[user104658]

Originally Posted by Chewy

You could just do it the Mass Effect Andromeda way and send a ship to Andromeda with the majority of its occupants in stasis

Thing is though, if I remember right from the info, it's supposed to have taken a few hundred years for them to travel between galaxies right? Which is still much faster than light. I have a theory that if FTL travel was possible, and assuming that intelligent alien life exists (which it definitely must, at all sorts of stages of development, just statistically speaking), then we would definitely already know about it. As we haven't heard from anyone... Or been obliterated by anyone... Already, then I would be fairly confident in saying that FTL travel simply isn't scientifically possible, ever, for anyone.

Which is sort of sad / ironic, really. The universe must be absolutely FULL of life... But the vast majority of species out there will never make contact with another. It'll happen occasionally I'm sure, where by coincidence there are two planets with intelligent life in the same region of space (or even the same solar system) and they're close enough to make at least communicative contact if not physical contact, but most (like us) will be effectively "alone".

IF we don't wipe ourselves out eventually (which is most likely) I do think we will eventually have other inhabited planets... But it'll just be human colonies. Or I guess in theory... Highly evolved versions of other earth-born life? Bird people?