The Fermi Paradox Has An Incredibly Simple Solution

Imagine finding out that Fermi was only commenting on the slow service by the wait staff when he asked, “Where is everybody?”

This reminds me of a joke I heard once. Some aliens are passing Earth and do a quick scan. One says, " This species has satellite base weapons." So the other alien ask, " So they are an intelligent species?" The first alien replies with " No, they have them aimed at each other." It a little dark.

I've always contributed it to the fact that the universe is so unfathomably large that the distance between life forms is just beyond comprehension

"when was the last time you tried to converse with an insect" great line

The universe is likely many orders of magnitude larger than we can see. What we've done so far is like looking for fish in a teaspoon of seawater.

I heard a really interesting solution to the fermi paradox from a biologist. She was citing a recent paper where we found that phosphorus is not as common in the galaxy as we initially thought. In fact we have somewhat of a lottery winner here on earth with drastically high amounts as compared to other star systems. Phosphorus is a key ingredient in the storing and transferal of biological energy all the way down to the level of binding DNA together. She said that the paper she had read stated that phosphorus is one of those heavier elements that are formed in supernovae instead of just from fusion and so it is possible that, despite the age of the universe, there has not been enough time necessary to create enough phosphorus for other life to arise. And just like how we're "lucky" to be on the planet that has essential liquid water, we could simply be "lucky" to be in the corner of the universe, in the corner of the galaxy, which has just high enough concentrations for life to have formed here. If that were the case, then we are the precursors who will likely die out as a species long before enough phosphorus is created to support the types of galactic communities we dream of. It may very well be that eons from now, as the universe begins to evolve space faring civilizations, that our ruins are discovered scattered across the stars, and they translate our records of how alone we feel.

100 years ago we were still traveling by boat while only 20% of the population could read and write. This space party is just getting started.

I appreciate your remark on semantics. It is very important for figuring out "which question we are discussing", otherwise the discussion could get too general and shallow

I've probably watched hundreds of videos on the Fermi Paradox, and it's so great to see something actually added to the conversation. Someone with something new to say, instead of just essentially reading out the Wikipedia page. Thank you!

Anyone who takes the time to focus on and present nuance on a subject like this is amazing. Thank you for your amazing dedication and work Dr. Kipping. This channel is what I imagined future science documentaries to be when I was a child, before the dark times destroyed television.

Imagine a hypothetical comment section. You don’t see any comments, so you type “first” and hit send. You don’t reload the page, and therefore watch the whole video thinking that you were the first

We are living on a leaf of a shrub in a very large dark forest.

It’s quite possible that spacefaring civilization is rare because it requires a balance of ambition, discretion, and foresight which is difficult to achieve. Civilizations that have a strong tendency to explore and colonize may also be more prone to internal conflict that disrupts their progress. On the other hand, civilizations that are peaceful, stable, and happy might not care to go exploring. Finally, the resources required would need planning and development over long periods of time, whereas short-horizon use of the same resources would be a constant temptation.

This is waaay too interesting to view at 3am and expect to go to sleep… I blame you for my insomnia

I love your channel, and scientific judgments in various subjects. I love your voice and passion for the subject. Just thank you, Dr. Kipping 🤩👍

Great sound quality and narration. Excellent production work

I freaking love it when you film in the woods. As an environmental science student with a fascination for physics and space, it's the perfect juxtaposition, talking about something so advanced in a setting so very primal. Poetic.

My hunch (for what little it is worth) is that if there are intelligent aliens in our galaxy, there is only a small number of them and that it is not in their nature to expand a lot and build megastructures that we could observe. I think there could only be a small number of them because it would be improbable that none of them have expanded rapidly enough to be observed by us.

Not sure how I've only just found your channel. Incredible.

Top YouTube channel. The only notification I have ever turned on. Please discuss in depth the Miller-Urey experiment.