The SETI project has been listening for alien radio signals since about 1960. The Wow! signal notwithstanding, the simple fact is that there are no results to show after 45 years of effort. Some say that the SETI approach may need re-thinking. 
A new paper by Milan M. Cirkovic and Robert J. Bradbury puts forth the suggestion that SETI searchers have been targetting unproductive locales. Instead of looking at nearby stars similar to the earth’s, SETI should instead look farther afield, to the outer reaches of the galaxy. Why? Because that’s where supposed alien super-computers would be able to operate most effectively, from a thermodynamic perspective. If this new theory passes peer review, SETI may well “re-tailor” its search engine. Gadgetmanic commentary: see also Stephen Webb in “If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens � Where is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox”. Author Webb presents 50 solutions to that question, clustered into 3 categories : (1)-They Are Here (2)-They Exist But Have Not Yet Communicated and (3)-They Do Not Exist. The comment we have is that we used to believe in (2) above, but are now leaning towards (3), i.e. there’s nobody out there. Galactic Gradients, Postbiological Evolution and the Apparent Failure of SETI – by Milan M. Cirkovic and Robert J. Bradbury If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens � Where is Everybody? by Stephen Webb ISBN 0-387-95501-1
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I think the Milky Way is sort of a remote corner of the universe. Imagine an alien landing in Antarctica and asking, “If Earth is teeming with humans, where are they?”
Maybe the alien supercomputers aren’t so super after all. Or maybe they’re swamped with spam.