On September 28th, 2015, NASA confirmed the existence of flowing liquid water on Mars. By utilizing the imaging spectrometer on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), researchers succeeded in detecting “signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet” (NASA). According to the images, these darkish streaks seem to change patterns, as if they were ebbing and flowing over time.
An image taken by MRO that shows the flow of the brine water on Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Furthermore, it was discovered that these sporadic streaks appeared in several different locations, especially when the temperature reached 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius), but quickly vanished at lower temperature. During the press conference, John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, remarked, “Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected.”
Over the past few decades, there has been significant progress in aerospace engineering. Though high-tech instruments, such as space probe and telescope, we are now able to peer into the heart of a star, explore the unmapped boundaries of our solar system, and study some of the most peculiar objects in the universe. However, one tantalizing question remains unanswered. Are Aliens real? Are there extraterrestrial beings out there?
UFOs:
An UFO sighting. Credit: Telegraph
UFO, or “unidentified flying object,” is probably the first word that come to our mind when we talk about aliens. Stereotyped as mysterious disk-like, metallic object floating in the sky, those flying saucers seem to be extremely ethereal, popping out of nowhere and vanishing in an instant. There are numerous reported incidences of encountering UFOs, yet most cases remain spurious. Some conspiracy theories claim that the U.S government is hiding the truth from us. According to them, U.S collaborates with aliens to develop novel weapons. If you want to learn more about UFO sightings, check out UFO Sightings Daily for additional information.
Fermi Paradox:
Fermi Paradox is a conflict between arguments of scale and probability. Named after Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, it is “the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, such as in the Drake equation, and the lack of evidence for such civilizations”. In other words, according to mathematical principle, the likelihood of the existence of an advanced civilization is very high, but we still cannot find concrete evidence supporting it.
Drake equation describes the numbers of advanced civilization in the Milky Way. Credit: Noeticscience
Kurzgesagt, a great Youtuber, vividly illustrates the concept of Fermi Paradox in the following videos.
Three popular reasons why we have not encountered any alien yet:
- It is too far.
Due to the immense distance between Earth and other habitable planets, there is almost zero chance for civilizations to connect each other. Even if aliens happen to zoom in on Earth, they still would not be able to spot us. Think about it this way. If you were 65 million light years away watching the Earth with an extremely powerful telescope, disappointingly, all they find would probably be dinosaurs wandering on a tiny blue planet. In other words, lights that indicate the existence of human beings have not spread far enough yet! During a brilliant TED Talk, Questioning the Universe, Steven Hawking admitted that as far as we know, there is no advanced alien civilization within the radius of several hundred light years. Here is his complete TED Talk.
- We are still an immature civilization.
When Louisiana Purchase was made between the United States and France in 1803, nobody paid any attention to the flora and fauna that was flourishing on that land. Similarly, when an advanced civilization from another planet pass through the Milky Way, they will probably just ignore us. We are still in the process of reaching Type I civilization, which according to theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, possess the power to manipulate planetary energy. Therefore, a Type III civilization, capable of controlling energy at a galactic scale, may just neglect us completely.
- Civilizations cannot evolve past a certain degree.
Simply put, reason that we cannot find extraterrestrial life forms is that there are always some type of barriers that prevent the rise of advanced beings. Maybe mass extinction events are inevitable, and either natural or technological catastrophes have wiped out all the aliens already. It is the destiny.
In short, no matter what ideas you believe in, we will probably never stop our journey of searching extraterrestrial life beings. Anyway, does the fleeting presence of salty water on Mars indicate the existence of extraterrestrial beings, or was it a mere coincidence? Only time can reveal the truth. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Do you think aliens are real? I look forward to reading your blogs!
Works Cited
NASA News: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars
UFO Sightings Daily News: http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/
Fermi Paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
Hybrid Librarian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOdNf_JsGPA
I always look forward to reading your passion blogs. I personally do not believe in UFOs, but I do believe in great photoshopping skills. But as for aliens, yes I do believe extraterrestrial life is out there. However, I don’t think we will be able to experience their presence in our lifetimes. What do you think?