We can’t actually say the universe is empty of life without actually having the tools to look. Thankfully the spectroscopic abilities of James Webb, but especially the next generation of 100 meter class ground scopes and the Habitable Worlds Observatory in space will give us the answer as to whether life is common or rare. The absence of radio signals from the extremely low budeget SETI efforts so far is meaningless as radio is a highly unlikely means of communication for an advanced species. The real thing to look for is bio signatures and atmospheric composition. If life is out there we will know soon, 10-20 years. I suspect it is but I’m open to the rare earth hypotheses as well. What we need are actual observations and they are both happening and forthcoming.
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Makes me think of Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space series and the inhibitors!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Revelation_Space_series
We can’t actually say the universe is empty of life without actually having the tools to look. Thankfully the spectroscopic abilities of James Webb, but especially the next generation of 100 meter class ground scopes and the Habitable Worlds Observatory in space will give us the answer as to whether life is common or rare. The absence of radio signals from the extremely low budeget SETI efforts so far is meaningless as radio is a highly unlikely means of communication for an advanced species. The real thing to look for is bio signatures and atmospheric composition. If life is out there we will know soon, 10-20 years. I suspect it is but I’m open to the rare earth hypotheses as well. What we need are actual observations and they are both happening and forthcoming.