When Will We Find Extraterrestrial Life Forms? 10 Opinions from Leading Scientists

The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most exciting and important scientific endeavors of our time. While we have yet to find definitive evidence of life beyond Earth, many scientists from various fields have weighed in on the question of when we might find extraterrestrial life forms. Here are the opinions of 10 scholars on this topic:

Stephen Hawking - the late physicist and cosmologist believed that it was likely that intelligent life existed elsewhere in the universe, but warned that we should be cautious about making contact with it, as such a civilization may be more advanced and potentially hostile.

Jill Tarter - an astronomer and the former director of the SETI Institute, Tarter is optimistic about the discovery of extraterrestrial life within the next few decades, citing advances in technology and the increasing number of exoplanets being discovered.

Avi Loeb - the Harvard astrophysicist has made headlines for his controversial theory that the interstellar object Oumuamua could be an alien spacecraft, and believes that we may detect signs of extraterrestrial life within the next few years.

Sara Seager - a planetary scientist at MIT, Seager believes that we will discover evidence of life beyond Earth within the next 20 years, citing advances in telescopes and other technology that will allow us to better study exoplanets.

Martin Rees - the astrophysicist and former president of the Royal Society believes that the discovery of extraterrestrial life is inevitable, but may be a long way off given the vast distances involved in space travel.

Chris McKay - a planetary scientist at NASA, McKay is hopeful that we may find signs of microbial life on Mars within the next few decades, but believes that it may be much longer before we find intelligent life.

Seth Shostak - a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, Shostak believes that we may find evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life within the next two decades, and that such a discovery would be transformative for humanity.

Lisa Kaltenegger - an astronomer and director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, Kaltenegger is optimistic that we may find evidence of life on exoplanets within the next few years, and that such discoveries could lead to a new era of space exploration.

David Grinspoon - a planetary scientist and astrobiologist, Grinspoon believes that the discovery of extraterrestrial life will be a slow and incremental process, but that we will eventually find it if we continue to search.

Frank Drake - the astrophysicist and founder of the SETI Institute, Drake is optimistic that we will eventually find evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, but believes that it may take many more years of searching before we do.

In summary, the opinions of scholars on the question of when we will find extraterrestrial life vary widely, from the optimistic to the cautious. However, most agree that the search is important and that advances in technology and the increasing number of exoplanets being discovered make it more likely that we will find evidence of life beyond Earth in the coming years and decades.