We asked astronomers: are we alone in the Universe? The answer was surprisingly consistent

Shutterstock Are we alone in the Universe? The expert opinion on that, it turns out, is surprisingly consistent. “Is there other life in the Universe? I would say: probably,” Daniel Zucker, Associate Professor of astronomy at Macquarie University, tells astrophysics student and The Conversation’s editorial intern Antonio Tarquinio on today’s podcast episode. “I think that we will discover life outside of Earth in my lifetime. If not that, then in your lifetime,” says his fellow Macquarie University colleague, Professor Orsola De Marco. And Lee Spitler, a Senior Lecturer and astronomy researcher at the same institution, was similarly optimistic: “I think there’s a high likelihood that we are not alone in the Universe.” The big question, however, is what that life might look like. Read more: The Dish in Parkes is scanning the southern Milky Way, searching for alien signals We’re also hearing from Danny C Price, project scientist for the Breakthrough Listen project scanning the southern skies for unusual patterns, on what the search for alien intelligence looks like in real life - and what it’s yielded so far. The Parkes radio telescope is scanning the southern skies, searching for signals from intelligent alien life. AAP/MICK TSIKAS Read more: ‘The size, the grandeur, the peacefulness of being in the dark’: what it’s like to study space at Siding Spring Observatory New to podcasts? Everything you need to know about how to listen to a podcast is here . Additional audio credits Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks. Lucky Stars by Podington Bear, from Free Music Archive Illumination by Kai Engel, from Free Music Archive Podcast episode recorded and edited by Antonio Tarquinio. Lead image Shutterstock

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We asked astronomers: are we alone in the Universe? The answer was surprisingly consistent is an episode from Trust Me, I'm An Expert by The Conversation.

This episode is 24:23 long.

This episode was published on Mar 9, 2020.

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