It’s hard to look out into our big, vast sky and not ponder the question, “Are we alone?” Take into account the hundreds of bright little dots that you can see shinning in the average nighttime sky, and realize that what you are seeing is merely a fraction of what exists within our galaxy, let alone out entire universe. Scientists estimate that for every grain of sand on every single beach throughout the earth, there are at least 10,000 starts. That is a monumental figure, and I find it nearly impossible to wrap my mind around the sheer magnitude that encompasses and envelops our entire existence.

Scientists have taken it upon themselves to begin towards answering perhaps the biggest existential question that humanity has to offer at this current moment, “Are we alone? Is life common? Are we simply just rare? Where is everybody?” The latter question has developed itself into an entire paradox of its own, and is known as the Fermi Paradox. The Fermi Paradox holds that there is an inherent contradiction between the high estimates of probability concerning the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, and the relative lack of any sort of tangible communication that we have had with any sort of purported alien life-forms. So, the question remains, how exactly do we conduct an experiment in order to help provide answers towards vindicating optimism in the face of this perplexing paradox?

In this scenario, we are talking about the big game. As a result, any sort of experiment that we could possibly conduct in regards to fostering life in a hostile environment would take hundreds of millions of years. Instead of creating a species by scratch–which would most certainly be a heraculean feat of scientific ingenuity that we are probably not capable of in today’s current technological abilities–we should look towards the various extremophiles that exist throughout the earth. Organisms such as Endoliths may thrive on dry, rocky planets such as Mars. This first priority for any individual or organization interested in providing concrete predictions as to the ubiquity of life throughout the Universe rests first in venturing outside of our own world, with an open mind supplemented by useful inferences from our own. There are a plethora of various organisms that thrive in situations that many throughout the ages have deemed to be anathema to life itself, yet, life yet continues to flourish within these various areas.