle in a barn filled with hay. After analyzing light sourced from 692 stars, scientists have identified 11 probable alien signals (Crane, 2017). However, upon careful analysis, none has remained promising. There is great encouragement in the fact that despite not detecting what can be considered as an alien signal, there are a dedicate segment of human being vigilant towards measuring the improbable.

One cannot help but wonder, if aliens were to beam any form of communication to earth, what would it be like? Would it be in a manner that human technology can detect? According to Siegel (2018), it was assumed that alien communication to earth would be in the form of radio waves. Up until now, there is no surety as to which form of communication alien life forms would opt to employ for such interactions. The most potent way that alien would communicate to mankind is by physically availing themselves on to the planet (Siegel, 2018). The probability of such an outcome seems impossible to come into fruition.

The vastness of the night skies is indicative of the breadth and width of the natural world and points to abundant extraterrestrial life. Detecting signals from such life forms is bound to depend on the technology existing in alien civilizations (Crane, 2017). For mankind to evolve from a single celled organism into one which can strongly leverage on technology to embark in space exploration highlight another improbability. Maybe extraterrestrial life is too underdeveloped or highly evolved to successfully communicate with earth.

Detecting signals from outer space to determine the existence of extraterrestrial life forms is a tall order. Travelling through the vast expanse that is space ultimately weakens signals if they are able to evade other countless occurring obstacles (Crane, 2017). Similarly, there is a probability that alien signals are beamed but tend to veer away from the earth given that this planet is just a speck in a sea of sand. However, it is imperative that funding for space exploration continues unabated. Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (METI) are indicative that humankind is proactive in reaching out to other life forms (Crane, 2017). To many this presents a high risk situation while to others ii presents the greatest possible reward.

In conclusion, as human kind continues as a technologically advanced life form, it is increasingly becoming curious to the question as to whether there is other life out there. In case man finds observable evidence of extra-terrestrial, that will be considered as a new era for mankind. However, the reality is that it is highly unlikely that the search for extraterrestrial life will succeed in the distant future.

References

Crane, L. (2017, April 26). We still haven’t heard from aliens – here’s why we might never. New Scientist. Retrieved from https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431233-900-why-we-might-never-detect-alien-signals/.

Siegel, E. (2018, May 15). Humanity’s 3 hopes for finding alien life. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/05/15/humanitys-3-hopes-for-finding-alien-life/#2da45c797329.