Where are the extraterrestrials? Fermi’s paradox, diversity and the origin of life

credit: Vera C. Rubin observatory Where are the extraterrestrial civilizations? (Fermi’s paradox) Updated 23 May 2026 (c) 2026 Introduction In 1950, while having lunch with colleagues Edward Teller and Herbert York, who were chatting about a recent cartoon in the New Yorker depicting aliens, physicist Enrico Fermi suddenly blurted out, “Where is everybody?,” a question now known as Fermi’s paradox. This article presents background on Fermi’s paradox, explains why many of the proposed solutions are NOT viable, and mentions a few promising new results and directions. Behind Fermi’s question was this line of reasoning: (a) Given the vast Continue reading Where are the extraterrestrials? Fermi’s paradox, diversity and the origin of life