Maybe It’s Time To Stop Snickering About Aliens

Have you heard the big news? If not, you haven’t been paying attention to your Facebook feed.

For the past week or two, the Internet has been lighting up about alien megastructures that might, or might not, be orbiting a star called KIC 8462852.

So what should we make of it? Is it just hype deserving a long, slow roll of the eyes? Or is there something in the story that deserves serious consideration?

The answer to this question is, I think, surprising — especially given the next sentence I’m about to hit you with.

It’s probably not aliens. Sorry.

Now, that’s what you should expect me — a sober, rational, boring scientist — to say. In fact, many of my sober, rational, boring scientist colleagues had the same reaction I did when I heard the news. It went something like this: “Aliens?” (snicker, snicker) “Yeah, right.”

But beyond our quick dismissals and snickers there hides a much more interesting reality. Maybe it’s time for all of us sober, rational, boring scientists to stop snickering when these kinds of possibilities pop up.

Before we go any further, though, let’s quickly review a few facts.

Source: NPR