← back0% of the universe mildly understood

the fermi paradox

you look up, the universe looks back, and suddenly you feel very underqualified.

Everyone feels something under a good starry sky. Fermi felt: "Where is everybody?"

How big is "out there"?

spoiler: very

backyardnaked eyegalaxyuniverse

your backyard

0

you can't see stars from here, too much light pollution

conclusion: you are not the main character, statistically speaking.

Build Your Own Universe Estimate

this slider is wildly unqualified to decide the fate of the universe. so are you.

20%
50%
10%
1%

Milky Way civilizations

4,000

Observable universe (estimated)

400,000,000,000M+

you just casually decided the fate of trillions of planets. congrats.

the great filter

somewhere between primordial soup and interstellar civilization, there's a wall that stops everything. either we've passed it, or we haven't.

spoiler: nobody knows which one is real. sleep tight.

where are they?

here are 10 reasons the universe might be empty. some are comforting. most are not.

click cards to flip

the bad news: at least half of these are terrifying.
the good news: we're still here to worry about it.

kardashev scale

how to measure civilizations by their energy consumption. spoiler: we're not even a Type I yet.

🌍

Planetary Civilization

Harness all energy from your home planet

Control weather, earthquakes, volcanoes. Unlimited clean energy. We're at ~0.73 on this scale.

I
energy:
10^16 W
⭐

Stellar Civilization

Harness all energy from your star

Build a Dyson Sphere. Capture every photon. This is science fiction made real.

II
energy:
10^26 W
🌌

Galactic Civilization

Harness all energy from your galaxy

Control billions of stars. Terraform entire star systems. You're basically a god at this point.

III
energy:
10^36 W

humanity's progress

Type 0.73

current

fossil fuels, some renewables

next step

fusion, global energy grid

ETA Type I

100-200 years (maybe)

so... what now?

you've seen the math. you know the options. time to pick your existential poison.

regardless of your choice, here's what we know for sure:

We're on a pale blue dot in an incomprehensibly vast universe. We're asking questions that might not have answers. And somehow, against all odds, we're here to ask them. That's either terrifying or beautiful, depending on the day.

back to less existential content

congratulations, you now know slightly more about the universe's most uncomfortable question.

back to reality