Musing on living long enough to know.
Do aliens really exist? “It is virtually inconceivable to me that there isn’t intelligence somewhere in the universe,” says psychologist and astrobiologist Dr. Douglas Vakoch. “It’s just numbers.”
What happens if aliens send us a message? Learn more in this video from Life Noggin — https://youtu.be/P7afrpjnNCk.
Dr. Vakoch has spent his career carefully composing and transmitting messages to nearby stars in hopes of finally making contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. As the president of METI International, an organization dedicated to messaging extraterrestrial intelligence, part of his job is to seek out the corners of the universe that could be home to planets that are within the “Goldilocks zone”: not too hot, not too cold, but just right to support life.
In 2017, astronomers announced that three planets in the planetary system of the star TRAPPIST-1 fit the bill. Now, Dr. Vakoch and his team of scientists are using the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station to send a transmission to the area. The only problem? By the time a signal sent from TRAPPIST-1 could reach Earth, Dr. Vakoch will be long gone. In order to experience this for himself, he would have to live to 140 years old.
“This is where you want half a dozen lifetimes, to really delve into this and try and understand it,” Dr. Vakoch laments. “Honestly, I don’t expect I’m ever going to retire. I’m doing what I do because I love it”.
Dr. Vakoch doesn’t believe in miracles, but he does believe in science. Cutting-edge research in the human longevity field is well on its way to providing rejuvenation biotechnologies that could dramatically increase human healthspan, and give people like Dr. Vakoch the chance to help the world by continuing to live out their passion.
Click on the links below to learn how you can support research to increase human healthspan, to help give everyone the chance to do what they love for longer.
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