THE thought that we’re not
alone has intrigued and perplexed ever since Neanderthal man first raised his
eyes skywards and wondered what that big silvery circle thing in the sky was.
Stars, planets and the vast scale of the galaxy, all part of a brainbusting conundrum that has confounded civilisations down the generations, leaving mere human minds to boggle under the concept that, somewhere out there, one of those twinkling little stars is home to someone else.
As for Hollywood movies, they whisk us to imaginary worlds of little green men with light sabres and a disturbing habit of shooting first then asking later to be taken to our leader – in perfect if slightly robotic English – or to curious worlds with multi- coloured moons and purple oceans.
Could any of that possibly, in our wildest dreams, ever be real?
Actually, yes, says Dr Duncan Forgan, straight-faced, deadly serious and not even wearing a replica Star Trek uniform or a giant fancy dress Chewbacca head. It could be true and, indeed, it probably is.
Well, perhaps not the bits about the light sabres and green men. Or the multi-coloured moons and the purple oceans – I made all that up. Besides, that’s the fine detail to be established once and for all sometime later.
Right now it’s enough to know that, on those starry nights when we choose to raise our eyes heavenwards, peering through the haar and the city’s light pollution to ponder the prospect of intelligent life on other planets, there’s probably someone else looking down at us wondering exactly the same thing.
“The idea that we’re alone as biological organisms, well, for me, that’s kind of unlikely,” says Dr Forgan, a sort of Han Solo with a university degree and Edinburgh’s real-life “alien hunter”.
“There are estimated to be 100 billion planets in the galaxy,” he continues, ignoring the references to Space: 1999 and the odd Vulcan salute. “That only one could have even simple biological life seems to be unlikely. If that was the case,What is a real time Location system (RTLS)? then it would be a shattering result.”
Far more likely, he believes, is that alien life forms are really out there. Indeed, according to one raft of research he published after intense study from his lair at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, there could be between a mere 361 up to a jaw-dropping 38,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking.000 alien civilisations in our galaxy alone.
And if even one of them has a Death Star, enough unleaded to fuel it plus a dislike of folks who walk upright, watch mind-numbing reality television shows,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. tweet about what they had for breakfast and overindulge in McDonalds, then we’ve had it.
Of course, Dr Forgan has heard all those smarty-pants jibes before – about ET and Klingons on the starboard bow, death rays, phasers,Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included. teleporting and Captain Kirk’s acting ability. Still just 27 years old, he learned a while ago that, when he goes to a party and someone asks what he does for a living, it’s probably less hassle to simply respond, “I’m a PhD research fellow in an academic position”,Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. than to admit, “Well, as a matter of fact, I hunt for aliens”.
And yet that’s pretty much a large element of what he does. Even if the proper term for it all is that he “carries out theoretical calculations for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”, he’s basically the chap peering skywards, armed with an astonishing array of scientific data to help deduce where life forms may be, and what their home might be like.
Of course, if you want aliens, the best place to find them is on the silver screen, and now Dr Forgan has ventured there too. Not a cameo appearance in Avatar, but in a short film made by Edinburgh College of Art students aimed at explaining his “out of this world” research, with the hope of inspiring us all to become amateur alien hunters.
Stars, planets and the vast scale of the galaxy, all part of a brainbusting conundrum that has confounded civilisations down the generations, leaving mere human minds to boggle under the concept that, somewhere out there, one of those twinkling little stars is home to someone else.
As for Hollywood movies, they whisk us to imaginary worlds of little green men with light sabres and a disturbing habit of shooting first then asking later to be taken to our leader – in perfect if slightly robotic English – or to curious worlds with multi- coloured moons and purple oceans.
Could any of that possibly, in our wildest dreams, ever be real?
Actually, yes, says Dr Duncan Forgan, straight-faced, deadly serious and not even wearing a replica Star Trek uniform or a giant fancy dress Chewbacca head. It could be true and, indeed, it probably is.
Well, perhaps not the bits about the light sabres and green men. Or the multi-coloured moons and the purple oceans – I made all that up. Besides, that’s the fine detail to be established once and for all sometime later.
Right now it’s enough to know that, on those starry nights when we choose to raise our eyes heavenwards, peering through the haar and the city’s light pollution to ponder the prospect of intelligent life on other planets, there’s probably someone else looking down at us wondering exactly the same thing.
“The idea that we’re alone as biological organisms, well, for me, that’s kind of unlikely,” says Dr Forgan, a sort of Han Solo with a university degree and Edinburgh’s real-life “alien hunter”.
“There are estimated to be 100 billion planets in the galaxy,” he continues, ignoring the references to Space: 1999 and the odd Vulcan salute. “That only one could have even simple biological life seems to be unlikely. If that was the case,What is a real time Location system (RTLS)? then it would be a shattering result.”
Far more likely, he believes, is that alien life forms are really out there. Indeed, according to one raft of research he published after intense study from his lair at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, there could be between a mere 361 up to a jaw-dropping 38,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking.000 alien civilisations in our galaxy alone.
And if even one of them has a Death Star, enough unleaded to fuel it plus a dislike of folks who walk upright, watch mind-numbing reality television shows,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. tweet about what they had for breakfast and overindulge in McDonalds, then we’ve had it.
Of course, Dr Forgan has heard all those smarty-pants jibes before – about ET and Klingons on the starboard bow, death rays, phasers,Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included. teleporting and Captain Kirk’s acting ability. Still just 27 years old, he learned a while ago that, when he goes to a party and someone asks what he does for a living, it’s probably less hassle to simply respond, “I’m a PhD research fellow in an academic position”,Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. than to admit, “Well, as a matter of fact, I hunt for aliens”.
And yet that’s pretty much a large element of what he does. Even if the proper term for it all is that he “carries out theoretical calculations for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”, he’s basically the chap peering skywards, armed with an astonishing array of scientific data to help deduce where life forms may be, and what their home might be like.
Of course, if you want aliens, the best place to find them is on the silver screen, and now Dr Forgan has ventured there too. Not a cameo appearance in Avatar, but in a short film made by Edinburgh College of Art students aimed at explaining his “out of this world” research, with the hope of inspiring us all to become amateur alien hunters.
