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10 Moons Humans Could Colonize
10 Europa Not only is there a good chance that humans would be able to live on Europa, but it’s also possible that life may already exist there. One of Jupiter’s many moons, Europa has a thick icy crust, but a vast ocean is believed to be underneath it. It also has a rocky inner core, which could help to produce the correct environment to support alien life, be it simple microbes or more advanced living creatures. Studies of the expected ocean and how it cycles oxygen and hydrogen will be a good indicator for the real chances of life on Europa as well as how real the possibility of humans being able to colonize it actually are. NASA hopes to determine whether the water reacts with the rocky core of the moon and then see if this reaction creates both heat and hydrogen, as the process does here on Earth. The study of oxidants in the icy crust will be an indicator of the amount of oxygen produced and how much of it is “pushed” into the ocean below. It is thought that NASA will have studied Europa much more closely by 2025, which will be the only way to determine if their theories can work in reality. Closer study may also uncover the presence of active volcanoes under the icy surface, which would increase the chances of life on the moon. Such volcanoes would send water laced with vital minerals into the ocean. When NASA does manage to get a closer look at Europa, they will carry out a variety of research to help give them a better idea of what lies beneath the thick layer of ice on its surface. Magnetic sounding should provide scientists with readings that will give them an indicator of how thick the ice is while also providing information on the depth of the ocean itself. Even the “saltiness” of the water should be determined from this operation. They will also use radar technology to penetrate the thick surface ice, which should ultimately disclose any structures that may lie beneath.
9 Titan Although it’s in the outer solar system, Saturn’s moon Titan is probably one of the more favorable places for humans and one that many people believe we should be looking to colonize in the future. Humans would still require breathing apparatuses, as the atmosphere is unbreathable to us, but there would be no need to wear pressurized space suits. There would, however, be a need to wear protective clothing due to the severely cold temperatures, which average –179 degrees Celsius (–290 degrees °F). The gravity there would be slightly less than the gravity of our Moon, which would make walking a “clumsy” activity, whereas traveling through the air in simple vehicles powered by nothing more than humans themselves would be relatively simple. Food production would also have to be aided by artificial light, since Titan only receives between 1/300th and 1/1000th the amount of light that Earth does, depending on the amount of cloud cover. Incidentally, the clouds Titan, of which there are plenty, offer further protection from the elements. Although there is no water on Titan, the celestial body does contain liquid methane, which has even led some scientists to theorize that life may be found there that is based on methane as opposed to water. There would be plenty to explore on Titan if humans ever make it there. There are numerous methane lakes and rivers as well as vast mountains, not to mention the fact that Titan is a relatively short distance from Saturn itself. The planet would be permanently visible (depending on clouds) and would fill around a third of the sky.
8 Miranda Although Titania is the largest of Uranus’s moons, Miranda, the smallest of the planet’s five large moons, may prove to be a better place to set up a colony. Several of the fault cliffs of Miranda are extremely deep, in some cases nearly 12 times as deep as the Grand Canyon here on Earth. These could offer ideal places to land and set up a “base” that is protected somewhat from the outer elements, which would included charged, radioactive particles produced by Uranus’s magnetosphere. Miranda also has no atmosphere to provide any protection from these particles. Ice exists on Miranda in abundance; astronomers and researchers estimate it to be half of the moon’s overall composition. Like Europa, there is a possibility that liquid water may exist under this ice, something that is not likely to be known for sure until it is studied at a much closer distance than we’ve currently managed. Liquid water would indicate significant geological activity under the surface, as Miranda is much too far away from the Sun for its heat to keep the water in a liquid state. Although it is only a theory (and not a very probable one at that), it may be that Miranda’s close proximity to Uranus and the consequent tidal forces are enough to trigger this geological activity. Liquid water or not, if a human colony is ever set up on Miranda, the moon’s very low gravity would mean that any researches who fall from any of the large cliffs and into the deep canyons would take minutes to reach the bottom. The descent would be so much slower than here on Earth that such falls probably wouldn’t be fatal.
7 Enceladus According to some researchers, not only would Enceladus, one of Saturn’s main moons, be a good place to set up a colony and observe the ringed planet, but it might also be the place most likely to already support life. Enceladus is covered in ice, but it has been observed spewing ice particles high into space from geyser-like jets. Samples have been collected and analyzed by the Cassini spacecraft, which detected liquid water, nitrogen and organic carbon. These elements, as well as the energy source that sent them out into space in the first place, are essentially the “building blocks” of life. The next step now for scientists is to discover if more complex organisms are hidden beneath the icy surface. The results from initial testing of the contents of the plumes have made Enceladus more attractive to scientists. It is theorized that the best location to set up a base on the ice world would be close to where the plumes originated—huge cracks on the surface of the ice at its south pole. The are known as Enceladus’s “tiger stripes.” The heat produced in this region is roughly equivalent to 20 coal-fired power stations and could be utilized by potential colonists as a heat source. There would be plenty of craters and ridges to explore and potentially be utilized as bases as well, but the moon’s atmosphere is very thin at best, as is its gravity, which would make moving around quite difficult.
6 Charon As NASA’s New Horizons space probe made its way to Pluto, it also sent back amazing images of the dwarf planet’s largest moon, Charon. These images sparked a debate among scientists as to whether or not geological activity is present, due to surface of Charon (and Pluto) appearing to be much younger than scientists had predicted. Although there are cracks on Charon’s surface, it seems to be relatively free of asteroid markings and craters, which according to the New Horizons research team, could suggest that Charon is an active world. The cracks themselves are similar to the lava tubes found on our Moon and would be perfect for setting up a human research base or colony. It is thought that Charon has a very thin atmosphere, which would be a further indicator of geological activity if it is proven to be coming from within the moon itself.
