>[!abstract] >The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Methods include monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets, optical observation, and the search for physical artifacts. Attempts to message extraterrestrial intelligences have also been made. ("Search for extraterrestrial intelligence", 2025). >[!note] >Two studies have independently estimated that the portion of the sky that the SETI program has searched for extraterrestrial life to date is analogous to having searched for fish in all of the Earth's oceans by sampling no more than a drinking glass (Tarter et al., 2010) or a large hot tub (Wright et al., 2020). Which means that the Fermi paradox (the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence) isn't a paradox at all. ## References - Search for extraterrestrial intelligence. (2025, January 2). In *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Search_for_extraterrestrial_intelligence&oldid=1260469747 - Tarter, J. C., Agrawal, A., Ackermann, R., Backus, P., Blair, S. K., Bradford, M. T., ... & Vakoch, D. (2010, September). SETI turns 50: five decades of progress in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. In *Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII* (Vol. 7819, pp. 13-25). SPIE. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.863128 - Wright, J. T., Kanodia, S., & Lubar, E. (2018). How much SETI has been done? Finding needles in the n-dimensional cosmic haystack. _The Astronomical Journal_, _156_(6), 260. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aae099