"Why does nature use only one ‘handedness’ for organic molecules but both ‘hands’ for inorganic ones? "
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Question
How come we have not been visited by intellegent life if it does exist? Is it because they cannot travel faster than the speed of light?
The fact that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light may be the reason we are not being visited; it is so much easier to just communicate by electromagnetic waves! Electromagnetic signals (radio or optical) are by far the most economical way to bridge the distances between the stars, so that is how SETI approaches the problem of searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. Your question is really a restatement of what is called the "Fermi Paradox". A good source for this topic is the book by Stephen Webb called "If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life --". David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
November 14, 2006
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