Are we alone in the universe? I'm not. My dog is sitting next to me.

Trying to make good on a promise, this post is part of a series.

Jumping around, number 8 on the list - "Are we alone in the universe?"

Such a great question. It's basically the point of space exploration. It's tempting from a human perspective (we're very into ourselves - and partial to the planet we live on) to think that the only life in the universe is on Earth. But wait! The universe is so massive....

just a sliver...

...that it's hard to believe there is no other life out there.

If you're asking for just my opinion and to answer the question: I think that we are not "alone" in the universe. Microbes can survive on meteorites and there could even be bacteria that have left this planet and could be flying through space right now. The last episode* of Cosmos had a nice segment about how life on Earth could have been "seeded" from other places. Very interesting hypothesis. For now I'll hold off on going further on that topic since it gets into another topic for another post.

Sometimes this question is meant to ask if there is intelligent life other places. When we think about being "alone" in the universe we also assume to be "un-alone" would require other intelligent life. I'm undecided as to whether I think there is "intelligent" life, but I think it's a fantastic question. If it helps, I do tend to lean towards "wow, the universe is massive!" If this topic is of interest to you and you haven't already explored the SETI(Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute, I encourage you to do so. You also might want to look into a career as an astrobiologist.**

Fire up the engines, let's go explore. (source)

My dog is starting to whine, reminding me that I'm not alone. He's sitting next to me and my wife is just a few more feet away. I hope you're not alone either...and I really hope that you don't feel alone when you are in my classroom. I better go let the dog outside. It's that or he heard me questioning the possibility of intelligent life.





*Second segment, about 10 minutes in.

**It's as cool as it sounds.