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There are billions of planets in our galaxy, and billions of galaxies within the observable universe. Those numbers are not possible to image, however NASA’s latest area telescope is serving to us see the universe’s depths in unprecedented element. Still, there’s one huge thriller that people may by no means be capable to resolve: How huge are the cosmos, actually, and what do they comprise?
If people have been to search out proof of life elsewhere within the universe, it could be a scientific marvel, but additionally an emotional and religious one, the physicist Alan Lightman famous in an essay earlier this fall. Our questions would multiply: “Where did we living things come from? Is there some kind of cosmic community?”
Lightman explains why life within the universe is probably going actually, actually uncommon. “We living things are a very special arrangement of atoms and molecules,” he writes. But these questions aren’t nearly different planets and galaxies; they’re additionally about us, right here on Earth, and why we could wish to consider that our lives and our tales are one among a sort. What follows is a studying listing on why issues are the best way they’re—from life on Earth right down to creepy coincidences on the espresso store—and the way we cope with the unknowable.
The Cosmic Dice
Life Is an Accident of Space and Time
By Alan Lightman
Even if life existed on each planet that would help it, dwelling matter within the universe would quantity to just a few grains of sand within the Gobi Desert.
Why Earth’s History Appears So Miraculous
By Peter Brannen
The unusual, cosmic motive our evolutionary path will look ever luckier the longer we surviv
Coincidences and the Meaning of Life
By Julie Beck
The stunning possibilities of our lives can appear to be they’re hinting at hidden truths, however they’re actually revealing the human thoughts at work.
Still Curious?
Other Diversions
P.S.
I’ll depart you with an fascinating tidbit from Julie Beck’s article on coincidences: Beck cites analysis exhibiting that sure persona traits are linked to a better probability of experiencing coincidences. People who self-describe as non secular and individuals who search which means, as an illustration, are particularly liable to discovering coincidences of their day by day lives.
(One group that may not see as many coincidences? Residents of the U.Okay, in keeping with one professor Beck spoke with. “Coincidences never happen to me at all, because I never notice anything,” he stated. “I never talk to anybody on trains. If I’m with a stranger, I don’t try to find a connection with them, because I’m English.”)
— Isabel