In one suggested version, they might be out there but we are not smart enough to recognize them.
Extraterrestrial life
National Geographic announces: We Are Not Alone
Okay but now one question: If none of those 47 planets has life, does that count as evidence against the proposition that “We Are Not Alone”? Does anything count as evidence against the proposition?
Astronomer: We’re too dumb to think space object Oumuamua was extraterrestrial lightsail
Hmmm. In the real world, when you are an only child so far as you know, it is hard to compare yourself to your siblings. Few readily accept criticism for failure to measure up to the standards of imaginary beings.
Researchers: Habitable zone is probably narrower than hoped
From Universe Today: In addition, research into how life evolved on Earth has shown that water alone does not guarantee life – nor, for that matter, does the presence of oxygen gas.
Conventional non-ET explanations for Oumuamua
ut hey, like we always say, They Will Always Be Out There if you need them to be. Also, be kind to ET. He is somebody’s deity.
NASA recreates the origin of life and it’s totally shocking
What’s shocking is the hype. Essentially, the team created some amino acids and “Some researchers believe these could combine (like Legos) and create further complex molecules which could then be a precursor to life.”
Why can top scientists get away with extraordinary claims?
The opinion piece is basically an extended defense of the kind of atmosphere in which the most ridiculous claims for Darwinism, for example, flourish and any questioners had better be careful. There is a lot of that out there in many areas now and the faithful are continually exhorted all the more to trust science, whether it’s sense or nonsense.
Journalist: ET can be common ground between atheists and ID theorists
Knowledge of the sheer massive intricacy of design in nature grows by the day and the only possible response can now be attacking anyone who wants to discuss it seriously. True, the space aliens won’t run afoul of the No Divine Foot rule but if that’s the only problem they solve, they’re not going to shed much light on the nature of nature.
Be kind to ET. He is some people’s deity.
Well, in fairness, failing to treat them respectfully is one sin we can safely say we haven’t committed; we have never encountered an alien ecosystem.
Do ageless bacteria beneath Earth’s surface give life to panspermia theories?
Some of us think panspermia gets a bad rap; that is, it is classed with “They’re OUT There!” theories about intelligent aliens. It is really a much more straightforward question whether life forms could survive extreme conditions and, in general, we are finding life in more extreme conditions all the time.
Paul Davies: Life’s defining characteristics “better understood as information”
The problem with taking information seriously in the evolution of life, as in Introduction to Evolutionary Informatics, is that it may rule out favorite “evolution” claims. Taking it seriously and discounting it whenever it matters is a fancy dance.
Why some scientists saw asteroid Oumuamua as ET
It is now in Saturn’s orbit and public attention is fading but an astrophysicist reflects on colleagues seeing ET.
Astrophysicist: Climate change killed the ET civilizations
Stephen Kane thinks that many Venus-like planets will be more than 4 billion years old and could well have evolved intelligent life on them at some point.
Astrophysicist: Alien hunters, please stop using the Drake Equation
Actually, the intuition that They Are Out There is not based on science; it is based on deductive reasoning.
Did interstellar object Oumuamua normalize space aliens as science in 2018?
At least media feel freer to treat the topic that way: The turning point came in November, when Avi Loeb, the head of the astronomy department at Harvard University, co-wrote a paper saying that Oumuamua is so unusual that scientists should consider the possibility that it’s not a far-out comet or asteroid, as his colleagues assumed, […]