5 Mimas Known as the “Death Star” moon, Saturn’s icy, rocky moon Mimas may have an ocean beneath its otherwise unwelcoming surface, which may in fact be suitable for life. Examination of the Cassini footage by scientists revealed that Mimas appeared to rock back and forth as it went around on its orbit. This could suggest activity beneath its surface. Although scientists were very cautious with their findings, noting that there hadn’t been any other signs of geological activity, they stated if an ocean was discovered, the moon should certainly be considered a possibility for colonization. It’s estimated the possible ocean would be around 24 to 29 kilometers (15–18 mi) beneath the surface. Should the rocking motion prove not to be the result of liquid water under the surface, then it is most likely to be the result of a misshapen core, possibly due to the immense gravitational pull of Saturn’s rings. As there are no further outward signs of activity under the surface, the only way to find out for sure would be to land on the moon and conduct research on the surface temperature and take measurements of its gravity field.
4 Triton Images and data sent back from the Voyager 2 spacecraft in August 1989 showed that the surface of Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, was made up of rock and nitrogen ice. It also raised the possibility that there was activity under the surface which might suggest the presence of liquid water. While Triton has an atmosphere, it is so thin that it would be virtually nonexistent to anyone on the surface. Not that you would be able to step outside without some very heavy-duty protective clothing, anyway. Triton has an average temperature of –235 degrees Celsius (–391 °F;), which makes it the coldest body in the known universe. Triton would be a place of interest for scientists to visit and, technology permitting, set up a permanent base on, and it certainly has enough quirks to warrant close study: Areas on Triton’s surface appear to reflect light as if they’re made of something hard and smooth like metal. It is widely accepted that these areas are the result of dust, nitrogen gas, and possibly water spewed from within the surface of the moon before then being distributed by the super-thin atmosphere and freezing on the surface to the appearance of smooth ice. It is not known how deadly these releases would be to the environment or to humans. It also doesn’t appear that Triton formed at the same time and from the same material as its planet, which is relatively strange, given its size. It seems to have formed elsewhere in space, and while roaming the universe, was “captured” by Neptune. The strange moon also orbits its host in the opposite direction to the planet. Triton is the only known moon in the solar system to do this.
3 Ganymede Ganymede is Jupiter’s largest moon, and like other celestial bodies in our solar system, with the improvement of technology improves has come the suspicion that liquid water exists under its surface. Compared to other ice-covered moons, Ganymede’s surface is thought to be relatively thin and therefore should be easier to penetrate. Ganymede is also the only moon in the solar system to have its own magnetic field. This gives the moon auroras similar to the ones on Earth. The fact that these auroras don’t appear to move in any great way indicates to scientists there is an ocean under the surface. Ganymede also has a thin oxygen atmosphere. Although it seems to be too thin for life as we know it to exist, the potential for some form of terraforming exists. In 2012, the European Space Agency received the go-ahead to launch a mission to explore Ganymede, along with two other of Jupiter’s moons—Callisto and Europa. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2022 and expected to reach Ganymede a decade later. Although all three moons will be of immense interest to researchers, it is believed that Ganymede may very well contain the richest environment for study and potential settlement.
2 Callisto Approximately the same size as the planet Mercury, Jupiter’s second largest moon Callisto is another moon that appears to have a vast liquid ocean under its icy surface and consequently great potential for colonization. The surface of Callisto consists mainly of craters and what are essentially fields of ice. Callisto also has a thin atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide. Research already undertaken suggests that this atmosphere is being replenished by carbon dioxide released from beneath the surface, as it is too thin to remain in place otherwise. Initial data suggests the possibility that oxygen may also be present in the atmosphere, but further testing would be required to confirm this. As Callisto is at a safe distance from Jupiter, radiation from the planet would be relatively low, while the lack of geological activity makes the environment more stable for potential human colonists, so much so that habitats could feasibly be built on the surface of the moon as opposed to deep underground.
1 The Moon Of course, when all is said and done, the first place in space that will be colonized is likely to be our very own Moon (aka Luna). As well as being a good “dress rehearsal” for missions much further afield, establishing a base on the Moon would serve as a great launching point for missions into deeper space. A story circulated around many media platforms in March 2016 suggested that scientists predict such a base could very well be established within the next decade. Chris McKay, a NASA astrobiologist, is one person who is very much in favor of making the mission a reality. He believes that other missions to the Moon since Apollo 17 have failed due to them simply being too expensive, but his team’s plan will be a fraction of the cost. He states that this is partly due to new technologies which were designed for use on Earth but will also be very cost-effective in space—such as self-driving cars and waste-recycling toilets. While NASA’s main focus is to land humans on Mars, McKay believes they will not be able to fulfill that dream before they’ve successfully set up a permanent base on the Moon, stating that it would provide a “blueprint” for missions to the red planet. McKay believes that the fact that other agencies as well as private companies are expressing real interest in, and even have plans for, setting up a base on the Moon will be all the motivation that NASA will need to make the plans happen, if only so they can “establish the rule of law” there.
10 Animals Launched Into Space
10 Cats Housecats were a bit late to the space party compared to some other animals; the French first sent a cat into space on October 18, 1963. Whether it was a stray named Felix or his female equivalent Felicette remains a matter of contention. Felix’s (or Felicette’s) journey went well, but a subsequent flight a week later spelled doom for the poor kitty. Fifty years later, the government of Iran, which has begun to expand its horizons into space, has claimed they want to launch a Persian cat into space in the first few months of 2014.
