
Originally Posted by
Colin Robinson
The speed of light may well be a hard limit. BUT considering that the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is about 100 thousand light years, a civilisation spreading thru the galaxy at just one tenth of the speed of light would get from one side to the other in about one million years. And one million years is a very short time compared to the age of the universe, which as mentioned in the OP is about 13.8 billion years.
But most of that time, conditions may not have been suitable for life.
We also don't know how often life begins, and how often life becomes intelligence capable of interstellar travel. After all, Earth life did fine before we came along, and could have gone on without us just fine too.
"I'm planning to live forever. So far, that's working perfectly." Steven Wright