Seth Shostak has a post up at HuffPost asking what we should say if we ever find ourselves in conversation with aliens. Apparently this was the topic of a recent conference at the SETI institute. Before commenting on Shostak's main thesis, I think he makes an assertion that deserves scrutiny. A decade of research by … Continue reading How should we communicate with aliens? Should we communicate?
Tag: SETI
Find alien civilizations by their pollution?
There's been speculation that advanced telescopes may be able to find hallmarks of alien life by looking for oxygen in the spectrum of light reflected off of exoplanets, but this article suggests using the James Web Space Telescope to look for pollution: Pollution on other worlds may show advanced alien life - space - 27 June … Continue reading Find alien civilizations by their pollution?
How far away is the closest extraterrestrial civilization?
First, let me be clear on what I'm talking about: intelligent aliens with an advanced civilization. This is a different question than extraterrestrial life in general. For life in general, particularly simple life, I'd be surprised if we'd have to look more than a hundred light years from Earth. (We may know the answer to … Continue reading How far away is the closest extraterrestrial civilization?
Beasts or gods; why a War Of The Worlds is very unlikely
One of the scenarios that is often played out in science fiction is what would happen if we encountered an alien civilization. Often, we are portrayed as defending Earth from an alien invasion or fighting battles with the aliens in a war. Another scenario, commonly found in more culturally introspective fiction, focuses on what our … Continue reading Beasts or gods; why a War Of The Worlds is very unlikely
Why extraterrestrial civilizations may be exceedingly rare
There's been a lot of news lately about the estimate of habitable planets in our galaxy. It sounds like there may be 40 billion planets in the habitable zones around their stars. This is cool stuff! The nearest one might be only 12 light years away. It's very tempting from this news, to conclude that … Continue reading Why extraterrestrial civilizations may be exceedingly rare
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