9 Rodents Rodents have a long history in space: Mice, rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs have all been sent up over the years. Several experiments have been undertaken with rodents in space. In 2001, biomedical engineer Ted Bateman, working in conjunction with NASA and biotech company Amgen, used mice to test a protein called osteoprotegerin. They believed the protein might be useful in halting bone loss associated with aging, and since space accelerates the aging process, it was the perfect environment to conduct the study. Sure enough, the protein worked, and subsequent experiments may go a long way toward preventing bone diseases like osteoporosis in the future.
8 Fish In 2012, the Japanese HTV-3 supply ship docked with the International Space Station. They had an aquarium filled with fish called “medaka” onboard. They conducted various experiments on the fish, which were ideal for this purpose due to their quick breeding habits and transparent skin. This allowed the researchers to observe their organs with ease. Like other animals, they were checked for bone degradation and muscle atrophy. Although they are in water, the fish are also subjected to microgravity and behaved oddly in it, swimming in loops instead of straight lines.
7 Chimpanzees As the closest living relative of humans, the contribution of chimpanzees to the space program has proved invaluable. The first chimp in space was Ham, a wild ape caught in Cameroon in 1959. He was trained in brutal fashion at Holloman Air Force Base through a system of positive and negative reinforcement. If Ham did what his trainers wanted, he was given a banana pellet. If he defied commands, he received mild electric shock. Ham’s test flight was dubbed Mercury-Redstone 2 and took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 31, 1961. There were several malfunctions during the flight, but Ham performed well, and his space suit protected him. He would go on to live at Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo. He died at the age of 26. Ham was succeded by Enos, a better-trained animal who went on to orbit the planet twice. He returned to earth alive, delighted to see his human friends. Unfortunately, his story had a sad ending. Enos died of dysentery (almost assuredly unrelated to his space adventure) about 11 months later.
6 Monkeys Several species of monkey have been sent into space, including squirrel monkeys, macaques, and rhesus monkeys. Well-known for their contributions to medical research, the rhesus is highly intelligent and received the honor of being the first primate ever cloned. Albert II, a rhesus, was the first monkey in space after his predecessor (Albert) suffered a grim fate when he suffocated during a flight. The subsequent line of Alberts—III, IV, V, and VI—also died (Albert IV died a couple of hours after his return to Earth). Several other nations, including Argentina, France, and Russia, have also used monkeys for spaceflights. Unfortunately, many of them did not survive.
5 Amphibians Amphibians, such as frogs, toads, and newts, have been used by scientists for a long time to gauge the health of an environment. Occupying both water and land, amphibians are almost always the first to succumb to even the most subtle developments, including climate change, pollution, and the introduction of disease. Dozens of frogs have been sent to space, and at least one poor frog was caught in the (likely deadly) crossfire of a flight he didn’t even get to go on. Pictures of NASA’s Minotaur V rocket blasting off in Virginia made headlines, an airborne frog in the foreground. Iberian ribbed newts have also made several space flights, beginning with the USSR’s Bion 7 in 1985. Scientists were interested in how the environment of space might affect the newt’s ability to regenerate.
4 Nematodes Nematodes, or roundworms, are mostly parasitical (they’re responsible for the trichinosis disease and infest our pet dogs as heartworms) and attract little sympathy—even from otherwise-dedicated animal lovers. These little buggers have also made several trips into space, and they accompanied the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated when it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. The seven astronauts aboard were killed, but all was not lost. A locker containing a nematode experiment was recovered from the wreckage, and despite insurmountable odds, the worms were still alive. These nematodes revealed that their species suffered some of the same effects as humans when traveling in space, including muscle deterioration and diabetic symptoms.
3 Water Bears It’s almost impossible to comprehend how hostile an environment space can be: a near vacuum devoid of oxygen, alternately blistering hot and glacially cold, and with enough radiation to melt your bones. Without the benefit of a space suit, a human could endure no more than a few seconds before losing consciousness. But passing out would be merciful, since you wouldn’t be awake to feel yourself freeze to death or your lungs rupture from the pressure of that last lungful of air you took. Water bears are some of the toughest creatures on the planet, capable of surviving conditions that would destroy almost any other living thing. Resembling microscopic, bloated caterpillars, water bears seem nearly invulnerable. When confronted with harsh circumstances, the water bear enters a stasis where its biological functions almost entirely shuts down, allowing it to live for years without eating or drinking—in temperatures both broiling and verging on absolute zero. In 2007, about 3,000 of these creatures were taken on the European Space Agency’s Foton-M3 mission, and were shown to be able to withstand the vacuum of space.
2 Spiders Although they’re easily among the most hated and feared creatures on Earth, spiders have been the subject of several space projects. In 2011, two golden orb spiders, named Gladys and Esmerelda, were housed on the International Space Station where they spun webs and hunted in microgravity. The golden orb was used because it has a habit of dismantling its web every night and building a new one (this would allow the scientist to study more web constructions, if nothing else). A jumping spider named Nefertiti also lived on the ISS during 2011. She didn’t spin a web, instead choosing to pounce on her prey. Zero gravity seemed to have little effect on her hunting technique. Nefertiti was retired to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s insect zoo upon returning to Earth.
1 Dogs The USSR was well-known for sending a series of dogs into space. The natural assumption would be that the Soviets used purebred, laboratory-raised specimens, but the dogs were actually stray mutts, chosen because the scientists believed that they would have tougher constitutions than lab animals or house pets. Canines were selected because of the ease in training them and their comfort with confined spaces. All of the dogs used were female, as it was easier to design a space suit to collect waste from females.
