As our technology has gotten better at scanning the skies so has serious study of the universe. In this newest addition to our Big Questions Series, Learning Life’s Craig Gusmanninterviewed three prominent astronomers — Dr. Seth Shostak of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Dr. Dick Carrigan of SETI and Fermilab, and Dr. Jason Dworkin, Chief of the Astrochemistry Branch at NASA Goddard — on the big question: is there intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, beyond Earth? Their answers below offer stimulating perspectives on the question and the nature of life itself.
Dr. Dick Carrigan: I tend to take the view that the environment around our Sun is not that unique. We’re not a particularly unusual place. In fact, it seems that we’re quite average. Other Solar Systems have planets, so we may eventually stumble on environments that are substantially better for intelligence. There are a lot of stars out there, a lot of galaxies, so there are many, many opportunities for life and intelligence out there. Further, in the universe, there are some things that run fast and some things that run slowly. There is probably a wide variety in the amount of time it takes for intelligence to evolve. There may be intelligent life in the universe that is evolving much faster, and if we make contact with such life, we could be dealing with a much higher brand of intelligence than our own.
Dr. Jason Dworkin: The universe is an awfully big place. So, throughout the past and future of the universe and all of time and space it seems likely. Now, is there intelligent life outside the Earth right now elsewhere in the galaxy? Maybe. Elsewhere in a ten light-year radius? Possibly, but the chance seems small. There’s no evidence for or against. Furthermore, if life does exist elsewhere it’s hard to understand how you would even recognize it unless it was microscopic.
Life is actually really hard to define. You know it when you see it, but a good chemical definition of life doesn’t exist. The best definition is a chemical-replicating system capable of Darwinian evolution. So that means you can only know it’s alive if you see it’s reproducing and evolving. There are a few cases where, according to that definition, it’s not clear if a virus is alive or not. Fire is not. Crystals are not, because they don’t evolve. But they do replicate and they do consume energy.
There’s no evidence of life outside of Earth yet. It may exist. There are environments where life could exist, but there’s no proof that life is there. We very much want to find it, but right now we only have one example of life and that’s terrestrial life. If we have a second example we’d understand life a whole lot better by being able to compare it against something. All life on Earth is intimately related using all the same biochemistry. You start to wonder, is that the only solution to making life work — using DNA, RNA, protein, carbon bonds, water, membranes, that sort of thing? Is that the only way to make life? Is that the best way it works or is that just the way the Earth makes it?
Dr. Seth Shostak:We now know, thanks to work of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and others, that most stars have planets. In addition, roughly one in five stars will have a planet similar in size to Earth, and at a temperature that could support liquid oceans and an atmosphere. In other words, it could be habitable. That amounts to tens of billions of “Earth-like” planets just in our galaxy. It would be extraordinary if our world were the only one to have developed not just life, but intelligent life. Although just having a lot of planets with life is not sufficient to guarantee that many of them (or any of them!) also develop intelligent creatures, in the last fifty million years many species on Earth have become more clever. Simians, dolphins, some birds…and of course us. So, it seems that intelligence has some survival value, and in any Darwinian system, you might then expect intelligence to arise eventually.
ABOUT THE EXPERTS
Dr. Seth Shostak developed an interest in extraterrestrial life at the tender age of ten, when he first picked up a book about the solar system. This innocent beginning eventually led to a degree in radio astronomy, and now, as Senior Astronomer, Seth is an enthusiastic participant in the Institute’s SETI observing programs. He also heads up the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Permanent Study Group.
In addition, Seth is keen on outreach activities, interesting the public — especially young people — in general science, but particularly astrobiology. He has co-authored a college textbook on astrobiology and continues to write trade books on SETI. In addition, he’s published nearly 300 popular articles on science, gives many dozens of talks annually, is the editor of the SETI Institute’s Explorer magazine, and host of the Institute’s weekly science radio show, “Big Picture Science”.
