Edward Snowden has a really good theory as to why we've never heard from aliens

Tech Insider ^ | September 18, 2015 | Kelly Dickerson

[2ndDivisionVet]

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden has some strong opinions on communications — even when those communications are coming from aliens.

The former intelligence-agency contractor turned fugitive was an unexpected guest on famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk podcast on September 18. And, inevitably, the two got to talking about extraterrestrials.

Snowden became an infamous household name in 2013 when he leaked classified documents divulging the government's top-secret mass-surveillance program, which involved collecting personal information on Americans via phone records without their knowledge.

When the news broke, the US charged him with theft and espionage, and he's now living in Russia where he has asylum.

But Tyson scored an interview with him in New York City. How? Snowden rigged a robot that he can control from Russia, and rolled right into Tyson's office at the Hayden Planetarium in New York with his face displayed on the screen.

The conversation turned to encryption and cybersecurity, but here's where an astrophysicist differs from a journalist: Tyson's line of questioning quickly turned to how encryption relates to communication with ... aliens.

Tyson asked Snowden if a highly intelligent alien civilization might be communicating with encrypted messages. And Snowden had an unsettling answer.

First, Snowden said, let's assume that most advanced societies eventually realize that they need to encrypt their communication in order to protect it. This could also be the reason why we've never heard from other civilizations — their messages may have just been melding into the background static of the universe.

Here's Snowden's full answer, from the StarTalk podcast:

So if you have an alien civilization trying to listen for other civilizations, or our civilization trying to listen for aliens, there's only one small period in the development of their society when all of their communication will be sent via the most primitive and most unprotected means.

So when we think about everything that we're hearing through our satellites or everything that they're hearing from our civilization (if there are indeed aliens out there), all of their communications are encrypted by default.

So what we are hearing, that's actually an alien television show or, you know, a phone call ... is indistinguishable to us from cosmic microwave background radiation.

So it could be possible there are alien messages constantly hitting our satellites, and we just don't recognize them because they're so heavily encrypted. (The cosmic microwave background radiation that Snowden mentions is thermal radiation throughout the universe left over from the Big Bang. It basically looks and sounds like static to us puny humans.)

Of course, that's assuming an alien civilization has the same security issues that we have here on Earth, and they need to worry about protecting their communication system from their alien governments, Tyson jokes.

Snowden agreed that aliens might be a little more politically sophisticated than us.

Listen to the entire StarTalk conversation with Edward Snowden >>

[FreedomStar3028]

Only if you didn’t want to be found. Which would mean you would only not want to be found, if you had been found before and your planet bombed into near extinction.

Otherwise, the only reason to send a message into deep space is to get a response. If you encrypted that you would be an idiot.

This isn’t an interesting theory at all, it’s a nonsensical load of crap. You wouldn’t encrypt messages.....unless you had to.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I figure the aliens don’t contact us is because we are boring to them. Useless

[jonrick46]

Hiding ones communications keeps other dangerous civilizations from coming after you and exterminating your species to colonize your planet.

[The Duke]

Additionally, aliens might communicate via gravity waves rather than electromagnetic waves (the ol’ AM vs FM scenario).

[faithhopecharity]

the intelligent ET’s will never communicate with us
or let us know they’re out there

they’ve already heard O’s speeches
and they’ve enveloped us in a giant intergalactic quarantine baggie
to protect themselves from contamination

[Leaning Right]

I’m surprised Tyson didn’t confiscate, and then deactivate, Snowden’s robot. Robots of that type are not regulated, and so very well might contribute to global warming. Tyson, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem!

[Jonty30]

I think even primitive societies, as long as the society in question has potential, would be of interest to an advanced species.

[djf]

I have somewhat always believed something like this.

The period of time you could actually “catch” a civilization is pretty much when they are generating radio signals like our own AM and FM bands.

It makes sense for us to listen at those frequencies most of all, because when they get higher, more advanced tech, anything becomes possible, frequency jumping, etc.

[FreedomStar3028]

Plus, the only way alien messages would be bouncing off our satellites is if they are super high powered(all the nuclear reactors in the world) narrow band laser beams more advanced then anything we have. AND POINTED AT US. If there are alien radio signals out there, they are so dispersed by range that it wouldn’t matter or not.

There can only be 2 reasons we haven’t heard from intelligent life elsewhere.

1.) Space is way way way way way too big. It’s simply not possible to send a understandable message over dozens of light years, well I take that back, probably possible. But you would have to have a habitable planet within dozens of lightyears(there might be one, probably none). So you’re talking hundreds, thousands, millions of light years. Nope not gonna get that phone call.

or

2.) There aren’t any intelligent species.

Aliens WOULD NOT , encrypt their messages if they were trying to contact “EARTH” from light - years away. They just wouldn’t.

[tumblindice]

From dust to dessert, from rulers of a planet to ingredients in the Kanamits’ soup.

[okie01]

You wouldn’t encrypt messages.....unless you had to

Isn't there an element of "natural" encryption here, though?

So far as the aliens are concerned, our signals are in a foreign language -- even if they are not encrypted. And vice versa...

[bluejean]

“Aliens WOULD NOT , encrypt their messages if they were trying to contact “EARTH” from light - years away.”

BUT they MIGHT encrypt their messages if they only wanted responses from a civilization capable of decrypting their messages. All lower life forms need not reply. Just sayin’

[FreedomStar3028]

There is a language barrier. So I suppose you could call that natural encryption, but I disagree.

If you got a message from an alien race. You would know it was from an alien race. You might not understand it, but you would know that it wasn’t from Earth. Encryption just keeps the message private. But if an alien race were trying to communicate with us, they would do it in mathematics, or some physics that any intelligent race that could receive the signal could understand. Like the Voyager probe.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” as long as the society in question has potential,”

They doubt we have any potential.

[I Hired Craig Livingstone]

I hear from aliens every damn day... they blast ranchera music for their beat up 92 Civics.

[FreedomStar3028]

But that would be contradictory to the point of finding intelligent life. Unless you already know whats out there. Then why send anything?

That’s why SETI sends signals and looks for signals across the spectrum.

You wouldn’t encrypt a signal if you were looking for intelligent life. So you send it out, something comes back and wipes out your entire civilization. Next time.....what would you do, you encrypt it, no one hears it and it’s pointless. You don’t and you get bombed back into the stone age again.

[onedoug]

Or, there are no aliens to listen to.

[sten]

we aren’t searching for messages intended for us. we’re trying to eavesdrop on normal communications... because anyone trying to find random civilizations would have to send signals in all directions in the hopes of finding someone.

this has always been my issue with SETI.

the amount of energy needed to send an interstellar message would be fairly significant in order to avoid dissipating over the vast distance. as such, in order to be efficient, anyone communicating like that would do so in a very tight beam. eavesdropping on such a beam would have a very low probability.

btw, snowden’s concept that the signal would be indistinguishable from background radiation doesn’t work as such energy is extremely weak and wouldn’t travel very far once it hit any kind of obstruction.

as such, encrypted or not, if we happened to be in line with the transmission... it’d be very powerful and would definitely stick out.

the trick is getting in line at the right moment

[skr]

Or there just aren’t any space aliens.