Alex McColgan

This could lead to conflict too.

This is not even to mention the fact that some cultures idolise violence itself, deeming themselves of worth only when they are winning victories, such as Viking raiders or Spartan hoplites.

Others seek to build empires, recognising it's much easier to take wealth from others than it is to build it yourself.

All these reasons are perfectly plausible for an intelligent race that has mastered its planet, out-competed other lifeforms there, and likely feels good about doing so.

Survival feels good, we enjoy feeling strong.

But if this leads to conflict, what might an alien conflict look like?

Technology raises the stakes.

We currently lack the technology to move objects to other solar systems, given the vast distances throughout space.

Unless we intend to just throw insulting messages at each other through the void, actual fighting cannot be achieved until we manage to solve speed of light travel, and probably something faster than that.

It is possible that one day we might get around this problem, and this instantly opens a dangerous possibility.

It is theoretically impossible to move something up to the speed of light because of the link between mass and energy.

The more energy something has, the more mass it has because the two are linked, and thus the more energy you need to increase its speed further.

This is only noticeable at relativistic speeds, but it does mean you'd theoretically need infinite energy to move mass up to the speed of light.

But if you throw an asteroid-sized object at a planet at near-light speed, then all that energy gets released in one go.

This kind of strike can easily wipe out all life on a planet, and the people on it wouldn't even see it coming.

Any intelligent race would be very aware of the impact potential of objects such as this.

For us, we only need to look at the dinosaurs.

You don't need nukes or soldiers on the ground to fight an alien war, just rocks thrown really, really fast.

This opens up one possible answer to the Fermi Paradox.

If alien civilizations exist, and any of them proved to be willing to do this, maybe the other aliens realised that it was simply safer not to communicate.