Friday, August 14, 2026
Impulsive Vs Spontaneous
- Spontaneity is freedom from rigidity. It is driven by presence, curiosity, and joy. You act in the moment, but your underlying awareness and core values remain intact, usually leading to positive or enriching experiences.
- Impulsiveness is a lack of restraint. It is driven by sudden internal urges or emotional reactions. You act without considering consequences, bypassing judgment, which frequently leads to regret or risk.
In short: Spontaneity is choosing to say "yes" to life on the fly; impulsiveness is being unable to say "no" to a sudden urge."
7,000 Steps
From AI Gemini:
The ubiquitous 10,000-step figure wasn't originally rooted in clinical trials—it actually originated as a marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer (Manpo-kei, which translates to "10,000-steps meter") launched ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Comprehensive analyses published in journals like The Lancet Public Health point to 7,000 steps as the new benchmark:
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What the Science Shows
- The Law of Diminishing Returns: Major longevity and cardiovascular benefits climb steeply as daily steps increase from sedentary levels (~2,000 steps) up to around 6,000–7,000 steps. Beyond 7,000 to 8,000 steps, the health benefits continue to accumulate, but at a much flatter rate.
- Significant Health Outcomes: Hitting roughly 7,000 steps per day is associated with up to a 47% reduction in all-cause mortality, alongside lower risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, and depression compared to low activity levels.
- More Reachable & Sustainable: For many people, hitting 10,000 steps requires roughly 4.5 to 5 miles of walking every day, which can feel overwhelming or impractical. Aiming for 7,000 steps (around 3 to 3.5 miles) offers almost all of the same physiological rewards while fitting much more seamlessly into daily life.
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The Takeaway
If you are already hitting 10,000+ steps regularly and enjoy it, there is no reason to scale back—more movement is still beneficial. However, if 10,000 felt like an arbitrary or intimidating goal, 7,000 steps is now widely considered the evidence-based target to maximize health return on investment without burning out.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Maier
photography by Vivian Maier 1926-2009
'New York City. Mother and children crossing the street at 51st St. and First Avenue.' 1954
Chickens
Here are six surprising and unusual facts about chickens that go way beyond the standard farmyard trivia:
1. They Are Direct Descendants of T. Rex (Literally)
Molecular analysis of soft tissue recovered from a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil revealed that the amino acid sequences in T. Rex collagen match those of modern chickens more closely than any other living animal (beating out alligators and crocodiles).
2. They Have "Stereo" Ultraviolet Vision
Chickens possess a fourth type of color cone in their eyes that allows them to see ultraviolet light, along with a specialized light-sensing organ (the pineal gland) that detects daylight even through their skulls. This gives them far superior color perception and motion detection compared to human vision.
3. Eggs Can Be Naturally Pink, Blue, or Olive Green
Eggshells aren't just white or brown. Specific breeds lay brightly colored eggs due to pigment deposits during shell formation:
- Ameraucanas & Araucanas: Lay bright blue eggs (caused by the pigment oocyanin).
- Marans: Lay deep, dark chocolate-brown eggs.
- Olive Eggers: A crossbreed that lays olive-green eggs when blue pigment is deposited over a brown outer layer.
4. They Have Over 30 Distinct Vocalizations
Chickens don't just "cluck." They possess a complex language system with at least 30 distinct vocal calls used to communicate specific information to the flock—including separate alarm calls for aerial predators (like hawks) versus ground predators (like foxes), and calls that announce the discovery of high-value food.
5. They Experience REM Sleep and Dream
Chickens experience Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep just like humans do, indicating they dream. Even more fascinating, they can practice unihemispheric slow-wave sleep—sleeping with one half of their brain while keeping one eye open to watch for predators, while the other half of the brain rests.
6. Their Combs Act as Thermal Radiators
A chicken's comb isn't just ornamental; it plays a critical role in thermoregulation. Because chickens cannot sweat, they circulate warm blood through the soft, highly vascularized tissues of their comb and wattles to radiate heat away from their body and stay cool in hot weather.
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Octopolis
Without
"Meditation without listening and reflecting is blind, but listening and reflecting without meditation is like having eyesight and no legs." K.T.G.R.