10 Strange Secrets Of The Moon
10 Moonquakes Despite being a dead hunk of rock with very little geological activity, the Moon is prone to shaking fits. These earthquake-like tremors are called moonquakes, and there are four different kinds of them. The first three types—deep quakes, vibrations from meteorite impacts, and thermal quakes caused by the Sun’s heat—are relatively harmless. The fourth one, however, can be quite unpleasant. These “shallow” moonquakes can register up to 5.5 on the Richter scale—enough to move large furniture around—and last for a remarkably long 10 minutes. According to NASA, these quakes also have the effect of making the Moon “ring like a bell.” The frightening thing about moonquakes is that we have no real idea of what causes them. Earth’s earthquakes are usually caused by the movement of tectonic plates, but the Moon doesn’t have any active plate tectonics. Some researchers think they may have some link to Earth’s tidal activity, which is caused by the Moon’s pull. However, this theory is inconclusive, as the tidal forces affect the entirety of the Moon, but moonquakes are usually localized.
9 The “Twin Planet” Most people think the Moon is, well, a moon, but there is some talk that it should actually be classified as a planet. For one, it’s far too big to be a “true” moon. Being about one-fourth of the diameter of Earth, it is easily the biggest moon in relation to its planet in our solar system. (Pluto has a moon called Charon that is half its diameter in size, but since Pluto isn’t a real planet anymore, it doesn’t count.) Because of its large size, the Moon doesn’t actually orbit Earth at all. Instead, Earth and Moon orbit each other, around a point between them. This point is called a barycenter, and the illusion the Moon is actually orbiting Earth comes from the fact that the barycenter is currently located inside the Earth’s crust. The fact that the barycenter remains inside the Earth is pretty much the only reason Earth and Moon aren’t classified as a twin planet, instead of a planet and its satellite. However, this may change in the future.
8 Moon Trash Everybody knows that man has been on the Moon, but not everyone is aware that he treated the place like a picnic area. Over time, the astronauts who visited the Moon managed to leave quite a bit of trash behind. It is estimated that there’s 181,437 kilograms (about 400,000 lbs) of man-made materials lying around the Moon.
7 The Moon Is A Burial Ground Eugene “Gene” Shoemaker, a famous astronomer and geologist, was something of a legend in his field. He invented the scientific research of cosmic impacts and came up with the methods and techniques that Apollo astronauts used to research the Moon. Shoemaker wanted to be an astronaut himself, but was turned down because of a minor medical issue. Throughout his life, this remained his biggest disappointment. Still, hoping against hope, Shoemaker kept on dreaming that he would some day visit the Moon. When he died, NASA fulfilled his most precious wish and sent his ashes to the Moon with the Lunar Prospector in 1998. His ashes remain there, scattered among moon dust.
6 Lunar Anomalies
5 Moon Dust One of the Moon’s most surprising dangers is lunar dust. As everyone knows, sand gets everywhere even on Earth, but on the Moon, it is downright hazardous. Lunar dust is as fine as flour, yet extremely rough. Thanks to this texture and the Moon’s low gravity, it clings absolutely everywhere. NASA has experienced numerous problems caused by moon dust. It has eroded astronauts’ boots almost completely through and sandpapered their visors. It has traveled inside the ships with the space suits and caused “moon hay fever” in the poor astronauts that have inhaled it. It’s thought that prolonged exposure to the stuff could even cause airlocks to fail and space suits to break down. And in case you were wondering: Yes, of course this devilish substance smells like spent gunpowder.
4 Difficulties With Low Gravity Although the gravity on the Moon is only one-sixth of that on Earth, moving on its surface is by no means an easy feat. Buzz Aldrin says the Moon was actually an extremely difficult environment to move in. The space suits were clumsy and their feet sank in the moon dust for up to 15 centimeters (6 in). Despite the low gravity, a person’s inertia (resistance to changes in movement) on the Moon is high, so things got difficult if they wanted to move fast or change directions. If the astronauts wanted to go any faster than slow walking, they had to move in clumsy kangaroo-like bounds. This presented another problem, because the terrain is full of craters and other tripping hazards.
3 The Moon’s Origin Where did the Moon come from? The short answer is that we don’t really know. However, science is able to hazard a few educated guesses. There are five main theories about the origin of the Moon. The Fission Theory argues that the Moon used to be a part of our planet that was separated at some very early point of Earth’s history. This would make the Moon part to what is currently the Pacific Ocean basin. The Capture Theory says that the Moon was just wandering the universe until our gravitational field caught it. Other theories say our satellite was either condensed from a bunch of asteroids or the remains of Earth’s collision with an unknown Mars-sized planet. Currently, the most likely candidate for the Moon’s origin story is the Ejected Ring Theory, which is better known as Giant Impact Theory. According to this version, a protoplanet (a planet that is forming) called Theia collided with Earth. The ensuing cloud of debris eventually condensed into the Moon.
2 The Moon And Sleep The Moon’s effects on Earth and vice versa cannot be denied. However, its effects on humans remain a source of constant debate. Many believe that the full moon brings out the strangest behavior in people, although science hasn’t been able to offer conclusive proof about this. There is one thing science has been able to confirm, though: There’s a very good chance that the moon could disturb our sleep cycle. According to a volunteer-based experiment by the University of Basel in Switzerland, the phases of the moon affect—and disturb—human sleep cycles in a clearly measurable way, and the absolute worst night’s sleep is usually had during the full moon. If accurate, this find could very well explain the whole full moon madness theory: If no one can catch a good night’s sleep during the full moon, it makes sense that time would see quite a lot more strange things than your average night.
1 Moon Shadows When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked the alien landscape of the Moon, they soon made a jarring discovery: The shadows of the Moon were far darker than those on Earth due to the lack of atmosphere. Everything the Sun didn’t shine directly on was pitch black. Once their foot stepped in a shadow, they could not see it anymore despite the fact that the Sun was blazing in the sky.
