Highly advanced alien civilizations may be unable to contact the outside world

In a recent article, Professor Elio Quiroga Rodríguez from the Universidad Atlántico-Medio in Spain outlined the alarming prospects we may face in our search for alien civilizations.

The study suggests the existence of so-called “fishbowl worlds” – planets on which advanced alien species may be trapped, unable to leave their worlds or communicate with others. The article was published in the British Interplanetary Society.

The simplest “world in a fishbowl” scenario occurs on planets with extremely high gravity. To leave such a planet requires a huge amount of energy, which makes space travel almost impossible.

Not only does this hinder physical exploration, but it also limits technological progress as these civilizations are unable to develop communications or space surveillance technologies.

Another potential “bowl world” is oceanic planets, where most of the surface is covered with water or liquid methane. In such environments, electrical signals decay quickly, making long-distance communication impractical.

Even if these aliens developed complex civilizations, they may not feel the need to develop communication technologies.

Quiroga also considers other potential “fishbowl worlds”.

Binary star systems: Planets orbiting binary stars may be constantly exposed to daylight, hindering stargazing and suppressing the desire to explore space.

Cloudy Planets: Planets that are constantly covered by thick clouds can block the visibility of space, leading to similar effects.

These “bowl worlds” scenarios could change the way we think about extraterrestrial life and the search for it. If such planets exist, then they may contain highly developed civilizations that we will never discover due to the above limitations.