Big Bear Bald Eagle Live Nest - Cam 1
Stafford
It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.
It could, you know. That’s why we wake
and look out — no guarantees
in this life.
But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.
Tyson
(Little known fact - William Shatner refused to do a second take of this scene with a lighter kiss knowing that the romantic kiss would get edited out. Good man that William Shatner!)
Sauna
AI Gemini replied:
Sitting in a dry sauna at 165°F to 175°F (approximately 74°C to 80°C) offers a wide range of physiological benefits. At this temperature, your body undergoes thermal stress similar to moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise, prompting several beneficial adaptations.
Here are 5 key health benefits of regular dry sauna use:
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1. Improved Cardiovascular Health & Circulation
The heat causes blood vessels to dilate (vasodilation), which increases blood flow and improves circulation. Your heart rate can elevate to 100–150 beats per minute, mimicking a mild-to-moderate workout.
- The impact: Regular sessions have been linked to reduced blood pressure, improved arterial compliance, and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
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2. Enhanced Exercise Recovery & Reduced Muscle Soreness
Increased blood flow delivers oxygen and essential nutrients to tired or damaged muscle tissue while helping flush out metabolic waste (such as lactic acid).
- The impact: Taking a sauna post-workout can reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), relax tense muscle fibers, and help maintain joint mobility.
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3. Stress Relief & Mood Elevation
Thermal therapy stimulates the release of endorphins—the body's natural "feel-good" chemicals—while helping regulate cortisol (the primary stress hormone).
- The impact: The physical relaxation experienced during a session helps calm the sympathetic ("fight-or-flight") nervous system and promote deep, restorative mental relaxation.
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4. Better Deep Sleep Quality
The dramatic temperature shift after exiting the sauna helps facilitate natural sleep cycles. As your body rapidly cools down post-session, it mimics the circadian body temperature drop that signals to your brain that it is time to sleep.
- The impact: Many regular sauna users report falling asleep faster and spending more time in slow-wave (deep) sleep.
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5. Boosted Immune & Cellular Function
Sauna-induced hyperthermia raises your core body temperature slightly, which stimulates the production of white blood cells. Additionally, heat exposure activates Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs), which help repair damaged proteins and protect cells against stress.
- The impact: Over time, this cellular upkeep helps strengthen overall immune resilience and supports systemic health.
---
- A Quick Tip for 165°F–175°F: Aim for sessions lasting 15 to 20 minutes, and always follow up with ample hydration and electrolytes to replenish what is lost through sweat.
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Anosognosia
'Queen Of Outer Space' - Short Clip - 1958
Lowell And Mars
From AI Gemini
Percival Lowell 1855-1916, a wealthy American businessman-turned-astronomer, spent the latter part of his life convinced that the "canals" he observed on Mars were monumental engineering projects built by a dying, highly advanced civilization.
The wildest, most quintessential quote from his body of work comes from his 1906 book, 'Mars and Its Canals'. In it, he essentially argues that Martians were not only smarter than us but also better at city planning and governance:
"A mind of no mean order would seem to have presided over the system we see—a mind certainly of considerably more comprehensiveness than that which presides over the various departments of our own public works. Party politics, at all events, have had no part in them; for the system is planet-wide."
Why this is his "wildest" take
- Social Commentary via Astronomy: Lowell didn't just claim he saw lines; he used his observations to critique human bureaucracy. He projected a utopian, unified Martian government onto the planet’s surface, contrasting it with what he saw as the inefficient, bickering political climate of Earth.
- The "Artificial" Conclusion: He doubled down on the idea that because the lines were straight and spanned such vast distances, they could not be natural. He concluded that the Martians were forced to build these planet-wide irrigation systems to transport water from the polar ice caps to the equatorial regions to survive their planet’s inevitable drying.
- Scientific Legacy: While his observations were eventually debunked as optical illusions caused by his brain attempting to connect faint, disconnected surface features, his romanticized vision ignited the public imagination. It paved the way for the "Martian" archetype in science fiction, directly influencing H.G. Wells (The War of the Worlds) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (Barsoom series).