10 Traits Aliens Must Have According To Science
10 Aggressiveness What separates humans from other species on the planet in terms of evolution comes down to a simple principle: aggression. For any species to thrive within a given habitat it has to confront adversity and overcome it. These struggles drive evolutionary adaptation. The dominant life form on a planet (which aliens would almost certainly have to be) must have been able to master their environment.
9 Explorers Any life form that reaches Earth will, by definition, be an explorer. Looking to our own culture for clues, we immediately see how unexplored territories are targeted for their resources. We wonder what lands might possess that can help further our causes. Look at Columbus and the Americas, Marco Polo and the East Indies, the Vikings and most of Europe. According to Stephen Hawking, aliens are likely to seek out other planets in order to colonize them or mine them for resources. Aliens may not come to destroy our planet, but they will in all likelihood seek to exploit what they find to increase their race’s reach, as again this is the hallmark of a developed species.
8 Viral And Bacterial Immunity It’s a common trope in Science Fiction that aliens, having never encountered Earth bacteria before, will succumb to simple diseases which they have no immunity to. Just look at the pilgrims and conquistadors, and the havoc smallpox and typhus wreaked on unexposed native populations. But conquistadors and Aztecs were both human. According to Seth Shostak, senior engineer from SETI, bacteria are limited to the life forms they are biochemically related to. Our germs have evolved to survive on our unique DNA. Even viruses and bacterial infections that infect one species on our planet will only rarely spread to another. Dogs don’t routinely get the ‘flu, for example. Any alien life form that invaded earth will likely be immune to earthly diseases, so don’t expect a War of the Worlds solution.
7 They Won’t Eat Humans What if they want to feed on us? While a scary thought, it’s unlikely. A race advanced enough to achieve space travel surely will have conquered its need to prey on living animals. The journey to earth from any potentially life-supporting planet is incredibly long, and for any species to attempt it they would have to have sustainable food production methods already in place. Further, the digestive setup of a creature that evolved in a different sector of the universe is not very likely to be compatible with the kinds of proteins found on our planet. It would be inconceivable that the minimal nourishment resources found on our planet would ever justify the energy spent to obtain it. An alien race would already be adept at harnessing energy by that point. So we won’t be cattle.
6 Impersonal Killers How many people have ever moved into a new home and found a colony of bugs as an extremely unwelcome surprise? How many of those people then squished each and every offender by hand, swinging the shoe of death over and over again until the job was done? No, most people would call an exterminator to gas the home and lay down poisons for the survivors. Aliens, like any advanced species, will make use of technology to their advantage. They will probably eradicate the life forms on a planet they are considering for their own uses before landing. Forget skies filled with single-pilot saucers firing laser beams at the Capitol Building. Expect a quick and efficient, probably biological, end to our existence.
5 Not Giant Insects While it’s scary as crap to picture aliens as giant forms of the animals that give us the creeps on Earth, it isn’t scientifically plausible. This concept is born more out of a fear of losing our dominance on this planet combined with an evolved disgust response to disease-carriers. In reality, the body structure of an insect only functions on a small scale. As they do not have oxygenated blood, they cannot take in enough oxygen from our atmosphere to grow larger than they do. In prehistoric times, when the atmosphere was much more oxygen rich, they did grow to distressing sizes, but we’re talking around a meter long. The image of roach-like creatures towering over us is pure fantasy. Sorry Heinlein.
4 Super Intelligence This is a given. However, in a ton of movies, alien races are depicted as feudal, territorial beings that destroy everything in their paths. This doesn’t make sense. In order to organize the kind of effort needed to achieve interstellar travel, a highly advanced intelligence will need to be present. While the species may be, as noted before, aggressive towards other life forms they encounter and even their own race, the chances of them being intergalactic warlords are considerably low.
3 Non-Humanoid It happens in countless TV shows and movies. Aliens appear on screen that resemble normal humans in face paint (I’m looking at you Darth Maul and every Star Trek character ever). This is convenient from a prop standpoint but not very likely at all in the realm of science. Humans developed as the result of specific environmental conditions. We stood erect to cover greater distances and free our hands to manipulate tools. We formed thumbs as a response to our early tree-dwelling lives. But if a planet doesn’t have trees, it is going to be unusual to develop an appendage adept at manipulating them. There’s no way to tell exactly what an alien species will look like but most likely they will be fast, enabling their early survival and the ability to hunt for prey. They will have very well-developed sensory organs. One would expect (but cannot guarantee) rudimentary traits present in most earth-based life forms: mouths, eyes, a form of hearing and an efficient form of locomotion, such as legs. They must have been predators and will likely possess vestigial traits to indicate this.
2 Speech And Writing For a civilization to develop it must communicate. A long-distance form of communication will have to be present in order to organize in large numbers and disseminate information, which is crucial to social development. Like humans, aliens would need the ability to communicate complex theories with one another, and record them, thereby assisting the next generation through learning. Without some form of writing, it is unlikely we would have ever passed beyond the barrier of individual generational limitations. The type of speech employed by interstellar travellers, and how it might be recorded, is somewhat of a mystery, however. Depending on their environments, sound waves may not be the most effective approach. Perhaps they will use vibrations that are received via specialized sensory organs, or maybe they will, as Hollywood would have us believe, speak telepathically. Telepathy has yet to be proven in any other species however, so that would more likely be a secondary development or the result of technology.
1 No Super Strength Aliens will not be super strong. Once reaching the level of technological proficiency required to be space explorers, the need for brute strength should be several thousand years removed from its usefulness. These creatures will be lean and efficiently designed beings, using minimal energy to power their bodies. Energy consumption dictates survival on a large scale. Larger muscles use more energy and require more upkeep, which diverts energy away from evolutionary progress. A scientifically advanced culture would no longer require physical strength to manipulate its surroundings, and a species that has put its evolutionary chips on complex social bonds, abstract thinking and communicating, and fine motor skills and tool manipulation, all of which are necessary to develop interstellar travel, will probably not have the resources left to devote to physical strength or speed.
