If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life

by Stephen Webb

War does not determine who is right—only who is left. Bertrand Russell

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In the first place, we have no reason for supposing intelligence (however we choose to define it) is the sole criterion by which we can rank animals. Why not instead use visual acuity, or speed, or strength? Indeed, why try to rank animals in this way at all? We shouldn’t view evolution as a ladder, with ourselves at the top and all other animals below us because they aren’t yet “evolved enough” to possess intelligence. Apes, bears, cats, dogs, mice and men are all equally “evolved” because we share a common ancestor that lived about 65 million years ago. The various species have adapted to their environments in different ways; our species has certain characteristics that make it successful, but so has every other species on the planet. These species are all equally successful, since they’ve passed the critical test: they’ve all survived.

The Moon raises tidal bulges in the oceans (and, to a much smaller extent, in the continental land masses) and this acts as a frictional brake on Earth’s rotation. Every 50,000 years or so the day gets longer by about 1 second.

It turns out that the possession of a large Moon is a mixed blessing.