Lowell's 19th-century map of Mars, featuring the 'canals' he believed were artificial. Source: The Planetary Society / Percival Lowell's Map of Martian Canals
Monday, August 10, 2026
Orbiting
From Neil deGrasse Tyson - "NASA tracks 25,000 objects larger than a softball. The estimated population of particles bigger than a marble is approximately 500,000. The number larger than a pinhead exceeds 100,000,000. All moving at 18,000 miles per hour. What could go wrong?"
Giulio Cercato - 'Simple Feels'
Spring
The bird has come
to bring light to birth.
From every trill of his,
water is born.
And between water and light which unwind the air,
now the spring is inaugurated,
now the seed is aware of its own growing;
the root takes shape in the corolla,
at last the eyelids of the pollen open.
All this accomplished by a simple bird
from his perch on a green branch.
Birds
AI Gemini responded with:
That’s a poetic way to put it—and functionally, yes, absolutely.
While they aren’t wearing overalls or driving tractors, birds are essential, full-time stewards of the land. In ecology, they are often referred to as ecosystem engineers or primary dispersal agents.
Here is how our feathered friends manage the fields:
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1. Seed Sowing (Orchardists of the Wild)
If you’ve ever wondered how fruit trees, berry bushes, or oak forests plant themselves across miles of landscape, thank birds:
- Frugivores (Fruit Eaters): Birds like robins, waxwings, and blue jays consume fruits and berries whole. The seeds pass through their digestive tracts unharmed—often wrapped in a fresh dose of natural fertilizer—and land miles away from the parent plant.
- The Cachers: Birds like jays and nuthatches actively plant trees. A single Blue Jay can cache thousands of acorns in a single autumn, burying them in the soil for winter. Because they don't recover every single cache, tens of thousands of oak trees are planted every year purely by bird memory lapses.
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2. Natural Pest Control (Pesticide Specialists)
Long before synthetic pesticides, birds kept agricultural ecosystems from collapsing:
- Insectivores: Warblers, swallows, chickadees, and woodpeckers consume vast quantities of caterpillars, beetles, mosquitoes, and wood-boring larvae. A single pair of nesting chickadees will catch thousands of caterpillars just to raise one brood.
- Rodent Management: Owls, hawks, and kestrels act as natural crop guards, keeping populations of mice, voles, and destructive agricultural pests in check without harming the soil chemistry.
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3. Pollination (The Orchard Workers)
While bees get most of the credit, birds like hummingbirds and honeyeaters are crucial pollinators for thousands of flowering plants and fruit-bearing trees. Because birds can fly much farther and withstand cooler, windier weather than insects, they ensure cross-pollination across vast distances.
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4. Soil Tilling & Nutrient Distribution
- Tilling: Ground-foraging birds like towhees, thrashers, and sparrows constantly scratch through leaf litter and soil, aerating the earth, mixing organic matter, and helping seeds reach the soil layer.
- Nutrient Transport: Seabirds and waterfowl transfer massive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from aquatic environments back to terrestrial soil via their droppings (guano), essentially fertilizing coastal forest ecosystems.
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The Verdict
They clear the fields of pests, till the soil, pollinate the blooms, and plant the forests of tomorrow—all for the price of a few seeds or a warm nesting spot. Unspoken farmers indeed!
Decorator
"A decorator crab uses its own body, its own shell, as a setting for the arrangement of other life. Often its bodily arboretum contains not just sponge but corals and other cnidarians. These are all stationary forms-and inedible ones, from most points of view. The crab is protecting itself. The decoration provides a combination of concealment and discouragement to many hunters, especially to an octopus."
Peter Godfrey-Smith
Photo from Wikipedia Commons
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Friday, August 07, 2026
'Particle'
What To Read
AI Gemini replied:
You have built an incredible reading list! You are spot on with the connection you've noticed—the specific field bridging Joe Roman's work with ecology is called zoogeochemistry (how animal behavior, movement, and digestion drive Earth’s chemical and nutrient cycles), blended with cognitive ethology (how animals experience and think about the world).
It is a fascinating genre that sits right at the intersection of animal behavior, philosophy, and global Earth systems.