Dr. Jason Dworkin began research into the origins of life as a high school intern with Professor Joan Oró at the University of Houston, where he helped to investigate the prebiotic syntheses of amino acids and co-enzymes. He completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of California in San Diego, where he investigated pre-RNA nucleobases. He then carried out postdoctoral research at NASA Ames Exploration Center, studying complex organics from UV processed interstellar and cometary ices in the laboratory. He founded the Astrobiology Analytical Research Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to study extraterrestrial organic compounds relevant for the origin of life via analytical chemistry. He is currently Chief of the Astrochemistry Branch at NASA Goddard and the Project Scientist for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission, which launches in 2016 to return samples of primitive near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2023. For further learning, Dr. Dworkin recommend’s NASA’s graphic novels that explain the evolution of astrobiology with clear prose and engaging illustrations.
Dr. Dick Carrigan is an active physicist and Scientist Emeritus in the Accelerator Division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) pursuing an on-going physics program there. He is also interested in investigations of the possibility of life andintelligencein the Universe. His major technical interests have included channeling of high energy particles, hyperon physics, the magnetic monopole conjecture, high energy scattering, pi and mu mesic atoms, photo production, and facility planning. He has been associated with several joint USA‑USSR collaborations studying high energy particle behavior at Fermilab and in Russia.
This page highlights our past signia surface projects — focused on using everyday surfaces to spread signia, or significant information — in metro Washington D.C., where Learning Life is based.
“Buy Local, Learn Local” Project in Alexandria, VA
In November and December 2013, with funding from the City of Alexandria and local sponsors, Learning Life undertook a “buy local, learn local” project that promoted Alexandria businesses and history museums. Learning Life designed, printed and distributed free “buy local, learn local” wallet cards and tote bags which area residents could use to visit the city’s history museums and to get special holiday discounts to fourteen local businesses in the eclectic Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. We also created two Alexandria history quizzes (see Quiz 1 and Quiz 2) in cooperation with the City’s Office of Historic Alexandria, which we promoted via a weekly project e-newsletter. The e-newsletter also offered interesting city history facts, discount details and the opportunity to win local business gift certificates for perfect scores on the city history quizzes. Learn more about this project here.
JFK Education Project in Washington, DC
In December 2013, Learning Life partnered with Washington D.C.’s Newseum to promote public learning about the legacy of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in light of the 50th anniversary of his assassination. Learning Life printed and distributed 10,000 paper beverage napkins in restaurants in several commercial centers in Washington D.C. The napkin, featured here, posed the question “Who did JFK defeat to become President in 1960?” with the answer provided upside-down. The napkin also invited readers to take a five-question JFK quiz at Learning Life, through which quiz takers could get a discounted ticket to the Newseum. Learning Life promoted the quiz and the Newseum’s JFK exhibits through the napkins, online promotion and street theater in which an actor playing JFK delivered his 1961 inaugural address at several locations in Washington D.C. For more, see Learning Life’s brief promotional video about this project.
Alexandria History Fortune Cookie Project
In January-April 2014, Learning Life followed on its Alexandria “Buy Local, Learn Local” Project described above with fortune cookies (we called them “Smart Cookies”) featuring Alexandria history questions and facts leading to more learning at our website. Learning Life distributed the cookies free in restaurants, bars, cafes and other local businesses in Alexandria. Donations were requested, with all proceeds benefiting Learning Life and the Historic Alexandria Foundation. See more photos of some of the cookies as well as the questions and answers posed inside them here.
Learning Life’s Promotional Surfaces
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What are the underlying causes of terrorism?
The following Q&A on terrorism is part of Learning Life’s Big Questions Series. The series offers experts’ short answers to big questions, with more information about the experts and their research for those curious to learn more. We inaugurated the series on the 12th anniversary of 9/11 (2013) with three big questions about terrorism and provocative answers from three noted terrorism researchers. This page offers their answers to our first question: what are the underlying causes of terrorism?
