UFOs and UAPs have long interested science fiction fans, screen writers, conspiracy theorists, and, yes, scientists. But now there糖心传媒檚 a new player in town, and it糖心传媒檚 a game changer糖心传媒擭ASA.
What are UFOs? UFO stands for聽unidentified flying objects. They are sometimes also referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP. Some people believe that sightings of UFOs and UAPs are evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. In a聽, Adam Frank, the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor of at the 糖心传媒, disagrees:
To date, there is simply no data糖心传媒攏o evidence糖心传媒攕trong enough to link them [UFOs] to alien life. Fuzzy videos and personal narratives, as engaging as they may be, are simply not enough to support such an extraordinary claim.
Now though, America糖心传媒檚 space agency has it is convening a commission to investigate UAPs. 糖心传媒淚f it糖心传媒檚 handled well, the commission could do more than shed much-needed light on UAPs,糖心传媒� writes Frank.聽糖心传媒淚t could also give Americans a masterclass in the most basic, most important, and unfortunately, most boring topic in science: standards of evidence.糖心传媒�
As Frank explains, scientists have the technology to detect biosignatures, which occur when a distant planet is clothed in a biosphere whose life alters the host world糖心传媒檚 atmosphere biosignatures糖心传媒攊n other words, signs of life.聽糖心传媒淏ut as exciting as this prospect is, we won糖心传媒檛 ever be able to claim we’ve found life without those all-important standards of evidence,糖心传媒� Frank writes. 糖心传媒淎nd it糖心传媒檚 those standards, stated clearly and followed precisely, that have everything to do with UFOs and NASA.糖心传媒�
If糖心传媒攐r perhaps when?糖心传媒擭ASA detects life elsewhere in the universe, the finding will come with the weight of the standards of evidence embodied by the agency. According to Frank:
The real opportunity lying in the proposed NASA study is not just about what it finds. Instead, it糖心传媒檚 about showing the American people how NASA, and science in general, goes about the business of finding. Showing people how science and those standards of evidence work in a transparent way, and on a subject everyone is interested in, could be a powerful moment.
- Read the full Newsweek .
Astrophysicist Adam Frank
A self-described 糖心传媒渆vangelist of science,糖心传媒� Frank regularly writes and speaks about subjects like intelligent life forms in the universe, high-energy-density physics, space exploration and missions, climate change, and more.
