And yet we never hear from anyone living there. Here’s a list, just for fun, of eight possible reasons…
Exoplanets
Space aliens – if we can see them they can see us
The Hart-Tipler conjecture (they don’t exist) is, of course, very unpopular in sci-fi. But let’s confront it, if only to move on to more promising (or maybe scarier) speculations.
At Gizmodo: 24 planets might be better places to live than Earth
As in: “For exoplanets to be superhabitable, they should be older, larger, heavier, warmer, and wetter compared to Earth, and ideally located around stars with longer lifespans than our own. So yeah, not only is Earth inferior, so too is our Sun, according to the new research.”
Exoplanets made of diamonds?
Researchers: Exoplanets around stars with a higher carbon to oxygen ratio than our sun are more likely to be carbon-rich. They hypothesize that these carbon-rich exoplanets could convert to diamond and silicate, if water (which is abundant in the universe) were present, creating a diamond-rich composition.
Claim: A surprising number of exoplanets could host life
Oh for a single, solitary fossil bacterium on Mars, to make this discussion sound real…
Finding: Planets with oceans are common in the galaxy
As we’ve said here before, it is a reasonable idea. If only we could find a fossil bacterium on Mars.
36 alien civs? Paltry! Claim: up to 6 billion Earthlike planets in our galaxy
There’s got a reason why so much science is beginning to sound like the National Enquirer for STEM nerds. But we are waiting for the Big Explain book to come out. Should be a classic.
Is NOTHING sacred? Silicon-based life “may not be likely”?
At Air & Space: “There aren’t many organic silicon compounds to begin with, and silicon-based life in water, or on an oxygen-rich planet, would be all but impossible as any free silicon would react quickly and furiously to form silicate rock. And that’s pretty much the end of the story.”
Researchers: Maybe elliptical galaxies aren’t especially cradles of life
But remember, the space aliens are invented gods. If we don’t locate them here, we can locate them somewhere else.
Is Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) gaining respectability again?
Sarah Scoles: Proper science is now more willing to embrace SETI… Don’t just ignore all the outliers as outliers, in other words: Important truth, if not whole truth, can lurk inside of them too.
Some people think they can tell us what space aliens will be like
So if aliens exist, they must be just like us because… evolution. This is a religion. Didn’t say it was a bad religion. But definitely a religion.
Earthsize, yes, but is planet TOI 700 Earth-LIKE?
“Habitable zone” needn’t mean a whole lot. Abundant Earth is in a habitable one but so is the lifeless Moon, tidally locked.
First British astronaut: Aliens exist among us
It’s curious how space aliens are assigned to “science,” no matter what proposition is entertained with respect to them. Perhaps they reward sheer, blind faith.
Philosophy prof: Our theories steer us away from finding ET
Every so often the people searching for extraterrestrial life that just never seems to turn up need a pep talk. It often takes the form of “You know, we could be on the wrong track”.
At Smithsonian Magazine: What space aliens must be like
Fascinating to be so sure when we have no evidence of any space aliens at all. A religion underlies this, you may be sure.