on Earth is unique," says Mark Showalter, expert on planetary rings and discoverer of three new moons and three new rings, principal investigator. All say the real miracle would not be ET but the complete absence of intelligent life. "If there are aliens out there," says Shostak, "that's miraculous; if there aren't, that's a miracle."
No aliens would mean that in our entire galaxy--100,000 light years across (for perspective, the moon is 1.3 light seconds from Earth), 1,000 light years thick, 100 billion stars, countless planets--and in the entire universe, 170 billion galaxies, 14 billion years old, humans were a one-off. Would that make us feel special or lonely? It should certainly make us feel weird.
from Bryan Appleyard: The Sunday Times: Is there anybody out there?
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