Astronomers have long searched the sky for evidence that we\u2019re not alone. But new research is suggesting we may be one of a kind.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old joke about Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Watson.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go camping,\u201d Holmes says to Watson one day. \u201cJolly good!\u201d replies Watson. So the two pack up their gear, head into the woods, set up their tent and by nightfall, are sound asleep. Hours later, Watson is awakened by a nudge from Holmes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatson!\u201d says the detective, \u201cLook up! What do you see?\u201d \u201cI see the sky, full of stars,\u201d says Watson, a little annoyed. \u201cAnd what do you deduce from that?\u201d asks Holmes. Watson thinks for a moment, and replies, \u201cWell, given the thousands of stars, it\u2019s improbable that ours is the only planet capable of sustaining life. Therefore, other beings like ourselves are likely out there somewhere, looking back at us. Is that what it means?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you nincompoop,\u201d replies Holmes. \u201cIt means someone has stolen our tent!\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, Watson may have missed an obvious clue, but scientists have long shared his conclusion about the stars. According to the famous Drake equation, a probabilistic argument designed by SETI pioneer, Frank Drake, there could be as many as 100 million thriving, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy \u2014 many of them more advanced than our own.<\/p>\n
Astronomer Carl Sagan helped popularize this idea in his 1980 miniseries, \u201cCosmos.\u201d \u201cWith 400 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone,\u201d Sagan reasoned, \u201ccould ours be the only one with an inhabited planet? How much more likely it is that the galaxy is throbbing and humming with advanced societies!\u201d<\/p>\n
But decades later, scientists no longer share Sagan\u2019s confidence. As one astrophysicist argues in a forthcoming paper, the old estimates vastly inflated the number of potential alien civilizations. Eric Zackrisson at Sweden\u2019s Uppsala University suggests that modern research points not to a galaxy \u201cthrobbing and humming\u201d with life, but to one in which Earth-like planets are exceedingly rare.<\/p>\n
It turns out that Drake\u2019s equation failed to take into account factors that we now know to be essential to life. For example, scientists once believed that planets orbiting a certain distance from their host stars in the so-called \u201cGoldilocks zone\u201d were prime real estate for creatures like us.<\/p>\n
But not anymore. It turns out that the size and chemical composition of the host stars matter just as much as planetary orbits. And according to Zackrisson, most planets in the universe likely orbit stars that bear little resemblance to our sun. These stars are either much bigger, much smaller, or just made of the wrong stuff.<\/p>\n
And in light of the fruitless fifty-year search for extraterrestrial radio signals, predictions of a sky buzzing with activity are sounding less like science and more like science fiction. Increasingly, it looks as if we are alone in the universe.<\/p>\n
And just how alone? Zackrisson estimates that given all the factors that make Earth what it is, our planet may be one in 700 quintillion to host intelligent life. That\u2019s one out of seven followed by twenty zeros, or the estimated number of planets in the entire universe.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel Scharping at Discover Magazine writes with a straight face that Earth appears to have been dealt \u201ca fairly lucky hand.\u201d He makes up for this understatement later, concluding that, \u201cfrom a purely statistical standpoint, Earth perhaps shouldn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet, here we are.<\/p>\n
Intelligent Design theorists have long pointed out how improbably unique our little blue planet is. And findings like this only deepen the problem for materialists. Because if thinking creatures emerged here and nowhere else, it makes us look less like accidents and more like \u2014 dare I say it \u2014 miracles.<\/p>\n
Of course, for those who believe in the God Who, as Isaiah wrote, \u201cspreads [the heavens] like a tent,\u201d it\u2019s no surprise. In fact you might say it\u2019s \u201cElementary, my dear Watson.\u201d<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Resources:<\/p>\n
One in 700 Quintillion: Exoplanet Study Confirms Terran Exceptionalism
\nDavid Klinghoffer | evolutionnews.org | February 24, 2016<\/p>\n
Earth May Be a 1-in-700-Quintillion Kind of Place
\nNathaniel Scharping | discovermagazine.com | February 22, 2016<\/p>\n
Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God
\nEric Metaxas | The Wall Street Journal | Dec. 25, 2014<\/p>\n
Isaiah 40:22
\nBiblehub.com<\/p>\n
Privileged Planet
\nDocumentary website<\/p>\n
Privileged Species
\nFilm website
\nAvailable at the online bookstore<\/p>\n
Privileged Planet
\nIllustra Media | Wesscott Marketing | 2008<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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