New ‘burnout’ theory explains why aliens are avoiding Earth

In 1950, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi asked a question that torments astronomers to this day: “Where is everybody?” His query has been immortalized in the Fermi paradox. The theory contends that there’s a conflict between the apparent absence of aliens and the probability that they exist. Proponents note that the universe is about three times older than our solar system, and contains more than a billion trillion stars. If stoopid humans can travel to the moon, why haven’t intelligent extraterrestrials paid us a visit? A pair of astrobiologists this week proposed an answer: alien civilizations get so advanced and large…

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