Yes, that’s got to be the explanation:
Bartlett, working with astrobiologist Michael Wong of the University of Washington in Seattle, argues that we need to escape the straitjacket of Earth-based thinking about life. They propose introducing a broader category called “lyfe” (pronounced, in an oddly West Country fashion, as “loif”), of which life as we know it is just one variation. “Our proposal attempts to break free of some of the potential prejudices due to us being part of this one instantiation of lyfe,” says Bartlett.
Philip Ball, “Are aliens hiding in plain sight?” at The Guardian
The researchers offer four criteria for “lyfe” and add:
The two researchers say there are “sublyfe” systems that only meet some of these criteria, and also perhaps “superlyfe” that meets additional ones: lyfe forms that have capabilities beyond ours and that might look on us as we do on complex but non-living processes such as crystal growth.
Philip Ball, “Are aliens hiding in plain sight?” at The Guardian
Don’t like that explanation? We have others:
Seven reasons (so far) why the aliens never show up: Some experts think they became AI, some that they were killed by their AI, and others say they never existed. Who’s most likely right? Science fiction writer Matt Williams delves into seven hypotheses into which scientists and science fiction writers have put a lot of thought.
Always remember, as long as there’s an Out There out there, They’ll be Out There. Two key certainties guarantee it: wishful thinking and the human imagination.