Read expert answers to Question 2 (how big a threat is terrorism?) and Question 3(how does news media reporting shape terrorism and public perception of terrorism?).
Dr. Ziad Munson:
This is the most important, and most difficult, question facing those who study terrorism. The short answer is: we don’t yet have all the answers. And there is no single “master cause” of terrorism; different terrorist campaigns arise from a different set of interrelated root causes. We do, however, know that a number of well-publicized factors are NOT in fact at the root cause of terrorism. For example, we know that poverty doesn’t cause terrorism. We know that lack of education doesn’t cause terrorism. We know that particular religious traditions don’t cause terrorism. And we know that terrorism is not caused by those who are crazy (at least not in any clinical sense).
We do also know that terrorist attacks are almost all the responsibility of otherwise ordinary kinds of organizations. “Lone gunman” terrorism is exceedingly rare – 99.8% of terrorism is planned and carried out by formal organizations, not individuals acting alone. Organizations turn to terrorism as part of a strategy to pursue political objectives. And yes, their objectives are almost always political, even when cloaked in religious ideology and language as is so often the case today.
Dr. Gary LaFree:
The START Center analyzed the top twenty most active terrorist organizations since the 1970s – including such groups as the ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or Basque Homeland & Freedom) in Spain, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in Ireland, the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolutionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in Colombia, the Shining Path in Peru, the Taliban in Afghanistan – and found that the vast majority are fighting over land. Moreover, they are fighting locally or nationally, not internationally. The vast majority of terrorist attacks are domestic attacks by citizens, not foreigners. al-Qaeda is a notable and more complex exception because they are like an international social movement franchise, with local affiliates in different parts of the world having somewhat different motivations and goals.
Gary LaFree is Director of the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. START is currently engaged in approximately 40 research projects dealing mostly with the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Dr. LaFree is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), and a member of the National Academy of Science’s Crime, Law and Justice Committee. He has served as President of the ASC and of the ASC’s Division on International Criminology. Dr. LaFree has published more than 70 articles and three books. Much of Dr. LaFree’s current research is on trends in criminal and political violence.
Ziad Munson is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Lehigh University, where he founded and currently directs the Social Science Research Center. He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1993 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1996 and 2002. His research and teaching focuses on the intersection of popular mobilization, civic engagement, and religion. He is the author of The Making of Pro-Life Activists, a study of recruitment and mobilization in the American pro-life movement (University of Chicago Press, 2009). He has also authored articles and chapters on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, religion and politics in the U.S., and the role of civil society in wartime. He is currently working on a new project on the organizational infrastructure of international political violence. Click here for more on Dr. Munson’s teaching and research.
How does news media reporting shape terrorism and public perception?
The following Q&A on terrorism is part of Learning Life’s Big Questions Series. The series offers experts’ short answers to big questions, with more information about the experts and their research for those curious to learn more. We inaugurated the series on the 12th anniversary of 9/11 (2013) with three big questions about terrorism and provocative answers from three noted terrorism researchers. This page offers their answers to our third question: how does news media reporting shape terrorism and public perception of terrorism?
Read expert answers to Question 1 (what are the underlying causes of terrorism?) and Question 2 (how big a threat is terrorism?).
Dr. Gary LaFree:
Terrorism and the media go hand in hand. Indeed, modern terrorism would not exist without mass media. It would have been difficult to terrorize the whole world back in 1850 because terrorists then would have had a harder time widely publicizing their act, but now you can terrorize the world instantaneously through mass media. Further, most of what researchers know about terrorism comes from careful analysis of media reports. Some people have referred to terrorism as theater. One of the main goals of terrorist organizations is to get media attention, and they are very concerned about controlling their image in the media. It’s one of the dark sides of the communications revolution.
