Ahsan Mustafa

Is there intelligent life in space?

What are the possibilities of intelligent life outside the planet Earth. There appears to be compelling and convincing arguments both for and against the case.

The universe is a vast place. To suggest that human beings are the only advanced forms of life, or as some people suggest, the only forms of life in the universe, could be considered as arrogance. Astronomy has confirmed that each star in the sky resembles our sun, and planetary systems orbiting those stars have been discovered through powerful telescopes.

However, there is no simple way, until human technology advances, to find out if those planetary systems are actually inhabited. There is every chance that these planetary systems may consist of dull, lifeless rocks or moons.

Considering this point that some of these planetary systems may consist of lifeless rocks, it is worth thinking about our own solar system. From all of the planets, so far we are sure only our earth is capable of sustaining life. There are billions of stars in the universe, these stars have solar systems, and there is a strong possibility that at least one of the planets may contain intelligent life.

It may be possible, therefore, that there may be intelligent life in space, but there is no realistic way of contacting them, to be sure. With the distances between stars being so great, it is very unlikely that an advance alien civilisation would spend the time and money, building spacecraft for fruitless voyages, which would take thousands of years.

Listening to the skies for any “messages”, sent in the form of radio waves is currently being taken very seriously by SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), a project which has installed radio telescopes around the world to “eavesdrop” for any abnormal frequencies. This project was initially funded by the US government, via NASA, but was stopped because of other spending priorities.

Listening for radio messages may be the most practical form of contacting the aliens yet, but this is assuming that they are the ones who are willing to blast our radio waves in all directions, hoping for any response. This is also assuming that an advanced alien civilisation would use radio technology, rather than some other advanced form of communication which we do not yet know of. Many critics of this method of communication claim that this is a waste of money and scientific time, when scientists and astronomers could be better used to monitor the ozone layer, study the planets and increase human knowledge and understanding.

SETI enthusiasts claim that it would be premature to drop the project after all the work and effort, which has been put into the project. There are many other frequencies to try. They feel that they have only done less than one-billionth of the problem, and there is so much more to do. Now we have the means to listen for alien messages, if we lived a thousand years ago, we wouldn’t have that option.

It has been claimed, that if aliens did exist, and they belonged to a civilisation thousands of years older than us, they would already have colonised earth. So far, there has been no sign of any aliens on our planet.

That view is only acceptable if aliens are believed to have the human desires of aggression and expansion. Maybe the aliens are so advanced that they have discarded the idea of war altogether. Anthropologists are now agreeing that if another primitive society was discovered today, then they should be left alone, and not be forced to adopt modern ways. History has shown that when a more advanced society comes into contact with a primitive society, the inevitable result is the collapse of the primitive one. Take the example of the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens, when the Neanderthals were destroyed because of their inability to adapt. More recently, the Native Americans, Aborigines, Maoris and Eskimos.

Maybe that is why the aliens have decided to leave us alone until we are advanced enough to withstand contact with them.

Theoretically, there could be many planets in the universe like earth. The universe cannot be comprehended by the human mind. For all we know, the universe may be teeming with exciting life, and not just microbes. When many people think of aliens, they think of UFO’s, and cranks. To them, alien life is just fiction. Truth is stranger than fiction, so until we have sold evidence of alien life, all arguments will remain speculation. Scientists recently discovered a meteorite, allegedly from Mars, containing fossilised bacteria. Critics, however, are sceptical that the meteorite may not be from Mars, at all.

The discovery of water inside the moon means that it can become colonised for man’s use within thirty years. To many people, this so-called “lifeless rocks” show that we may not know as much as we think we do. There may be aquatic life living inside the moon, for all we know. Water, as it has been scientifically proven, is the source of all life. This may be the beginning of a new line of thought for the human race.

In conclusion, I would like to say that although there are powerful arguments both for and against the existence of advanced aliens, the argument for their existence is slightly more striking. The reason being is that it cannot be disproved, due to the lack of human knowledge. The best we can do is ensure that peace is enforced in the earth, and we can prepare to live harmony with our galactic neighbours, if they exist.