Here are three stellar books that build directly on what you’ve been enjoying:
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1. 'An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us' By Ed Yong
- Why it fits: If you loved Metazoa and Thinking Like A Wolf, this is the ultimate companion. Yong explores the concept of the Umwelt—the unique sensory bubble each creature inhabits. From how electric fish map murky waters to how magnetic fields guide migrating birds, it changes how you view the perceptual worlds of other creatures.
2. 'Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet' By Ben Goldfarb
- Why it fits: This is a direct spiritual successor to Joe Roman’s 'Eat, Poop, Die'. Goldfarb dives into "road ecology," examining how human infrastructure fragments the vital movement pathways of wildlife—and how innovative scientists are redesigning landscapes (like wildlife overpasses and underwater culverts) to reconnect natural nutrient and animal corridors.
3. 'Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest' By Suzanne Simard
- Why it fits: Simard is the forest ecologist whose research proved that trees communicate, share nutrients, and warn one another of threats through vast underground fungal networks ("the Wood Wide Web"). It captures that same awe-inspiring sense of deep ecological interconnectivity found across all three of your recent reads.
Shrimp
Monterey Bay Aquarium: Meet the Skeleton Shrimp
"If you can put aside their alien appearance, skeleton shrimp are fascinating creatures. Unlike most of their cousins in the order Amphipoda (which actually do resemble tiny shrimp), the skeleton shrimps (or “caprellids”) are specialized for clinging rather than swimming in marine habitats." Source
Photo from Wikipedia Commons
Neil
Thursday, August 06, 2026
Flivverboob
Alessandro Pinto
Alessandro Pinto is a contemporary Italian composer, musician, and visual artist.
On Spotify: Alessandro Pinto
His work is quite stunning. Two of Alessandro's paintings
Merwin
Let me imagine that we will come again
when we want to and it will be spring
we will be no older than we ever were
the worn griefs will have eased like the early cloud
through which the morning slowly comes to itself
and the ancient defenses against the dead
will be done with and left to the dead at last
the light will be as it is now in the garden
that we have made here these years together
of our long evenings and astonishment
Wednesday, August 05, 2026
Fare
Farewell = Fare + well
Fare (from Old English faran): Means "to go, travel, journey, or proceed."
Well (from Old English wel): Means "in a good, satisfactory, or healthy manner."
Farewell = literally ordering or wishing someone to "go well," "proceed successfully," or "get along in good health."
Medically Assisted Death Is Now Legal In New York
Health.NY.gov: Medical Aid in Dying
Effective August 5, 2026, Medical Aid in Dying is available to terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live under Public Health Law Article 28-F.Tick Tock
AI Gemini wrote:
Here are 6 succinct and salient facts about ticks:
1. They Are Arachnids, Not Insects
Ticks have eight legs as adults and nymphs. They belong to the class Arachnida, making them more closely related to spiders, scorpions, and mites than to true insects.
2. They Don't Jump or Fly
Ticks cannot jump or fly. To find a host, they climb to the tips of tall grass or shrubs and stretch their front legs outward—a behavior called questing—waiting to snag onto an animal or human as they brush past.
3. Their Saliva Contains Painkillers
A tick’s saliva contains a cocktail of natural anesthetics, anti-inflammatories, and anticoagulants. This numbs the host's skin and prevents blood from clotting, allowing the tick to feed undetected for several days.
4. Disease Transmission Is Rarely Instant
For most tick-borne pathogens, including the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, a tick generally needs to remain attached for 24 to 48 hours before the infection transfers to the host. Quick removal significantly lowers infection risk. (Note - Jim here - experts tell me that disease transmission can happen within one hour)
5. One Species Can Trigger a Red Meat Allergy
A bite from the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum) can introduce a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into your bloodstream. In some individuals, this triggers an immune reaction known as Alpha-gal Syndrome, creating a severe allergy to red meat (beef, pork, and lamb).
6. They Are Remarkably Resilient
Ticks can survive months—and occasionally years—between blood meals. They can also endure freezing conditions, survive under water for long stretches, and even make it through a cold wash cycle in the laundry (a hot dryer run, however, dehydrates and kills them quickly).
