Nearly 50% of Americans believe extraterrestrials are routinely visiting Earth in their spaceships, and many are sure that Earth's governments are engaged in a global cover-up. Scientists and skeptics generally disagree with such claims, but due to the vast number of exoplanets now known to exist, many from those communities often assert that extraterrestrial civilizations are likely and perhaps even abundant in our galaxy, and it’s just a matter of time until first contact.

In this presentation, Rob Palmer will discuss whether this is a reasonable position to hold, and explore the contrary possibility -- that our technological civilization may be an anomaly, surprisingly rare among the hundreds of billions of planetary systems in the Milky Way.

Note: Preregistration is required for this meeting. Here is the registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FgsywjCgStq5e4EGx51Qeg