Are aliens ignoring us? Maybe we're already their captives in a 'galactic zoo'

FoxNews.com ^ | Mar 27, 2019 | Mindy Weisberger Senior Writer | LiveScience

[ETL]

One explanation that scientists explored at the METI meeting, is that aliens are aware of Earth and are observing us as we would observe animals kept in a zoo, METI President Douglas Vakoch said in a workshop.

If this is the case, humans should increase their efforts to create messages capable of reaching our "keepers," to demonstrate our intelligence, Vakoch explained.

For example, if a captive zebra were to suddenly tap out a pattern of prime numbers, humans would be required to re-evaluate their understanding of zebra cognition, "and we would be compelled to respond," according to EarthSky.

But what if we're not part of a vast alien zoo — what if, instead, humanity has been evaluated by alien civilizations, and subsequently "quarantined" from our galactic neighbors?

It's possible that extraterrestrials are actively isolating us from contact for our own good, because interacting with aliens would be "culturally disruptive" for Earth, meeting co-chair Jean-Pierre Rospars, honorary research director at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), said in a workshop.

Of course, it's also likely that we haven't heard from aliens because they're locked under a layer of ice in subsurface oceans ; trapped on massive "super-Earth" worlds by gravity's intense pull; or dead because their advanced civilizations have already destroyed themselves — as humanity might — through runaway consumption of their planet's natural resources.

[SunkenCiv]

Intergalactic Touring Band - Universal Zoo

[SunkenCiv]

https://www.google.com/search?q=METI+President+Douglas+Vakoch

http://meti.org/en/board/douglas-vakoch

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B071F6R6JY