Elisetee: Not the worst Mom T shirt

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Not the worst Mom T shirt

The Not the worst Mom T shirt thing here is not that we haven’t found aliens, but that we are learning so much about the universe so quickly. 20 years ago nobody knew that there are huge underground oceans on Europa and Enceladus, and methane lakes on Titan. 40 years ago there was no evidence of life at hydrothermal vents or life in deep ocean sediments—organisms that use forms of biology quite unlike that of the familiar organisms here on the surface. 25 years ago there was no evidence of even a single planet around another star! Now we know of thousands. The real number, in our galaxy alone, is probably hundreds of billions. The appropriate attitude here, I’d say, is a mix of giddiness and caution. Giddiness, because the rate of discovery right now is downright astonishing. Caution, because we still have so far to go in answering the big question: Are we alone?

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