BIG QUESTION: 03
Discovering Life
What would really happen if we discovered intelligent life? Would it unite us or divide us? Change everything—or almost nothing? Come explore how humanity might react to finding intelligent life beyond Earth.
How would you feel if we discovered extraterrestrial life? Excitement? Curiosity? Hope?
ASU research by Jung Yul Kwon, Hannah Bercovici, Katja Cunningham, and Michael Varnum reveals that humanity’s response to the discovery of extraterrestrial microbial life might be more positive than we expect. Their studies analyzed reactions to hypothetical and real announcements, showing strong trends toward optimism and reward-focused thinking.
Interestingly, people predicted they'd feel more positive than they believed humanity as a whole would—a striking insight into our personal vs. collective outlooks. If the news broke tomorrow, what would your first thought be?
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What if a tiny satellite could help us answer one of humanity's biggest questions—are we alone?
Introducing SPARCS: The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat mission! Led by ASU faculty member Evgenya Shkolnik, this mission is exploring stars to gain deeper insights into exoplanet atmospheres and accelerate the search for extraterrestrial life.
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What’s the real risk of ETI contact?
How should humanity prepare for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? Is the greatest danger from them—or from us?
The W&T Realpolitik Scenario has sparked an intellectual and public debate, drawing critique, analysis, and media coverage from outlets like The Daily Beast and Vice.
In their latest work, John Traphagan and colleagues respond to key critiques, diving deeper into the risks surrounding SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Their perspective challenges us to confront the uncomfortable: the potential existential risks of ETI contact and how humanity’s behavior might amplify those risks.
With decades of expertise in anthropology and military strategy, the authors argue that we must shift from idealism to a pragmatic understanding of risk—one that includes threats we pose to ourselves.
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Are we living through Earth's most transformative moment?
The history of Earth is a saga of transitions—from a lifeless rock to a vibrant, life-dominated planet, and now to an era where intelligent agency and technology hold the reins.
Research by Hikaru Furukawa and Sara Walker at ASU explores how planetary evolution unfolds in three phases:
Matter-Dominated – Driven by physical and chemical forces.
Life-Dominated – Shaped by biological innovation and biogeochemical diversity.
Agency-Dominated – Marked by intentional steering of ecosystems through collective intelligence and technology.
Today, humanity stands at the edge of this "agency-dominated" phase, with the unprecedented ability to shape Earth's future. As artificial intelligence emerges, we must ask: Are these transitions unique to Earth, or part of a universal planetary story?
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We want to hear your take - how do you think people will react if we discover life on another planet?
