#001: Are we Alone in the Universe?

Welcome to the first episode of Paranormal Optimist! In this episode, we discuss the most important question first: Are we alone in the universe? Hear the history of people asking this question, the science behind believing and not believing, and suggestions of where we can go from here.If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected]: www.purple-planet.com Click here to follow the show on all platforms:https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast Sources cited in today’s episode:"The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark" (Ballantine Books, 1997)The Nobel Foundation. (n.d.-b). The nobel prize in physics 1938. NobelPrize.org. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1938/fermi/facts/Frank, A. (2023). The little book of aliens. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Ward, P. D., & Brownlee, D. (2000). Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe. Springer.Druyan, A. (2020). Cosmos: Possible worlds. National Geographic.SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Planetary Society. (n.d.). https://www.planetary.org/sci-tech/seti#:~:text=SETI%2C%20which%20stands%20for%20the,the%20search%20for%20extraterrestrial%20intelligence.) Is there anybody out there?. The Planetary Society. (n.d.-a). https://www.planetary.org/articles/20171025-seti-anybody-out-there Spectroscopy 101 – introduction | webb. (n.d.). https://webbtelescope.org/contents/articles/spectroscopy-101--introduction Hanson, R. (1998, September 15). Are we almost past it?. The Great Filter. https://web.archive.org/web/20100507074729/http:/hanson.gmu.edu/greatfilter.htmlSource, R. O. (2015, October 7). 6 mind-bending solutions to the Fermi paradox. Medium. https://medium.com/o-s/6-mind-bending-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-c0f32e47a0f7#:~:text=On%20Earth%2C%20we’ve%20decided,to%20join%20the%20extraterrestrial%20community.NASA. (2019, June 20). 5 ways to find a planet. NASA. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/ways-to-find-a-planet/?intent=021 Gronstal, A. (2022, September 2). NASA astrobiology. Astrobiology at NASA Life in the Universe. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/in-memoriam-frank-drake/NASA. (2024, October 28). Alien worlds - NASA science. NASA. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/ Aquilecchia, G. (2024, November 4). Giordano Bruno. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giordano-BrunoWestman, R. S. (Westman, R. S. (2024, November 7). Nicolaus Copernicus. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolaus-CopernicusNASA. (2025, February 18). Exoplanets - NASA science. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/ Carey, J. M. (n.d.). This Day in History: February 26. Italian Art Society. https://www.italianartsociety.org/2017/02/on-26-february-1616-galileo-galilei-was-formally-banned-and-banished-by-the-roman-catholic-church-for-teaching-and-defending-the-opinion-that-the-earth-orbits-the-sun/