10 Reasons That We Still Haven’t Found Aliens
10 Earth Is Special The Rare Earth Hypothesis suggests that the chain of events that created life on this planet was so complex that only a biological perfect storm could recreate it elsewhere. While there may be Earth-like planets, none of them have exactly what it takes for intelligent life to develop. In other words, we haven’t met any aliens, because none are out there, or they are so few and far between that contact is highly improbable. The major factor that makes Earth so hospitable to life is its long period of relatively stable climatic conditions, which is due to the planet’s unique orbit and position. Without our precise distance from the Sun and Moon, the planet would likely be too hot or cold, have too little oxygen, and be too unstable to support any life beyond bacteria. Paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee were the first to introduce the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Even though nearly 15 years have passed since they publicized the theory, and Earth-like planets have since been detected, they are still confident that the odds of those worlds having life are extraordinarily low.
9 All Intelligent Life Hits A Stumbling Block According to the Great Filter theory, alien life does exist, but intelligent life is incapable of technologically advancing enough for long-distance space communication or travel. Although our modern spaceships, satellites, and radios may make it seem like we’re getting closer, we’ll inevitably reach a barrier or catastrophe that will either wipe us out or cause technology to devolve. We know cataclysmic natural disasters periodically strike Earth, so it’s possible that these types of events hit worlds everywhere, sending intelligent life back to the Stone Age before technology can adequately develop. Or, maybe we annihilate ourselves, such as through nuclear war. Whatever the filter is, it seems to mean nothing but bad news for humans. Not only will we never communicate with space beings—we’ll probably die trying. However, there is one possible bright side. Some think that we are the first individuals to make it past the filter, so we’ll eventually be the first super-intelligent beings to roam space.
8 They’ve Moved Out Of The Universe According to futurist John Smart’s Transcension Hypothesis, intelligent alien life once existed in our universe, yet it became so advanced that it moved on to greener pastures. More specifically, aliens became so evolved that they stopped looking at outer space and instead focused on inner space. The concept can be compared to the miniaturization we’ve experienced in computers. What initially began as an enormous, room-filling technology progressively became smaller (even pocket-sized) while simultaneously growing in complexity and power. To Transcension supporters, intelligent life evolves in much the same way, constantly working toward a denser, more efficient use of space, time, energy, and matter (“STEM compression“). Eventually, we’ll be living and operating at the nano-scale until we become so small that we create and exist in a black hole outside this space-time continuum. To Smart and others, black holes are the ultimate destination. They allow for ideal computing and learning, time travel, energy harvesting, and more. Civilizations that don’t achieve this destiny are failures. Other cosmic beings may be working toward their own transcendence. Like humans, they might emit space broadcasts, but these types of signals are supposedly the work of immature civilizations and are unlikely to be successful. Also, based on Moore’s Law (that computing power doubles every two years), these beings would likely reach transcendence before exploring the cosmos.
7 Earth Isn’t As Great As We Think Perhaps it’s hubris to think that aliens would even have an interest in us or our planet. Worlds far more interesting and life-supporting may exist, and intelligent beings would much rather spend their time focusing on super-habitable places rather than Earth. This theory is the complete opposite of the Rare Earth theory—Earth isn’t special at all. An alien race capable of traveling or communicating across light years would no more care about chitchatting with us than a human would converse with a fly. Likewise, they’d undoubtedly have their own superior technologies and would not require any of our measly resources. If, however, they did need to harvest minerals or elements, they wouldn’t have to visit Earth. Those things are found floating all over space. Furthermore, no matter how intelligent the beings, traveling across light years is no easy feat. What are the odds they’d invest all that energy coming here when there are 8.8 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? For followers of this theory, to think Earth is everyone’s destination is to suffer from the same geocentrism that led to Galileo’s erroneous persecution.
6 We’re Living In A Virtual Reality Arguably one of the most difficult to accept explanations to the Fermi Paradox is the Planetarium Hypothesis. Our world is a “form of virtual reality ‘planetarium,’ designed to give us the illusion the universe is empty.” We haven’t discovered any extraterrestrial life because those extraterrestrials haven’t designed that into the program. The fundamentals of this theory date back to Descartes, who asked, “How can we know that the world around us is real—are we just a brain in a vat, which thinks it’s living in the real world?” Instead of being brains in a vat, however, most modern supporters of this notion think we’re in a computer simulation designed by advanced aliens. These aliens are capable of harnessing enough energy to manipulate matter and energy on galactic scales. Why would the aliens want to watch us like ants in a farm? Maybe just for fun, or maybe they just made us to see if they could. As unlikely as the Planetarium Hypothesis may sound, professional philosophers and physicists are serious about this idea. They say that we’re more likely to be artificial intelligences in a fabricated world than to have our own minds. Furthermore, we will likely discover the simulation, since we’ll inevitably notice a glitch in the system or devise an adequate test to prove the theory.
5 We Live In The Cosmic Boonies Although intelligent alien life might exist, our planets may be too far apart to make communication practical or purposeful. Earth may be so far away from other inhabited planets that we’ve simply been overlooked. If that doesn’t feel lonely enough, some claim most other worlds exist relatively close together in clusters and are interacting with each other, while we’re off in cosmic no-man’s-land missing out on the party. The roots of this idea come from a mathematical theory known as percolation, which describes how things clump in a random environment. Based on the percolation theory, the universe naturally formed with areas of large clustered growth and a few smaller areas of growth in outlier positions. Other intelligent beings are in the big cluster, and Earth is an isolated outlier. Instead of trying to make contact with these faraway beings, some, like Stephen Hawking, suggest that we continue to lie low. Hawking says that if we pick up on an alien signal, “We should be wary of answering back, until we have evolved.” Otherwise, we may suffer a fate akin to the Native Americans after Columbus arrived.
