Comprehensive Information About The Search For Extraterrestrial Life In A Quick Look

Our solar system may contain some form of life as hopes are high on Jupiter’s moon Europa and other few bodies within the system. The ET life that scientists hope to discover shortly may not be intelligent life at all. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no intelligent life somewhere within our galaxy or beyond.

Karl Tate released a new infographic on Space.com detailing our search for alien life starting in 1960 with astronomer Frank Drake’s Project Ozma, which looked to scan our skies for radio signals from other planets.

Along the way, the infographic highlights Drake’s equation for estimating the number of civilizations in the galaxy, which might be between 2 and 280 million. It discusses a mysterious radio signals received in 1977 that then eventually called the “Wow! Signal.” Furthermore, it talks about whether our effort to contact aliens using messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) is a good idea. After all, we don’t know who might receive our intergalactic telephone call.

The graphic also features several sci-fi images, such as star-wrapping Dyson spheres from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the habitable ring from 1970 novel “Ringworld,” by Larry Niven. The presentation attempts to illustrate that radio waves may not be the only path to identify extraterrestrial life outside our solar system. Finding structures may also help to meet intelligent beings.

Also presented is the Kardashev scale, a suppositional way of ranking how advanced the beings from other planets might be on a scale from those who can beam radio waves to those who can take advantage of resources in the entire universe.

Lastly, the infographic presents the question – where is everybody? For the answer, check the info below!