NO LIFE AT ALL

There are a growing number of astrophysicists who suspect we may be the only life in the universe. Not just our solar system, but the entire universe.

We've transmitted radio and television signals into the universe and so far haven't heard back from anybody. Not a peep. We've bombarded the outer limits with our technology. We're making bigger telescopes because the ones we have, as powerful as they are, can't see life on other planets.

The theory is that just because a planet may have the same sunny skies we have that it must harbor life. That theory is now in question. Just because we discover a planet that has all the marbles needed for life to develop, there’s no evidence to assume that it has.

Most of us are familiar with the math that shows that the chances of life occurring elsewhere in the universe are an unquestioned certainty.  But recent theories suggest that it's much more complex than the mathematics suggest. Now we understand that there must be rare chemical interactions with the elements in order to produce life and that even though a planet looks promising, the necessary reaction may not happen.

It's actually sort of spooky when you think about it. We, the people of earth, could be the only living beings in the entire universe. We're here on our own. Whatever we do will determine whether or not the only life in the known universe survives.

As our science and technology develops we'll eventually have the means to determine whether there is life on other planets. As it stands now, don't keep your hopes up. Our chances of being all by ourselves in this infinitely expanding universe just got better.