Porky Pig's Full Name
In the classic 1936 Looney Tunes short 'Plane Dippy', Porky gives his full name as:
Porky Cornelius Washington Otis Lincoln Abner Aloysius Casper Jefferson Philbert Horatius Narcissus Pig
Image from Wikipedia Commons
Shite
Etymonline.com: Origin and history of shit
The underlying notion in this word history is "separation" from the body (compare Latin excrementum, from excernere "to separate," and Old English scearn "dung, muck," from scieran "to cut, shear;" see sharn).Neruda
Water by Pablo Neruda
Everything on the earth bristled, the bramble
pricked and the green thread
nibbled away, the petal fell, falling
until the only flower was the falling itself.
Water is another matter,
has no direction but its own bright grace,
runs through all imaginable colors,
takes limpid lessons
from stone,
and in those functionings plays out
the unrealized ambitions of the foam.
Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Fish
Genengnews.com: Transmissible Cancer Discovered in Freshwater Fish
The scientists’ studies showed that the cancer cells behave more like parasites than conventional tumors, moving from fish to fish.Faith Bacon - A Lady With Fans - 1940s
Live Longer By Getting Up From The Floor Without Using Your Hands
Monday, August 03, 2026
Here We Go Again
Huffington Post: COVID Cases Are Increasing In These Areas. Here’s What Experts Want You To Know. Certain areas are seeing a notable increase. by Jillian Wilson
"I was looking at the CDC data... and it does look like they’re starting to see an uptick in COVID that they’re finding in wastewater testing in several states, primarily in the South and the West Coast"
Saturn
Junk
Dying satellites are another common detritus of this space age. A good number of the roughly 16,000 satellites in orbit will ultimately come back to Earth.
Divinyls - 'Only Lonely' - 1987
Protention
I asked AI Gemini the following question. If you take the time to read this, you may very well relate.
My question - For an example, a person might have an event coming up in the future that is of great importance. It could be something critical like a marriage, or surgery perhaps. Before the event happens, the person may frequently think about the upcoming event. They might visualize the event perhaps. They may experience anxiety or some type of anticipatory feeling surrounding the event. But, now here's the critical thing, when the event is occurring, the surgery is happening, the wedding is occurring, there is a sense in the person's mind that there is some type of extraordinary connection to how it was thought about in the past. While it is occurring, the event is in process, there is a sense of, okay we're here, this was it all along. Is there a reference to this feeling as the event is occurring, in literature, or science, or psychology?
AI Gemini responded:
That specific feeling—stepping directly into a long-projected moment and realizing, "Here we are; the internal simulation has finally become real"—is a profound human experience. It sits right at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, and literature.
It isn't just a casual thought; it's a distinct shift in how your brain processes time, memory, and perception.
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1. Philosophy: Husserl's "Fulfillment of Protention"
In philosophy—specifically in phenomenology (the study of conscious experience)—the founder Edmund Husserl explored this exact dynamic.
Protention: The mind’s act of projecting forward into the future (your weeks or months of mental pre-playing, visual rehearsals, or anxiety).
Primal Impression: The live, raw present moment happening right now.
Husserl described the moment an anticipated event occurs as the fulfillment (Erfüllung) of protention. Prior to the event, your mind holds an "empty" expectation (leer). When you stand at the altar or lie down on the operating table, that empty mental template is suddenly filled with sensory reality. The surreal feeling you're describing is the exact second your consciousness registers that the long-standing protention has collapsed into the primal impression.
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2. Neuroscience & Psychology: "Episodic Future Thinking" & Match-Detection
In cognitive psychology, the act of mentally visualizing an upcoming event is called Episodic Future Thinking (EFT).
When the event finally happens, two major psychological processes occur simultaneously:
- A. Pattern Matching and "Postdiction"
When you repeatedly visualize a wedding or a surgery, your brain creates a detailed episodic model. When you enter the live scenario, your brain’s temporal lobe performs a rapid match-detection between the incoming perceptual data and your stored internal model. Memory researcher Dr. Anne Cleary highlights a related phenomenon called postdictive confirmation: as the event unfolds, the intense familiarity generated by your past mental simulations makes the present feel as though it was directly pre-scripted.
- B. The Collapse of Anticipatory Emotion
During the waiting period, your brain experiences anticipatory anxiety or arousal. Your prefrontal cortex is continuously running simulations under high uncertainty.
