SETI and the Fermi Paradox

Wikipedia article: The Fermi Paradox

The Fermi paradox (or Fermi's paradox) is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilization and humanity's lack of contact with, or evidence for, such civilizations. The basic points of the argument, made by physicists Enrico Fermi and Michael H. Hart, are:

    1. The Sun is a typical star, and relatively young. There are billions of stars in the galaxy that are billions of years older.
    2. Almost surely, some of these stars will have Earth-like planets. Assuming the Earth is typical, some of these planets may develop intelligent life.
    3. Some of these civilizations may develop interstellar travel, a technology Earth is investigating even now (such as the 100 Year Starship).
    4. Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the galaxy can be completely colonized in a few tens of millions of years.

Article #1: The Fermi Paradox

Article #2: The Fermi Paradox

Article #3: Eavedropping on ET: Two New Programs Launching to Listen for Aliens

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program recently announced two new methods to search for signals that could come from life on other planets. In the Panchromatic SETI project, multiple telescopes will scan a variety of wavelengths from 30 stars near the sun; the project will look for powerful signals beamed into space, potentially by intelligent extraterrestrials. SETI is also launching an interplanetary eavesdropping program that is expected to search for messages beamed between planets in a single system.