Starshot ... Not? Get a Reality Check on the Search for Alien Civilizations

Fortunately, the real-world search for signs of extraterrestrial civilizations doesn't have to deal with an alien armada like the one that's on its way to Earth in "3 Body Problem," the Netflix streaming series based on Chinese sci-fi author Cixin Liu's award-winning novels. But the trajectory of the search can have almost as many twists and turns as …