Where are the Aliens? Answering the Fermi Paradox

In 1950, the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi asked a seemingly simple question — if the Universe is full of life, why have we not yet found evidence of alien civilizations? This question has since become known as the Fermi paradox. On March 18, 2019, some of the foremost experts in extraterrestrial intelligence gathered at the the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, a science museum in Paris, to ponder the answer to this question.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been listening for signals from alien races for decades without success. A complementary group of researchers, Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI), has their eyes on a different approach.

“In the early days of SETI, we assumed that extraterrestrials would take the initiative to transmit. But what if they’re waiting for us?” Dr. Douglas Vakoch, President of METI, asked in an exclusive interview with The Cosmic Companion.

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, one of the largest radio telescopes in the world, was utilized to transmit the first message from Earth specifically designed to be heard by alien civilizations. Image credit: National Science Foundation

Many explanations have been out forward to explain why alien civilizations may be hesitant to contact the human race. One idea, known as the zoo hypothesis, postulates that aliens are watching us, much like humans watch animals in a zoo. If this is the case, Vakoch argues, this scenario would provide an excellent reason to reach out to alien civilizations.