Cool Worlds: most stars cannot host life, and a comment on the implications

You may have already seen this. https://youtu.be/IrUia9AIaOk?list=TLPQMjcwNTIwMjYs1NE_YzXdfg 

Something like 74% of all stars are M dwarfs (aka red dwarfs). You don't see them even in a dark sky, because even from a few light years, they're too dim to see with the naked eye. But it actually is most of the stars that exist. The very closest star, Proxima Centauri, is an M dwarf. 

But here's another aspect of all this to consider. It is clear that most of the star systems in the universe (or Galaxy, same argument) are never going to give rise to planets capable of hosting the origin and persistent existence of life on their surfaces. And of the ones where a planet so capable could exist in principle, only a small fraction will actually contain such a planet. Fine; there are a hell of a lot of planets, and even one in a million is many millions in a typical galaxy. We now know for a certain fact that nearly all stars, from M dwarfs up to B type blue giants (possibly excluding the very brightest ones), have planets. 

But what about the future of life, or what in other places may be in the past, but a major turning point. Intelligence, at least in our imagination, has conceived of spreading life out into the cosmos. Creating artificial habitats. Seeding life on planets of other stars where it did not get going on its own but could exist now. Terraforming worlds that aren't quite good enough. Etc. etc. Much of the universe, naturally dead, can come to life if intelligent beings like ourselves introduce life to those environments. Matter and useful energy are incredibly abundant in the universe. Distance is a huge problem, but patience is the answer. Set your automated ships asail in deep space and just wait; eventually they arrive at another star, where energy is free just like it is here. We are in no rush; if we settle down into a sustainable existence here in our neck of the woods, the future is long, and one consequence of the rarity of life is that we don't seem likely to run into competition any time soon. 

I think this is the likely actual future of our species, and is likely to have already happened countless times in other nooks and crannies of our incredibly vast universe. It's like a waiting stage of the evolution of the Biosphere. And not to get all teleological on you, but it's hard not to think of this as the purpose of the evolution of intelligence. 

 

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MUSICA SUMMUM DOLOREM TRANSFIGURAT 

ET SUMMUM GAUDIUM SALTAT

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