Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles a wide range of topics, from moon explosions to Superman's time-traveling tricks, introducing readers to Merlin, an alien character he created early in his career in his book, "Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: Further Scientific Adventures of Merlin from Omniscia."
There has been a lot of talk about the existence of aliens and UFOs following reports that the Pentagon has researched them, but astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson isn’t convinced, or frankly, interested.
“Call me when you have a dinner invite from an alien,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota during a “New Day” appearance Wednesday morning.
Tyson explained that by their very nature, unidentified flying objects are, well, unidentified, so a video recently released by the Department of Defense showing a UFO off the coast of San Diego in 2004 doesn’t faze him. “It’s a flying object and we don’t know what it is.
“Scientists live in mystery every day of our lives … People are uncomfortable not knowing, not the scientists. I’m fine. We don’t know what it is. The universe brims with mysteries.”
Read also: Growth and Wrestling: What You Need to Know
As for the intrigue surrounding why the Pentagon would be studying UFOs if there are likely no aliens steering them, Tyson said.
Did We Detect Life on an Alien Planet? With David Kipping
The Likelihood of Life Elsewhere
On the topic of aliens, Tyson is clear about the science and the skepticism. "Everyone that studied the question of life in the universe… would not deny the likelihood of life elsewhere," he said. But he doubts they have visited Earth.
“We all grew up when no one had cameras, so everything was an eyewitness testimony.
The Copernican Principle
At the moment, life on Earth is the only known life in the universe, but there are compelling arguments to suggest we are not alone. Indeed, most astrophysicists accept the probability of life elsewhere.
The reasoning is easy: if our solar system is not unusual, then there are so many planets in the universe that, for example, they outnumber the sum of all sounds and words ever uttered by every human who has ever lived.
Read also: Mike Tyson: Punch Accuracy
Many generations of thinkers, both religious and scientific, have been led astray by anthropocentric assumptions, while others were simply led astray by ignorance. In the absence of dogma and data, it is safer to be guided by the notion that we are not special, which is generally known as the Copernican principle, named for the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus who, in the mid 1500s, put the Sun back in the middle of our solar system where it belongs.
While there is no guarantee that the Copernican principle will guide us correctly for all scientific discoveries to come, it has revealed itself in our humble realizations that not only is Earth not in the center of the solar system, but the solar system is not in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and that the Milky Way galaxy is not in the center of the universe.
A wise contemporary posture would be to assume that life on Earth is not immune to the Copernican principle.
Chemical Basis of Life
The chemical composition of Earth-based life is primarily derived from a select few ingredients. The elements hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon account for over 95 percent of the atoms in the human body and all known life.
Of the three, the chemical structure of carbon allows it to bond readily and strongly with itself and with many other elements in many different ways, which is why we are considered to be carbon-based life, and which is why the study of molecules that contain carbon is generally known as organic chemistry.
Read also: Everything About WrestleMania 41
Appealing once again to the Copernican principle, we can assume that the size of an alien organism is not likely to be ridiculously large compared with life as we know it.
Hollywood Aliens
Given the diversity of life on Earth, one might expect a diversity of life exhibited among Hollywood aliens. But I am consistently amazed by the film industry’s lack of creativity.
With a few notable exceptions such as life forms in The Blob (1958) and in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Hollywood aliens look remarkably humanoid.
No matter how ugly (or cute) they are, nearly all of them have two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears, a head, a neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, a torso, two legs, two feet-and they can walk.
From an anatomical view, these creatures are practically indistinguishable from humans, yet they are supposed to have come from another planet.
The Drake Equation
The set of conditions to support life as we know it are loosely quantified though what is known as the Drake equation, named for the American astronomer Frank Drake (now at the University of California at Santa Cruz).
The Drake equation is more accurately viewed as a fertile idea rather than as a rigorous statement of how the physical universe works. It separates the overall probability of finding life in the galaxy into a set of simpler probabilities that correspond to our preconceived notions of the cosmic conditions that are suitable for life.
In the end, after you argue with your colleagues about the value of each probability term in the equation, you are left with an estimate for the total number of intelligent, technologically proficient civilizations in the galaxy.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
If we consider the possibility that we may rank as primitive among the universe’s technologically competent life forms-however rare they may be-then the best we can do is keep alert for signals sent by others because it is far more expensive to send rather than receive them.
Presumably, an advanced civilization would have easy-access to an abundant source of energy such as its host star. These are the civilizations that would be more likely to send rather than receive.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (affectionately known by its acronym SETI) has taken many forms.
The discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, if and when it happens, will impart a change in human self-perception that may be impossible to anticipate.