4 We Haven’t Spotted Their Signals (Yet) Scientists like Frank Drake and the late Carl Sagan have argued the “absence of evidence is very different from evidence of alien absence.” Alien hunting has been held back by lack of government funding, which is necessary to afford extensive alien-tracking equipment and resources. Historically, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) programs have had to rely on borrowed radio telescopes and other equipment, which they could only use for a limited time. These hindrances have made it virtually impossible to make any real progress. Still, there is some good news—at least for those who think making alien contact is a good idea. The Allen Telescope Array, a radio telescope array specially designed to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, became operational in 2007. This mega-telescope (consisting of 42 individual 6-meter-wide (20 ft) telescopes) was largely funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. After numerous setbacks, it finally seems ready to begin doing some serious space exploration. If anything on Earth is capable of picking up alien signals, this is the device.
3 We Can’t Recognize Their Signals Even if other planets are hospitable to life, would the beings there evolve similarly to living things on Earth? Maybe they are so different that neither of us would recognize a signal from the other. Comparable to how bats visualize sound waves while we only see light, it’s possible that humans and aliens operate with entirely different senses. As cosmologist and astrophysicist Lord Rees pointed out, “They could be staring us in the face, and we just don’t recognize them. The problem is that we’re looking for something very much like us, assuming that they at least have something like the same mathematics and technology. I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive.” Things get especially tricky when trying to connect with a highly advanced race because they might use communication methods (such as neutrinos or gravitational waves) beyond our technological understanding. Likewise, our primitive radio emissions might look like nothing more than white noise to them. If aliens and people are indeed extremely unalike, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever make contact and solve the Fermi paradox—especially so long as we’re anthropomorphizing aliens and expecting them to communicate as we do.
2 Super-Organisms Are Inherently Suicidal The Medea Hypothesis, coined by paleontologist Peter Ward, is the notion that humans and other super-organisms carry within themselves the seeds of self-destruction. In this way, it very much ties in with the Great Filter theory, since it suggests that we end up dying before evolving enough to make alien contact. The hypothesis is named after the murderous Medea from Greek mythology, who killed her own children. In this case, the planet is Medea, and all living things are her offspring. We don’t want to die, but Mother Earth made us destined to kill ourselves. Extinction is built into our biology to ensure that we are eliminated before we create too much of an imbalance on Earth. Once humans become an incurable plague on the planet, we will do something to guarantee our own demise. Ward believes that almost all previous mass extinctions were brought on by living organisms. For instance, he blames the two Snowball Earth periods from millions of years ago on plants that proliferated so wildly that they absorbed excessive amounts of CO2. This brought about global cooling and consequently the plants’ demise. Similarly, if humans really are the root of today’s climate change, we may be well on the way to guaranteeing that our own species can’t survive on the planet. In short, our internal suicidal clock will run out long before we get the chance to connect with aliens.
1 They Walk Among Us It sounds like science fiction, yet people in prominent positions are confident that aliens live and work all around us. For example, former Canadian defense minister Paul Hellyer gave an interview in 2014 in which he claimed that 80 different species of alien life live on Earth. Some of them (including Nordic blondes) look nearly identical to humans. Another group, the “Short Greys,” appear more like stereotypical aliens and stay relatively hidden from the general population. Hellyer is not alone in his claims. Physicist Paul Davies from Arizona State University and Dr. Robert Trundle from Northern Kentucky University have similar opinions about the existence of aliens on the planet. To Hellyer, Davies, Trundle, and those who share their beliefs, the Fermi paradox has already been answered—aliens do exist, and whether humans realize it or not, they interact with us on a daily basis. Despite experiencing a great deal of criticism from their peers and the public, these men continue to be outspoken in their opinions.
10 Discoveries That Show Our Ancestors’ Obsession With Astronomy
10 The Dresden Codex The Dresden Codex is a Mayan manuscript that was given to the Royal Library in Dresden, Germany, sometime in the 1730s. The manuscript didn’t get any real attention until the late 1800s, when Ernst Forstemann, a German mathematician, concluded that much of the book was related to the planet Venus, although no one could read Mayan hieroglyphics at the time. Finally, in the 1920s, John Teeple, a chemical engineer, said that the text was a complex system that tracked the movements of Venus. The manuscript dates back to the tenth century and was written by an astronomer who dutifully tracked Venus over a 25-year period. All of this occurred 500 years before Copernicus recorded the movements of the planets. Venus’s path was tracked and measured because the Maya timed certain large-scale ceremonies to the planet.
9 The Seasonal Monolith Located on a ridge known as Gardom’s Edge in Manchester, England, a 2.1-meter-tall (7 ft), 4000-year-old monolith stands. The monolith is triangular in shape, and its north-facing side is flat. Other Neolithic-era discoveries nearby suggest that the site had some sort of special meaning. While we don’t know the significance the area had to ancient peoples, we know that the monolith had an ingenious use—marking the seasons. Based on how the monolith was illuminated, the seasons could be distinguished. During winter, the slanted side of the monolith would cast a shadow. During summer, there would only be shadows in the morning and afternoon. In midsummer, the stone would shine brightly all day.
