Have you ever wondered why we haven’t heard from aliens? A new theory released recently has theorized that aliens have yet to make contact with us because their gravity might be stronger than ours.
While we have yet to find any signs of alien life outside of Earth, many people believe in the existence of aliens while many others remain skeptical. There are multiple theories about life outside of Earth, but this new theory might be one of the more disturbing thoughts.
Michael Hippke, a scientist with the Sonneberg Observatory, came up with a new theory about why we have yet to receive any messages from alien life. This theory, published in Arvix (which can be found here), theorizes that aliens may not be able to leave their planet because the gravity is too great to leave, making aliens trapped on their planet. Hippke explains in his research that it is possible that aliens live on a larger planet than Earth, so the thrust needed to leave that planet on a rocket would be extremely expensive. He states in his paper:
More massive rocky worlds would require other means to leave the planet, such as nuclear propulsion. On more-massive planets, spaceflight would be exponentially more expensive… Such civilizations would not have satellite TV, a moon mission or a Hubble Space Telescope.
Basically, without the ability to leave the planet, these aliens would not be able to make contact with other lifeforms outside their planet. When you think about the gravity on Earth and how we launch rockets, it takes a lot of fuel and time to actually break free of our atmosphere (like the incredible video of the Falcon Heavy below). If our Earth was any larger than it is, then we might run into the same problem that Hippke describes of the gravity being too great to be able to actually leave.
Do keep in mind that this theory is just that; a theory. We obviously have no clue whether or not there are aliens on a larger planet who are not able to leave or not, but it could theoretically be the case for a planet in the entire universe. There are several other theories about alien life, let’s go over them.
Other Theories About Alien Life
I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth. – Stephen Hawking
Obviously, there are many more theories on alien life than just Hippke’s theory about gravity on larger planets. Here are some interesting theories about alien life:
There Is No Life Outside Earth
This theory is probably the most obvious one; we have not had any contact with alien life because there are no other living organisms in the universe.
There is a quote that comes to mind when you think about the possibility that there is no life outside Earth that summarizes this idea perfectly:
Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. – Arthur C. Clarke
It is possible that we are the only sentient life in the universe, while we may find microbes or bacteria elsewhere in our solar system, Earth is unique (from what we know) in that it is the perfect distance from the Sun, it is not too hot nor too cold, our atmosphere protects us extremely well, Jupiter blocks us from getting hit by asteroids and meteors, and we are in the prime location in our galaxy. There are so many variables that have been met by Earth to allow us to survive. It is possible that nowhere else in the universe has these things specific requirements met so no sentient life has been able to evolve.
The “Zoo Theory”
This theory is kind of sad more than anything else. In 1977 John Ball, an astronomer for MIT came up with a theory that stated that humans are too stupid to bother to interact with. He explained that aliens know about humanity but instead of making contact with us they simply avoid it to watch our everyday interactions and lives. The name “Zoo Theory” comes from the idea that the aliens watch and study us like zookeepers study animals in a zoo.
This theory assumes that aliens are considerably more evolved and intelligent than humans are and therefore we are not important (nor intelligent) enough to bother to talk to. It is pretty sad and soul-crushing, but it is an interesting idea.
We Have Missed Their Signals
For decades we have been listening to radio frequencies to try to catch any patterns or transmissions sent from far away planets. We have occasionally received pattern waves from distant planets but we were unable to trace them and have no idea whether or not they were natural or not. It is possible that other lifeforms could operate on different signals than what we are, so instead of making contact, we end up missing the frequency.
This scenario, if there are other forms of sentient life out there, seems pretty probable. We have no clue what frequencies aliens would operate on nor would we necessarily recognize a pattern that aliens have sent us.
It Is Too Early To Expect A Reply
This theory, in my personal opinion, is the most likely possibility. We could just be expecting an answer too quickly and are being impatient. We have only begun searching for outside life for less than 100 years. In the grand scheme of the age of the Eart, our solar system, and even our galaxy 100 years is nothing. Because of the short amount of time we have actively been searching it is too early to expect an answer back from aliens.
How Will Humanity React To Finding Life Outside Of Earth?
This is the million dollar question: how will humans react when (if) we find proof of life outside our Earth? There will probably be quite a bit of pandemonium and world-wide panic. Now, this all depends on if there is even life out there, but if we ever get proof of alien life then our understanding of our universe will change greatly, we just need to find life.
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This article is completely ridiculous and pointless. The reason aliens haven't contacted us yet is because:
a) Aliens don't exist. Highly unlikely, though in the grand scheme of things, it is possible that we are completely alone in the universe right now, or very isolated. Either way, doesn't mean extraterrestrials will never exist, or haven't already, only that not at this timeline.
b) Aliens do exist, only we haven't been able to hear them or see them. Perhaps they are of a completely different format than terrestrials, perhaps they are here now, except there is no way to inter-extraterrestrial species communicate, like ocean plankton and a mountain lion.
c) Aliens do exist, though don't care to communicate with other universal terrestrials. Why does everyone think that aliens would always want to reach out. Perhaps they truly don't care about universal relations.