If you love science fiction or space exploration (or both), you’ve probably encountered the Fermi Paradox – to paraphrase crudely, if there’s alien life out there, why haven’t we met any yet? Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams posts a newly proposed solution based on economics, and then rebutts it with a slightly more optimistic (if stunningly far-sighted) response of his own. Who’d have thought there could be an upside to your home star dying?