General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: New model predicts that we're probably the only advanced civilization... [View all]Persondem
(1,936 posts)... which, of course, if far different from the whole universe. Also, we may well be the first as the universe is about 14 billions years old. That sounds like a long time but when the universe started out with that Big Bang it was 99.9% hydrogen. The heavier elements such as the iron in our blood or the calcium in our teeth were spawned in supernova explosions over many billions of years. It's not like the universe has had all of those 14 billion years to roll the dice to get something like us to pop up. The basic building blocks of life took a long, long time to even be present in sufficient amounts to get even rocky planetary bodies. Getting a rocky planet in the "Goldilocks zone" with an iron core to provide protection from solar radiation is by itself extremely rare (so far) ... so ... The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, therefore a statement that humans could well be the first successful (insert qualifier), (semi) intelligent civilization in the galaxy is not so far fetched.