Taxi from Another Planet by Charles S. Cockell

Author:Charles S. Cockell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard University Press

NASA’s eXtreme Deep Field image, assembled from ten years of Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken in a single part of the sky, shows about 5,500 galaxies. Could it be that no one is out there staring back at Earth, an infinitesimal speck in a different deep-field view of the universe?

11

Might the Universe Be Devoid of Aliens?

A taxi ride from Bruntsfield to Edinburgh New Town to attend a Christmas party.

We turned onto Princes Street, and for the first time in the year I felt that ineffable emotion: Christmassy. We all know what melancholy, happiness, and envy are. They are the raw stuff of human experience. But Christmassy—what is that?

Actually, I think it’s a complicated thing. Childhood memories, dark evenings, mulled wine, trees decorated with tinsel and assorted baubles. A whole lot goes into this emotional state, exaggerated by a collective seasonal hysteria. At the root of it all, though, is the sociability of the holiday, the sense of family and community.

“I’ve got the whole family coming for Christmas,” my driver said. “The lot. Eleven of them all descending on me and my other half.” All this came out of the blue, a sign of my driver’s excitement. She looked ready. She wore a red-and-green jumper and even her hair, white as snow, seemed like it was in the mood for Christmas. “I’m looking forward to it,” she added cheerfully, in case there was any doubt. “You too?”

I was, in fact, but as a space enthusiast, I can sometimes have a weird perspective on our earthly rituals. Here we have this little fleck of rock, covered in humans, some of whom celebrate Christmas. They enjoy each other’s company, raise a glass, tuck into turkey, stash presents under a tree, all the while orbiting an unremarkable star in a rather lonely part of the galaxy. I try not to depress people with astronomical thoughts, so I wasn’t going to bring up our infinitesimal meaninglessness. Nor was I going to ask my driver whether it mattered if there was anyone else in the universe or not, although such thoughts were on my mind. Would Christmas be better if we knew there were other creatures out there? Or might it be better if we discover that we are lonely, the warmth of our togetherness magnified by the lifelessness of the surrounding vacuum? Now that is one way to feel Christmassy: by embracing this flicker of color, gaiety, and hope in the blackness.

All that occurred to me in a flash. Then I caught up to the conversation. “Yes, I’m very much looking forward to it,” I said. “I’m also seeing family this Christmas, and it’s good to know we are not alone. At least not alone on Earth, but who knows about the rest of the universe.” My driver said nothing. She looked into her mirror and squinted. Like I said, I’m a space enthusiast; I bait people to get an interesting dialogue going.

“You one of those Star Trek types?” she asked. I’m not particularly, although I do watch it occasionally.

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