Aliens Wouldn't Need Warp Drives to Take over an Entire Galaxy

> but it’s important to remember that the universe is also very, very old.

Really? I think it is quite young if contemporary theories are to be believed. Nearly 14 billion years? Timelines suggest evolution of life on our planet began 4.2 billion years ago.

They found planets double the age of earth, but they are around metal poor stars that formed shortly after the big bang. There weren't heavier elements around at that time, these were the first suns to cook them up.

So if life needs these elements too, it would need at least a second generation star. There isn't really time for that many iterations of this. Maybe future galactic civilization will find all these ape like bones everywhere, if things play out in our favor.