I'm thinking of the scale of existence, from a single quantum (I've seen one) that builds our 80 stable atoms, to the size of our earth, a tiny speck within our solar system.
Our sun is only one of 200 billion stars in our galaxy; there are more than a trillion galaxies visible in our universe...
Throughout this inconceivable 37 orders of magnitude of existence, patterns of light absorption (Fraunhofer lines) tell us that exactly the same atoms, exactly the same quanta, define existence. Planck's Constant really is a constant.
This is the Great Spirit of the Cree, keechee manitowe, that has been part of everything and made of everything since time began. It's not just a spirit, it's an observable too.
A DNA molecule is built of an incredible hundred billion atoms. Each mammal on earth is built of 30 trillion cells; each cell contains its own copy of the organism's DNA molecule. There are roughly a hundred billion mammals on our earth. DNA is so complex that every mammal is a least a little bit different.
Yet mammals are only a small part of life on our planet. Just here in my back yard this same quanta provides complexity enough for hundreds of kinds of plants, each with their own consciousness of which we understand so little, hundreds of kinds of insects, dozens of kinds of birds.
And then there is the microscopic life that is all around and in us: bacteria, fungi, protozoa, yeasts, algae, whose numbers dwarf those of mammals.
They, and I, all are built of the same 80 kinds of atoms.
About half of sun-like stars should have a planet in the zone allowing surface liquid water, although half of the planets in this zone will be carbonaceous (sooty) or will be too small to support a magnetic field shield for long enough to maintain life (Mars).
Where there is liquid water, life follows within a billion years. Our Earth had DNA-based fossils (stromatolites) by then, simpler life forms had to have existed here much earlier.
Our galaxy contains roughly 200 billion stars, so just in our galaxy there are at least a billion Earth-like planets that should have life on them.
There will be life all over our universe.
Civilizations may destroy themselves before they become capable of interstellar communication:
• Evolution dictates that those who responsibly have fewer children will be overtaken by those who have more, thus reinforcing the excess. In our case that is leading to global warming that could destroy us, directly and by biodiversity collapse.
• When John Calhoun's Universe 25 experiments provided mice with everything they needed for survival in one enclosure: abundant food, water, nesting materials, and a safe environment, they all experienced societal collapse with overpopulation and eventual extinction. In our case, religions that define their members as chosen by a God and all others as animals would lead to the fragmentation and mutual destruction observed by Calhoun.
Smarter civilizations than ours may remain silent to avoid being destroyed by more advanced civilizations. Alternatively, we're so primitive that it's like asking the microbes in the 98% of the deep oceans we haven't explored, why they haven't made contact with us yet.
Of course, there is a one in a billion chance that we are the first in our galaxy!
John Sankey 2025