Dr. Dennis Mileti:
Let’s focus on the public’s perception of risk because that’s critical. First, there is no objective reality for human beings. What people think or perceive as real is reality for them. Second, what people think or perceive often has little to do with objective risk. This is fundamental to how human beings are wired. It applies to all risk, not just terrorism. Third, the media presents people with information, and that information shapes public perception of risk. Since most of what people know about terrorism is through the media, media is the major player in shaping public perception of terrorism.
The objective of a terrorist is to become an applied social psychologist, to influence the media so as to increase the public’s perception of terrorism risk and disrupt civil society as a result. Thus, when air travel fell off after 9/11, the terrorists were successful in shaping public perception of risk. The impact on the public’s perception of risk is relatively short-lived though. It takes approximately two years after a terrorist event before the population goes back to the risk perception levels they had prior to the event. The media, however, can keep that risk perception elevated, whether or not there is a real risk.
Gary LaFree is Director of the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. START is currently engaged in approximately 40 research projects dealing mostly with the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Dr. LaFree is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), and a member of the National Academy of Science’s Crime, Law and Justice Committee. He has served as President of the ASC and of the ASC’s Division on International Criminology. Dr. LaFree has published more than 70 articles and three books. Much of Dr. LaFree’s current research is on trends in criminal and political violence.
Dennis Mileti is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he served as Director of the Natural Hazards Center and as Chair of the Department of Sociology. He is author of over 100 publications, most on the societal aspects of hazards and disasters. His book, Disasters by Design, summarized the U.S. effort to assess knowledge and national policy for hazards and disasters. He played a major role in the research that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) performed for the U.S. Congress on evacuation of World Trade Center Towers 1 & 2 on 9/11. Click here for more on Dr. Mileti’s research.
Dr. Dick Carrigan: I tend to take the view that the environment around our Sun is not that unique. We’re not a particularly unusual place. In fact, it seems that we’re quite average. Other Solar Systems have planets, so we may eventually stumble on environments that are substantially better for intelligence. There are a lot of stars out there, a lot of galaxies, so there are many, many opportunities for life and intelligence out there. Further, in the universe, there are some things that run fast and some things that run slowly. There is probably a wide variety in the amount of time it takes for intelligence to evolve. There may be intelligent life in the universe that is evolving much faster, and if we make contact with such life, we could be dealing with a much higher brand of intelligence than our own.
Dr. Seth Shostak developed an interest in extraterrestrial life at the tender age of ten, when he first picked up a book about the solar system. This innocent beginning eventually led to a degree in radio astronomy, and now, as Senior Astronomer, Seth is an enthusiastic participant in the Institute’s SETI observing programs. He also heads up the International Academy of Astronautics’ SETI Permanent Study Group.
Dr. Jason Dworkin began research into the origins of life as a high school intern with Professor Joan Oró at the University of Houston, where he helped to investigate the prebiotic syntheses of amino acids and co-enzymes. He completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of California in San Diego, where he investigated pre-RNA nucleobases. He then carried out postdoctoral research at NASA Ames Exploration Center, studying complex organics from UV processed interstellar and cometary ices in the laboratory. He founded the Astrobiology Analytical Research Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to study extraterrestrial organic compounds relevant for the origin of life via analytical chemistry. He is currently Chief of the Astrochemistry Branch at NASA Goddard and the Project Scientist for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission, which launches in 2016 to return samples of primitive near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2023. For further learning, Dr. Dworkin recommend’s NASA’s graphic novels that explain the evolution of astrobiology with clear prose and engaging illustrations.
Dr. Dick Carrigan is an active physicist and Scientist Emeritus in the Accelerator Division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) pursuing an on-going physics program there. He is also interested in investigations of the possibility of life and intelligence in the Universe. His major technical interests have included channeling of high energy particles, hyperon physics, the magnetic monopole conjecture, high energy scattering, pi and mu mesic atoms, photo production, and facility planning. He has been associated with several joint USA‑USSR collaborations studying high energy particle behavior at Fermilab and in Russia.
