This week: Extraterrestrial Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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It takes a planet to explore the universe.
—Dylan Taylor
The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
—Neil deGrasse Tyson
I could have gone on flying through space forever.
—Yuri Gagarin |
Ever since we figured out that most of those little lights in the night sky were shining stars similar to our Sun, we've speculated about whether they, too, have planets. Perhaps most famously, the science fiction show Star Trek took it as a given, though when that show premiered, there was no evidence that other stars had planets orbiting them. And, true, it would be a very weird universe indeed if other stars didn't have stuff whirling around them.
It wasn't until the 1990s that we started getting hard evidence for extrasolar worlds; now, thousands have been documented and confirmed, though rarely through direct telescopic observation. While this general result shouldn't have surprised anyone, it's good to get confirmation on what we've long suspected. Additionally, the data allowed us to compare and contrast our own solar system, at least to some extent, with that of other stars.
To be clear, though, this is not the same thing as asserting that there's extraterrestrial life. Despite the wording of some reports, we have not found indisputably habitable planets, let alone inhabited ones. And even if we did, there's no guarantee that we'd encounter another sentient civilization—and we've been looking for signs of that since before we knew for sure that the planets were there.
On the flip side, if some civilization inhabited an extrasolar planet, one that had reached a similar technological level as our own, it's doubtful that they would detect our own signals from that far away. And there's still the possibility of some exotic form of life, sentient or otherwise, that we couldn't detect because we don't know what signs to look for.
This, then, is where science fiction meets Fantasy: to think of what might be, not just in terms of our own technological advancements, but what they might discover. Alien life is high on that list in most science fiction, for several reasons, not least of which is because it can hold a mirror up to our own cultures. The downside of that, though, is that if you're expecting Vulcans and Klingons, you're probably going to be disappointed by the reality.
Don't get me wrong; finding so much as a microbe, or its equivalent, on another world would be a Really Big Deal, one of the most significant discoveries of human history. But there are those who will be disappointed that it's a bacterium and not a little gray dude with big black eyes and a ray gun.
We like to say that all of this plays out in space, or among the stars, but the chance of finding life in the vacuum of space or the supercharged plasma of a stellar chromosphere is rather small. No, we're looking to planets and moons, preferably ones with liquid water. Some of those might exist right here in our own backyard, orbiting Jupiter and Saturn, though the liquid water is trapped under a shell of ice, much like our own planet contains liquid rock under a shell of solid rock (and water).
I still hold out some hope that we can discover life, even very simple life or the fossils of ancient life, somewhere outside Earth, in my lifetime. In the meantime, we can speculate. |
Some speculation from the science fiction side of things:
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Last time, in "Mars" , I talked about just one world.
Elycia Lee ☮
Easter!  : If I were to write a story on planet living, I would totally choose Venus. And I am saying this with zero research, complete ignorance, and also because I have been looking at the Venus star in Jan and Feb, thus swept off my feet by the beauty of the star. Well, zombies on Venus? Anyway, thanks for the bringing to our attention about a story of humans attacking Mars. I need to look for that. 
In our reality, Venus would be even more difficult to colonize than Mars. The surface is hot enough to melt lead, the atmospheric pressure is crushing, and the atmosphere itself is highly corrosive. On the plus side, it's just about the same size as Earth, so once we get past those engineering hurdles, it might feel similar to home.
Scary Potato  : Thanks for writing about Mars. Now I want to write a John Carter style story about a past civilization when Mars was wet. It might just get me back writing!  
Glad I could provide inspiration!
dogpack saving 4premium+  : I wrote this story before I got interested in SCI_FI/Fantasy for a challenge. I hope to learn to write this genre well. Thank you for writing this newsletter. [Submitted item: "BEER PARTY" [ASR]]
Thanks for the story!
So that's it for me for now. See you next time! Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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Fantasy: April 02, 2025 Issue [#13056]
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