Is there Life Out There?

-

 

I have always wondered if extraterrestrial life exists. I mean, why should we earthlings be the only living beings in this universe? Given the vastness of the universe and the billions of stars and planets within in, I think it is probable that life exists elsewhere in the universe. If life exists outside the earth, is it likely to be more advanced than us or primitive? If it is more advanced, wouldn’t those aliens have tried to contact us?

The late physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking had a complex and nuanced view on the possibility of contacting aliens.On the one hand, Hawking believed that the existence of extraterrestrial life was very likely given the vast size of the universe and the number of habitable planets that could exist. However, he also warned that we should be cautious about actively trying to contact any potential alien civilizations. Hawking expressed concern that any aliens we might encounter could be hostile, given the tendency for life on Earth to compete for resources and engage in conflict. He suggested that it might be safer to simply listen for signals from alien civilizations rather than trying to send out messages of our own, which could alert potentially hostile aliens to our presence. In 2010, Hawking even participated in a project called Breakthrough Listen, which uses radio telescopes to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. However, he cautioned that if we do discover evidence of alien life, we should proceed with caution and consider the potential risks before attempting to establish contact.

The recent hullabaloo over UFOs has increased my curiosity regarding extraterrestrial life. It is likely that most UFOs are weather balloons or spy balloons or even hobby balloons and not from outer space. It is also likely that most accounts of UFO sightings are false alarms. I also do not believe that there has been any government cover-up of UFOs. However, I do wish we could settle this issue conclusively one way or the other in my lifetime. Even as I say this, I realise that unless we find evidence of extraterrestrial life, this question will never go away.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bicycle Stories From Montpellier

-
Image
  I’m in Montpellier, Southern France, for a month, to attend an intensive French language immersion course at the Accent Francais . I have classes five days a week, 3:15 hours a day on Mondays and Fridays and 4:45 hours on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I stay with a landlady who speaks only French. Weekends are mine and yesterday, I rented a bicycle for the day (paying € 15 for the pleasure) and cycled in and around Montpellier for around five hours. I found it very easy to cycle in Montpellier. Though I am used to cycling on the left and out here I have to cycle on the right, I found the going very smooth. There are cycling lanes everywhere and even if there isn’t a cycling path, bicycles are treated like any other vehicle on the road. I followed the traffic signals like every other driver on the road and felt very safe.  I had lunch at an open air restaurant, with my bicycle propped up against a nearby railing. I returned my cycle at 6:30 pm and walked back to my fla...
Read more

Cycling to La Grande Motte From Montpellier

-
Image
Last Saturday, I once again rented a bicycle for the day and cycled to La Grande Motte, approximately around 22 kilometres from Montpellier.  The cycling track from Montpellier to La Grande-Motte has two tracks, one asphalt/tar and the other mud, except in certain sections where it is only mud.  I largely stuck with the asphalt path. La Grande-Motte is a smallish town by the sea. It’s a port as well and I read somewhere on the internet that it was built in the 1960s and 1970s.  La Grande-Motte is known for its architecture with a number of prominent buildings shaped like pyramids.  However, I didn’t spend much time admiring the architecture, instead, I relaxed on the beach. Here are a few more snaps from  La Grande-Motte.
Read more

Fixing the Floorboards (Fiction)

-
  I live in a rather old house. Vines have crept up its blackened, decayed sides and twisted themselves into an intricate maze. Blood red roses grow on large sprawling bushes in a wild, maundering fashion. At night, the moon throws an ethereal, almost ghoulish glow over the landscape, casting parts of it into soft, muted shadow. The dead trees outside sway melancholically in the gentle breeze. My friends called me crazy for buying this dilapidated mansion. It is far from town, and completely isolated. The neighborhood is practically deserted. The truth is, it was offered to me for almost nothing. The original owners left in quite a hurry. They seemed frightened, speaking of “strange happenings” and “mysterious voices”. People really do get into a tizzy over nothing. Frankly, I’m not the crazy one for accepting a deal as good as this.  I’ll admit, when laid stark and bare in the cold light of day, my residence appears unseemly. The cracked, peeling paint is the only sign of its...
Read more