Gerrard Kaonga
A space scientist confirmed she believes aliens ‘almost certainly’ exist, but don’t expect to be bumping into them any time soon. In fact, we could have missed them entirely.
Now it's not because these aliens have super technology that allows them to blend into the environment or take the appearance of others. Well... who knows, maybe they can.
But we don’t yet have evidence of any such thing.
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But speaking scientifically, British scientist Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock said it would be ‘conceited’ for humans to believe we are the only intelligent species out in the big ol universe.
Speaking to UNILAD, Aderin-Pocock said that scientists were very much aware of Earth-like planets, called exo-planets, across our galaxy and there was every chance intelligent beings could exist on them.
“We know there are planets that are out there that could possibly support life as we know it and many other planets that can perhaps support life beyond what we know,” Aderin-Pocock said.
“But if you ask me as a space scientist whether I believe there is life out there my answer would be yes.”
“I think it is almost certain," she added.
But before you start grabbing your tinfoil hats and collecting your friends to storm Area 51, the kicker is there is a good reason we could have missed aliens by quite a bit.
In case you needed a reminder, the universe is quite big and well... it has been around for quite some time.
I know it's easy to get excited about the wonders of aliens but there's a big chance that you're late to the party - not because everyone else knows about the aliens and we just haven’t been telling you, but rather due to the age of the universe, and vastness of space.
If aliens did come to Earth, there are millions of years in the past when they could have visited and we weren’t really... well, people yet.
“There are just so many planets and moons as well, we think there could be life on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter," Aderin-Pocock continued.
“The probability of finding life out there is great but the problem is those distances."
She also explained that scientists use a Drake equation (not that Drake) to predict the probability of finding civilized alien life, and one important factor is - how long does a civilization last?
Despite humans feeling quite ancient as a species, we have only been rocking about Earth for just under 200,000 years, and the Earth itself is quite a bit older - like 4.5 million years older, give or take.
“How I put that to the kids [I speak to in schools] is imagine the aliens land on planet earth and they open up the spaceship door and they step outside and what do they see? Dinosaurs.
“If our civilizations don’t overlap, even if they come [together], there are all sorts of factors that [play into us meeting].
“If alien life finds us, they may be a lot more sophisticated than us so that puts us at a disadvantage.
“At the same time, if they are that much more sophisticated, hopefully they have transcended our slightly barbaric ways.”
I don’t know if I'm as optimistic, so just in case the aliens are on their way...‘I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords.’
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a judge for the National Trust’s Time + Space Award, alongside David Olusoga, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, and Megan McCubbin. Four 16–25-year-olds will get a £5,000 package of time, space, and support to explore the answer to a big question set by the panel.