8 Babylonian Astronomical Geometry Astronomical geometry, the system of calculation used to predict the movements of heavenly bodies, was long believed to have first been developed by medieval mathematicians at Oxford University in the 14th century. However, a Babylonian clay tablet bearing almost indistinguishable marks disproves that notion. The deciphered tablet shows what is believed to be the earliest system of astronomical calculation and dates to at least 1,400 years earlier than the developments at Oxford. The Babylonian system was developed somewhere between 350 and 50 BC and was used to track the movements of Jupiter, or the “white star,” as they referred to it. The tablet was one of four others known to deal with geometry, but they couldn’t be read until 2015, when a sort of Babylonian Rosetta Stone was discovered, allowing for the tablets to be understood. All of the tablets were complex sets of calculations that were themselves abbreviated from another, more complete table of geometric formulations.
7 The Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera Mechanism, named for the Greek island it was discovered near, was found in 1901 in the wreckage of a ship dating back to the first century BC. Over the years, historians have puzzled over the artifact’s use, and it was soon discovered to be a mechanical device that served as a calendar to measure the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. However, we only recently learned who the device was meant for—philosophers and students.
According to a 3,500-character fragment (only a quarter of the original text) found inside the device, it wasn’t meant to be used as a research tool or for calculations but for teaching philosophy students about the cosmos and man’s place in the universe. It was a sort of textbook that taught what the ancients knew about astronomy and its implications for their lives.
6 The Stargazing Tombs In Portugal, 6,000-year-old tombs made of stone slabs were discovered in 2016. The tombs may have had a significant use—viewing Aldebaran, the red star which is brightest in the Taurus constellation. Like a telescope without a lens, many of the tunnels are aimed to give an unobstructed view of Aldebaran that is enhanced by the structures. The star may have been important to shepherds, who led their flocks to summer grazing grounds in the mountains. Viewing Aldebaran would have been an important event that would have coincided with its appearance in the morning twilight. The tombs weren’t just for burial; they were for rites of passage. Many such ceremonies involved entrusting an astronomical secret to initiates, in this case, Aldebaran.
5 The ‘Demon Star’ Calendar The Cairo Calendar, also known as the “Demon Star” Calendar, dates between 1237 and 1163 BC. The “demon star” is a flickering star known as Algol, which is one of the calendar’s focuses. The Cairo Calendar tells which days were supposed to be “lucky” or “unlucky,” and astronomers began to notice a pattern in the calendar. This pattern was detected every 2.85 days, which matches the regular dimming of Algol. “Algol” comes from the Arabic phrase ra’s al-ghul, which means “the demon’s head,” but the Egyptians called it Wadjet or the “Eye of Horus.” To the Egyptians, when the Eye of Horus was bright, it meant that Horus was raging and angry, but when it was closed, it meant he was pacified. The significance to us, however, of the Egyptians tracking Algol comes from the fact that it is the first recorded instance of observations on a variable star. Before the discovery of the Cairo Calendar, the first instance of anyone tracking a variable star didn’t occur until 3,000 years later.
4 The Greek Constellation Wine Cup For many years, historians thought that an ancient two-handled Greek wine cup, now held at Lamia Archaeological Museum in Greece, was decorated with nothing more than innocuous depictions of animals. However, after closer examination, the cup was found to possibly illustrate images of star constellations. The actual artifact dates to 625 BC and received no real attention when first discovered. While many Greek objects were decorated with hunting scenes, this wine cup was different: Several animal species were out of place. For instance, dolphins are depicted alongside land animals, while scorpions are featured prominently at a time when they were rarely shown alongside other animals. Why would the Greeks create such a peculiar artifact? To serve as a calendar. The cup was a simple display of constellation positions throughout the seasons, a subject that the ancient Greeks took seriously and studied dutifully. Putting such images on the cup was a way of instilling the constellations into whoever used it.
3 The Great Circles At Orkney “The Great Circles” is the name given to an extensive Neolithic-era site that is the oldest group of standing stones in Britain, dating back 5,000 years. For many years, it was believed that the Great Circles corresponded in some way to the Sun and Moon; what we didn’t know is just how intricate the Circles actually are. Using cutting-edge 2-D and 3-D construction models, researchers were able to see the precise relationship between the Great Circles and the skies. It seems that not only were the Great Circles in line with several different arrangements of the Sun and Moon, but they were also in line with the landscape and horizon and the movements of the Sun and Moon in that area. It seems that the Circles’ builders knew of the connection between the sky and the Earth and would continue the practice of aligning standing stones for the next 2,000 years.
2 The Oldest Mayan Calendar In 2012, an excavation of the ninth-century Xultun ruins in Guatemala uncovered a crumbling wall with a mural. When the mural was examined, a room, partly exposed by looters, was found to bear numerals, figural paintings, and most importantly, lunar glyphs. The presence of lunar glyphs suggested that the walls were related to astronomy in some way. The Maya were known to meticulously record astronomical information, so researchers began to look into the theory. After decoding the glyphs and numerals, the walls were found to bear the oldest Mayan calendar ever discovered. The Xultun numerical tables show how extensive Maya knowledge of astronomy was: They created their own system of time measurement based off lunar movements, and some charts even suggest that they observed and studied planetary motions, like the lunar cycles of Jupiter.
1 Celestial Petra
Petra was the capital of the little-known Nabatean civilization, which existed from the third century BC to the first century AD. Petra was, among many things, a bustling center of commerce, a religious hot spot, and a city built specifically for celestial deities. The Nabateans worshiped the Sun, and most of the structures built in Petra specifically correspond with it. In fact, on certain times of the year, like the winter solstice, many of the important buildings were brilliantly illuminated by the Sun’s rays.
The winter solstice held great importance to the Nabateans, as they believed it marked the birth of their main god, Dushara. In their monastery, Ad Deir, the sacred podium has the effect of creating a sort of light and shadow show during the winter solstice. The extreme dedication that the Nabateans had in order to build their city in complete harmony with the heavenly bodies makes it one of the most impressive feats of man on Earth.
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