Scientists also see flying sheep...
Posted on 01/14/2005 2:19:11 PM PST by Las Vegas Dave
Decades ago, it was physicist Enrico Fermi who pondered the issue of extraterrestrial civilizations with fellow theorists over lunch, generating the famous quip: "Where are they?" That question later became central to debates about the cosmological census count of other star folk and possible extraterrestrial (ET) visitors from afar.
Fermi’s brooding on the topic was later labeled "Fermi’s paradox". It is a well-traveled tale from the 1950’s when the scientist broached the subject in discussions with colleagues in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Thoughts regarding the probability of earthlike planets, the rise of highly advanced civilizations "out there", and interstellar travel -- these remain fodder for trying to respond to Fermi’s paradox even today.
Now a team of American scientists note that recent astrophysical discoveries suggest that we should find ourselves in the midst of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. Moreover, they argue it is a mistake to reject all UFO reports since some evidence for the theoretically-predicted extraterrestrial visitors might just be found there.
The researchers make their proposal in the January/February 2005 issue of the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (JBIS).
Curious situation
Pick up any good science magazine and you’re sure to see the latest in head-scratching ideas about superstring theory, wormholes, or the stretching of spacetime itself. Meanwhile, extrasolar planetary detection is on the verge of becoming mundane.
"We are in the curious situation today that our best modern physics and astrophysics theories predict that we should be experiencing extraterrestrial visitation, yet any possible evidence of such lurking in the UFO phenomenon is scoffed at within our scientific community," contends astrophysicist Bernard Haisch.
Haisch along with physicists James Deardorff, Bruce Maccabee and Harold Puthoff make their case in the JBIS article: "Inflation-Theory Implications for Extraterrestrial Visitation".
The scientists point to two key discoveries made by Australian astronomers and reported last year that there is a "galactic habitable zone" in our Milky Way Galaxy. And more importantly that Earth’s own star, the Sun, is relatively young in comparison to the average star in this zone -- by as much as a billion years.
Therefore, the researchers explain in their JBIS article that an average alien civilization would be far more advanced and have long since discovered Earth. Additionally, other research work on the supposition underlying the Big Bang -- known as the theory of inflation -- shores up the prospect, they advise, that our world is immersed in a much larger extraterrestrial civilization.
Point-to-point distances
Given billion-year advanced physics, might not buzzing around the galaxy be possible?
Even today superstring theory hypothesizes other dimensions... which could be habitable Universes adjacent to our own, the researchers speculate. It might even be possible to get around the speed of light limit by moving in and out of these dimensions.
"What we have done is somewhat of a breakthrough," Haisch told SPACE.com. "We have pulled together various recent discoveries and theoretical issues that collectively point to the strong probability that we should be in the midst of one or more huge extraterrestrial civilizations," he said.
Haisch said that superstring dimensions and wormhole and spacetime stretching possibilities address the "can't get here from there" objection often argued in view of the interstellar, point-to-point distances involved. Also, diffusion models predict that even a single civilization could spread across the Galaxy in a tiny fraction of the age of the Galaxy - even at sub-light speeds, he said.
ET signature in the data
Can the scientific community bring itself to consider any evidence coming from mysterious sightings of strange things by the public?
In large measure, the scientific community seemingly has eyed ET visitation as far from being serious stuff to cogitate over. Why so?
"The dismissal has several causes, all reinforcing each other," Haisch responded. "Most of the observations are probably misinterpretations, delusions and hoaxes. I have seen people get confused by Venus or even Sirius when it is flashing colors low in the sky under the right conditions. Having been turned off by this, most scientists never bother to look any further, and so are simply blissfully ignorant that there may be more to it," he said.
Deardorff, the lead author of the JBIS article, points out in a press statement: "It would take some humility for the scientific community to suspend its judgment and take at least some of the high quality reports seriously enough to investigate…but I hope we can bring ourselves to do that."
According to Haisch, there is a motivation not just for scientific tolerance of the UFO issue, but a strong scientific prediction that there ought to be some genuine ET signature in the data.
"This potentially changes the relationship of the UFO phenomenon to science in a significant way. It takes away the ‘not invented here’ prejudice, pointing out that a ‘yes’ to ET visitation is exactly what side our current physics and astrophysics theories would come down on as the most likely situation," Haisch concluded.
bttt for later read. :-)
How are you my friend?
Pinging the list.
Thanks for asking, I am anxiously awaiting more photos fron the Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan.
LOL... no that's not flying sheep, that's flying grants and funding.
Here's $.02 from a scientific ignoramus.
On the one hand, this has always seemed to me to be a fatal objection, at least to physically traveling from one planet to another with lifespans we are accustomed to.
OTOH, everyone used to know that heavier-than-air flight was impossible. So who's to say?
According to the Drake equation, there should be about 100k inhabited planets in our galaxy, give or take a huge bundle. But the assumption of the equation is that the planet would have a 1/100 chance of surviving the evolutionary process. If you study any of the creationist/evolutionist threads here on FR, you'll quickly discover that it is acknowledged the chances of a polypeptide forming from a lower amino acid are 1 in "trillions & trillions", to use a former liberal scientist's mannerism (Carl Sagan). Therefore, plugging in that acknowledged trillions number back into the Drake equation, we come up with very much less than 1 chance in 100 Million GALAXIES that life would survive the evolutionary process.
Can I sell you a bridge along with that SETI baloney? I'll be generous and promise a BILLION times more chance of winning than what the Drake equation would give. Just send me one dollar and I promise you $10Billion if you hit my lottery jackpot with those odds. Just one dollar. Please.
Not likely,
There's a huge sign just outside the solar system that warns ETs that humans are in this solar system. They steer clear - way clear.
Alien trash of the galaxy is the rumor.
uh, you'd have to have a speedo with marking like 1C, 2C,3C, etc., but yeah, why not?
Two words: Prime Directive.
They are already here. In fact they held a convention in Boston last July.
But what...who....and why?:
" The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing....[1 Thessalonians 2:9-10]"
Uh, yeah: small matter of engineering, eh old chap?
How about cracking the question of whether the constants in physics really are constant, and whether no information moves faster than light, before declaring "problem solved."
Because, to the best of our knowledge, no information has ever moved faster than the speed of light, since the Universe was born. No matter how long you work on the math, some numbers never change.
Good post. Looks like something both intelligent creationists and evolutionists here at freerepublic can agree on(there are both - maybe not everywhere, but here, for sure).
Extraterrestrial conscious beings with greatly advanced technology may have seeded planets throughout most galaxies. The nature of conscious being is to understand nature to control nature for their own benefit and to benefit other conscious beings. Creating evermore advanced technologies. The third macro component of existence -- matter and energy the first two -- is consciousness--conscious beings.
Two words: Prime Directive.
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