Why We Haven't Found Aliens Yet: Scientists Believe They Know
A new study suggests that the reason we haven't found any evidence of aliens until now is because they're using their own atmospheric pollution to hide from us.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, assumes that an extraterrestrial civilization would make use of solar energy from its host star.
Of course, aliens might use any number of methods to generate energy, but the researchers focused on solar energy because it's the most common and efficient way to generate energy in our solar system.
The researchers then calculated how much pollution such a civilization would produce, and how that pollution would affect the planet's atmosphere.
They found that even a relatively small amount of pollution could make a planet undetectable to our telescopes.
"Our results suggest that the search for extraterrestrial civilizations may need to be refocused on planets that are not too heavily polluted," said study lead author Jacob Haqq-Misra, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.
The study's findings are in line with a growing body of research that suggests that aliens may be using technology to hide from us.
In a 2017 study, for example, researchers at the University of Oxford found that aliens may be using a cloaking device to make their planet invisible to our telescopes.
And in a 2018 study, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz found that aliens may be using a swarm of satellites to block our view of their planet.
The new study adds to this growing body of research, and suggests that the reason we haven't found any evidence of aliens until now is because they're using their own technology to hide from us.
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