How Rapidly Could Intelligent Life Colonize the Galaxy—And Why We Haven't Met Them

This paper models how rapidly intelligent civilizations could colonize galaxies, showing that interstellar expansion might occur almost instantaneously on cosmic timescales. Rather than resolving the Fermi Paradox, this modeling actually sharpens it: if cosmic spread is inevitable and swift, why do we observe cosmic silence? The research suggests that faster colonization rates paradoxically deepen the mystery, implying some fundamental barrier must prevent universal civilization.