Science Saturday: Where Are All The Aliens?

We've been looking for aliens for more than 50 years, but we're still coming up empty. Some researchers think that might be because our intergalactic neighbors are all still asleep. FACT OF THE DAY: Astronomer Frank Drake made the first official attempt to contact aliens in 1960 when he aimed an 85-foot radio dish at two nearby sun-like stars. He didn't hear anything. [Welcome To A Smarter Inbox]( Are All The Aliens In The Universe Sleeping? [Maybe We Haven't Found Aliens Because They're All Asleep]( - The Fermi Paradox points out that there are almost definitely aliens elsewhere in the galaxy, but for some reason, we haven't found any sign of them yet. - There are lots of theories why, but a new one suggests that aliens are all "hibernating" until the universe cools down. - The idea is that the aliens have uploaded their consciousness into computers, and computers work much better when it's colder. - Even the people who came up with the theory are a bit skeptical, but they are pretty sure aliens have all been digitized in some way. [WHY WOULD ALIENS TURN THEMSELVES INTO COMPUTERS?]( The Curiosity Podcast Have you listened to [The Curiosity Podcast]( yet? In our first episode, Cody sits down with taste and smell expert [Dr. Alan Hirsch]( to talk about how smell secretly controls your brain. In episode two, sports memorabilia expert [Michael Osacky]( talks about what exactly makes a collector's item valuable. And our most recent episode reveals the secrets of psychology with mentalist [Jonathan Pritchard](. If you like the podcast, we'd love it if you'd give us a 5-star review on your favorite listening platform, whether that's [iTunes]( [Google Play]( or [Stitcher](. Last Week On Curiosity - [The Human Brain Is Wired For Optimism. Yes, Even Yours.]( - [Your Microbiome Might Play A Role In Your Altruism]( - [Your Nose Can Hijack Your Brain]( - [Did Humans Or Neanderthals Paint These Caves?]( - [The Kardashev Scale Is A Tool For Measuring A Civilization's Advancement]( - [This Quantum Theory Says Time Can Flow Backwards]( - [Ravens Can Plan Ahead Just As Well As Apes]( Do you use a VPN to surf the web? [You should]( if you want to keep prying eyes off your data. [VPN Unlimited]( will help limit the amount of data your ISP can collect from you, giving you a secure, encrypted connection, be it on your home WiFi or on a public hotspot. If you happen to live somewhere where the government puts restrictions on the content you can access (this is pretty much everywhere), VPN Unlimited lets you circumvent domestic firewalls by allowing you to browse on servers in 39 countries around the world, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. [PUT A LOCK ON YOUR DATA TODAY]( [At Berlin-Ichthyosaur Park, You Can Camp In A Ghost Town Filled With Fossils]( The Answer Every Saturday, we take on a question sent in by one of our readers. Write to us at [TheQuestion@Curiosity.com](mailto:thequestion@curiosity.com?subject=A%20Question%20For%20The%20Question) to have your question answered next week! Can cats and dogs see in color? – Shruti Everyone knows that dogs see in black and white, and cats can see in the dark. Right? Except... not quite. The truth is, both cats and dogs can't see color as well as humans can, but both of them can see in color. A [study from 2013]( showed that, despite the fact that dogs only have two types of color-detecting cells (compared to humans' three), they were able to figure out a color-based puzzle for a delicious treat. But although they could easily tell blue from yellow, neither dogs nor cats could tell green from red. So why would dogs and cats (and other animals) have less-than-stellar color vision? Actually, there are some advantages to it. Color vision depends on cone cells, while perception of brightness depends on rod cells. While both cats and dogs trail us in cone cells, they've got way more rods than we ever will. That means [they see in very dim light with ease](. So your kitties have no problem wreaking havoc on your house in the middle of the night, but you can never find where they've fled to when you get up to check on them. In The Headlines - A startup called OneWeb plans to launch 700 satellites to bring internet to remote rural areas. [[Futurism]( - If you've got an iPhone, Galaxy, or Nexus, you need to update your operating system to protect against malware. [[techradar]( - DNA testing is shining a light on the fate of the Canaanites, who the Bible claims were destroyed by the Israelites. [[Washington Post]( Got A Question For The Question? Write to us at TheQuestion@Curiosity.com if there's something you're dying to know, or anything you think we could be doing better (we'll also accept lavish compliments). If we like your question, we'll let you know—and then we'll take it on in The Answer in every Saturday's email. Follow us and smarten up your social media. [Facebook ]( [Twitter ]( [Instagram ]( [Google ]( [Pinterest ]( [Advertise on Curiosity]( Discover More Amazing Stories Every Day! Start following the subjects that interest you most. We do the work of writing, designing and curating can't-miss articles and videos in those subjects, so you can let your natural curiosity lead the way. 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