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Is the apparent absence of extraterrestrial technological civilizations down to the zoo hypothesis or nothing?

Space Sciences

Is the apparent absence of extraterrestrial technological civilizations down to the zoo hypothesis or nothing?

I. A. Crawford and D. Schulze-makuch

Explore the intriguing Fermi Paradox as Ian A. Crawford and Dirk Schulze-Makuch delve into the mystery of advanced extraterrestrial life. Are we alone in the universe, or are other civilizations intentionally hiding from us? Their insights suggest that humanity could soon uncover the truth behind this cosmic enigma.... show more
Abstract
The 'Fermi Paradox' refers to the mismatch between a widely held expectation that advanced technological life should be common in the Universe — recently given impetus by the discovery that other planetary systems are common — and the absence of any evidence for it. In this Perspective, we briefly review attempted solutions to the paradox and conclude that either (i) extraterrestrial technological civilisations are extremely rare (or absent) in the Galaxy; or (ii) that they exist but are deliberately hiding from us, a scenario generally known as the 'Zoo Hypothesis'. In this sense, we propose that the answer to the Fermi Paradox is 'the Zoo Hypothesis or nothing'. We argue that, given a strong commitment to the continued exploration of the Universe, humanity may be able to distinguish between these two alternatives within the next half-century.
Publisher
Nature Astronomy
Published On
Dec 28, 2023
Authors
Ian A. Crawford, Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Tags
Fermi Paradox
extraterrestrial life
Zoo Hypothesis
technological civilizations
universe
cosmic mystery
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