Seth Shostak Quotes

With 'Extinction Machine,' I wanted to start some conversations about whether we're alone in the universe and what that might mean.

I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth.

I don't think we are the only planet that has life.

I think obviously there is some kind of life form somewhere else. Whether it looks like the creature in 'Alien Autopsy,' I'm not sure.

I don't see why there is no intelligent alien life in the universe.

Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it.

I believe that there may be intelligent life on other planets.

We can never prove that we're alone in the universe. But the Allen Telescope Array could prove that we're not.

People quite often think of the question 'Are we alone in the universe?' in terms of other civilizations out there: life forms that have reached at least our level of technological development.

It's presumptuous for us to think we are the only beings in the cosmos.

Galactic plankton is undoubtedly out there, but it's statistically highly likely there's also another intelligent civilisation out there somewhere. Unfortunately, the distances and time differences are so great, communication might remain impossible.

Astrobiology is a great point of contact for science outreach. The public is naturally interested in extra-terrestrial life. Astrobiology provides an accessible point of access that leads to deeper questions.

Is E.T. out there? Well, I work at the SETI Institute. That's almost my name. SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. In other words, I look for aliens, and when I tell people that at a cocktail party, they usually look at me with a mildly incredulous look on their face. I try to keep my own face somewhat dispassionate.

Another random thing I do is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. And you may be familiar with the movie 'Contact,' which sort of popularized that. It turns out there are real people who go out and search for extraterrestrials in a very scientific way.

This planet seems to be in such sorry shape. And I can't ever think about the rest of the universe without coming back home and thinking what the implications for life here would be if we were to really have some definitive proof of extraterrestrial life.

Maybe the search for life shouldn't restrict attention to planets like Earth. Science fiction writers have other ideas: balloon-like creatures floating in the dense atmospheres of planets such as Jupiter, swarms of intelligent insects, nano-scale robots and more.

It's just too egotistical to think that we are the only lifeform in the universe.

I think it quite likely that we are the only civilization within several hundred light years; otherwise we would have heard radio waves.

We're going to understand that there is life on other bodies in the solar system.

The human race may be the only intelligent beings in the galaxy.

How can the human race be, like, the only living form in the universe? There have to be other life forms out there. I believe it.

There's so much interest and curiosity about alien life, interstellar travel. It's always in the news.

I think there's all kinds of life out there, including intelligent life, but the reason we haven't found each other is because of vast distances.

I think that it would be unwise of us not to believe that there is life outside of us, intelligent life. And so I do believe in aliens.

Theoretically, there are planets with an environment that can support life. As yet there is no evidence that there indeed is life on other planets. It's only a matter of time before we get to know.