The Neuro-Shift: The moment the event starts, uncertainty drops to zero. The brain immediately turns off its simulation engines and redirects all bandwidth to processing real-time sensory data. This sudden drop in anticipatory strain creates a quiet, grounding sense of clarity: "The waiting is over; we are in it now."
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3. Narrative Theory & Literature: Teleological Realization
In literary theory and narrative analysis, this experience is often framed through teleology — the idea that events move toward a specific end or purpose.
Anagnorisis (Recognition): Originally Aristotle's term for the moment a character recognizes their true situation or destiny. In modern literature, it describes the quiet shock of entering a long-foreshadowed moment.
Temporal Collapse: Modernist writers like Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and Thomas Mann frequently wrote about the "threshold feeling" where projected internal time collides with physical, real-time existence. They often described it as the sensation of stepping inside a painting you have spent years studying from afar.
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Summary of What You Are Feeling
That uncanny sense of connection isn't an illusion; it's your brain registering the exact alignment between internal narrative (what was imagined) and external reality (what is happening). It is the sensation of an empty mental expectation being filled by live experience.
To explore how the mind builds and experiences these forward projections in real-time, [A Quick Dive into Husserl's Philosophy of Time-Consciousness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlLs4ieUTF4) breaks down how our consciousness blends memory, present perception, and future anticipation into a single seamless experience.
Planets
From AI Gemini:
While scientists don't have definitive proof of alien life yet, the math makes it overwhelmingly likely that Earth isn't the only life-bearing world.
To see why, you have to look at the numbers through two lenses: the law of truly large numbers and what we know about habitability.
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1. Narrowing Down "20 Sextillion"
Not all 20 sextillion planets can support life. Most are boiling gas giants, frozen ice rocks, or worlds whipped by deadly radiation. But even if we filter down aggressively to find only "Earth-like" candidates:
1. The Habitable Zone: Planets that orbit their star at the right distance for liquid water to exist (not too hot, not too cold).
2. Rocky Surface: Planets with a solid crust and a protective atmosphere.
Even conservative estimates suggest that roughly 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 stars has a rocky planet in its habitable zone.
That means out of 20 sextillion planets, there could easily be 2 to 4 sextillion potentially habitable Earth-sized worlds (2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) in the observable universe.
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2. The Power of Large Numbers
To argue that Earth is the only planet with life out of those 2 sextillion candidates, you would have to prove that the odds of life emerging on a suitable planet are lower than 1 in 2 sextillion.
Scientifically, those odds are absurdly improbable because:
The ingredients are everywhere: The organic molecules (carbon, amino acids, complex hydrocarbons) and water needed for life are abundantly scattered throughout interstellar space, nebulae, and asteroids.
It happened fast on Earth: Geologic evidence shows that basic, single-celled life emerged on Earth almost as soon as the planet cooled down enough for liquid water to pool. If life were an exceedingly rare, one-in-a-sextillion fluke, we would expect it to have taken a vast amount of time to randomly click together here.
Because chemistry works the same way everywhere in the cosmos, the probability that life only happened once across sextillions of trials is virtually zero.
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3. Simple Life vs. Intelligent Life
When astronomers say it’s statistically certain life exists elsewhere, they are usually talking about simple life (microbes, bacteria, basic single-celled or algae-like organisms).
Microbial life dominated Earth for nearly 3 billion years before complex multicellular life ever evolved. Microbes are exceptionally tough and can thrive in extreme environments (hydrothermal vents, deep under ice, inside acidic lakes).
Intelligent, spacefaring civilizations are a totally different question. Even if simple life is scattered everywhere, the jump to intelligent tool-users might be a hyper-rare evolutionary bottleneck.
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The Catch: The Universe Is Too Big
If life is almost certainly out there, why haven't we found it? (This is the famous Fermi Paradox).
The issue isn't whether alien life exists; it's distance. The universe is so unimaginably huge that another life-bearing planet could be 50,000 light-years away in our own galaxy, or billions of light-years away in another galaxy entirely.
So while it is practically a mathematical guarantee that life exists somewhere among those 20 sextillion planets, whether humanity will ever be close enough to detect it or make contact is an entirely different story.