There may be 36 active alien civilizations in our galaxy alone

To this day, no one has found reliable (publicly known) evidence that alien civilizations exist.

However, a new study reveals that there may be more than 30 alien civilizations in our galaxy alone.

A conclusion that a group of researchers reached after searching in our closest galactic neighborhood for planets that could harbor life forms similar to those that develop on Earth and that could harbor similar evolution.

According to a study published in the scientific journal ‘The Astrophysical Journal’, in the Milky Way alone there would be more than three dozen possible active alien civilizations.
Christopher Conselice, a professor at the University of Nottingham and one of the research directors, explains to the Independent that “there must be at least a few dozen active civilizations in our galaxy, assuming that it takes five billion years for life to form on other planets, as in Earth.

Conselice highlights that “the idea is to look at evolution, but on a cosmic scale.
We call this calculation the Copernican Astrobiological Limit.”

This limit would appear in two ways: a “weak” limit, whereby intelligent life forms on a planet at any time after five billion years;
and a “strong” limit, which I would bet on because life formed between 4.5 billion and 5 billion years ago.
This was the scenario on which the research was based, which was also supported on the basis that these new species would need metal-rich environments to develop, since humans developed in the metal-rich solar environment.
A bad signal to Earth if there are no alien civilizations in our galaxy

Scientists believe that in order to detect any kind of civilization in our galaxy, you need to be able to collect the signals that are sent into space.

Given that Earth has been sending radio signals via satellites or television for nearly a century,
it would be concluded that there could be as many as 36 intelligent civilizations in this galaxy today.
However, even if this hypothesis were true, communication would be very complicated, as the average distance to any of these civilizations would be about 17,000 light years, which would complicate any form of communication.
If we discover that there are no active civilizations in our galaxy, it is a bad sign for our very existence.

But the researchers value another possible scenario, according to which humans on Earth are the only intelligent life in the galaxy and that civilizations are extinct before we can detect them.
In this case, according to Professor Conselice, “the search for intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations not only reveals the existence of how life forms, but also gives us clues about how long our own civilization will last.”
Therefore, he points out that the prospects for long-term human survival would be lower than one might suppose: “If we were to discover that intelligent life is common, it would reveal that our civilization could be an alien civilization that came to Earth from another planet.
But if we discover that there are no active civilizations in our galaxy, it bodes ill for our very existence.