Intelligent Aliens Could Be Found by 2040

Space.com ^ | February 10, 2014 | Mike Wall

[12th_Monkey]

The first detection of intelligent extraterrestrial life will likely come within the next quarter-century, a prominent alien hunter predicts.

By 2040 or so, astronomers will have scanned enough star systems give themselves a great shot of discovering alien-produced electromagnetic signals, said Seth Shostak of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Calif.

"I think we'll find E.T. within two dozen years using these sorts of experiments," Shostak said here Thursday (Feb. 6) during a talk at the 2014 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) symposium here at Stanford University

"Instead of looking at a few thousand star systems, which is the tally so far, we will have looked at maybe a million star systems" 24 years from now, Shostak said. "A million might be the right number to find something."

(check out the rest of the article at the link)

[Vaquero]

I've heard Seth Shostak, Michio Kaku and the always brilliant Stephen Hawking caution along the same lines. Too serve man was a cookbook. But soylent green could be eaten right outta the box!

[cripplecreek]

Water is one of the most common resources in the universe.

[RedMDer]

FReepers! Charge!
Two percent a day keeps the 404 away.


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[Buckeye McFrog]

What is that, John Kerry’s prep school yearbook photo?

[lurk]

Some states are giving them in-state tuition rates at the universities, but this is no guarantee that the aliens will be intelligent in 2040.

[Norm Lenhart]

I’ll take that one... With a question of my own ;)

In 300 ish years time, Earth/humans have gone from steam power to electricity to nuclear to apparent cold fusion.

In under 1000 we have gone from burning people at the stake for even discussing cosmic matters to a human created object leaving the solar system.

In 5000, we have gone from mud huts, caves and primitive stone structures to 1/4 mile skyscrapers built in a couple years. We are on the verge of printing entire houses on site via 3D printing.

We have come incredibly far. But on the universe timescale of billions of years, our existance as a species barely totals even a fraction of a percent. The above is something I think we all can go to any library/google and read as factual.

Now, considering all the above, what makes anyone think we could ecen understand the messages/emissions of a sentient species that had literally billions of years of a head start on us? As Clarke said, (paraphrased) Any sufficiently advanced tech would seem like magic.

IMO, we are looking for ‘answers’ within our understanding, but there is a very real possibility that we don’t even understand what questions we should be asking.

[cripplecreek]

Really great freebie program that includes NASA Eyes on the exoplanets. http://eyes.nasa.gov/index.html It shows you where the exoplanets have been discovered. You can zoom in on a representation of what the systems are believed to be like.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Ack! Ack ack!

[12th_Monkey]

“Who said anything about sterile planets?” Hardcore christians dude. Only life is here and nowhere else, sterile....dig it?

Not knocking them if thats what they want to believe. I can go either way on this subject.

[12th_Monkey]

“Who said anything about sterile planets?” Hardcore christians dude. Only life is here and nowhere else, sterile....dig it?

Not knocking them if thats what they want to believe. I can go either way on this subject.

[12th_Monkey]

Ha! pictures great

[12th_Monkey]

Now a days, I doubt anything will induce intellegence, alien or otherwise.

[ontap]

Hardcore christians dude. Only life is here and nowhere else, sterile....dig it?

I don't where you find all these hardcore Christians "DUDE" but being a Christian I don't believe that and know no one who does. I'm sure they exist but you could say the same about just about every other group out there.

[12th_Monkey]

In my experience suring board for the past few years that christians are for the most part totally against the idea of any kind of anlien life. So if your not, then your the first.

Again, I don’t have a problem with folks being that way.

[TexasFreeper2009]

In my opinion no one ever asks the right question when it come to intelligent life elsewhere.

IF intelligent life exists elsewhere (that is more advanced than us)... HOW would it hide?

Because it seems to me that if we can prove easily that life HAS to exist elsewhere... then it MUST be purposely hiding. Which leads one to ask some serious questions like... is dark matter (the 90% of the universe that is missing) ... simply alien civilizations that have found a way to hide themselves?

[JimSEA]

If you discover intelligent life forms through their transmission of electromagnetic communications, then we have been “discoverable” for only some 112 years. So the maximum distance our “signs of life” could have been detected is 112 light years, not far at all. During those 112 years, there have been several occasions when civilization could have thrown itself back into a Stone Age.

Complex cellular life has been around for two billion years, multicellular life for one billion years, intelligent life for 1.5 to .2 million years depending on your definition of intelligent.

Considering the odds for and against anyone discovering us, at least through our electromagnetic communications, are so slim as to be non- existent, we’re a lot better off looking for planets with the conditions for life as we know it than listening for alien transmissions.

[ontap]

I assure you I am not the first in any way. Not saying there isn’t but I’m 66 yrs. old and don’t know any!! There is no scriptural foundation for that belief that I know of.

[Ransomed]

I read a sci-fi book where a high % of all the red dwarfs we detect are in fact much larger stars behind dyson spheres. Also if you take stars and move them between the galaxies and put them in d. spheres I’m not sure how you would detect them.

FReegards

[SampleMan]

The Fermi paradox might be easily solvable. Although theoretically possible to colonize the galaxy at current speeds of space travel, it is not logical to do so and goes counter to any risk-reward model. Who volunteers to spend their entire life riding in coach and die in space on the chance that your descendents 100 generations down might find something better?

If UFOs are alien, then they are likely drones, scouting us out as a lifeboat for when their star dies.

[cripplecreek]

We are on the verge of printing entire houses on site via 3D printing.

I personally believe that 3D printing has the potential to lead to a great leap in real serious space exploration when combined with resources mined from asteroids. For us to really move out into our solar system requires ships much larger than can be launched to orbit. We just aren't going to do much exploration with crews of 3 to 5 men. For real space exploration we need to be able to send crews of 50, 100, or 500 men.

While we send crews of 3 to 5 into space, every one has to have near total knowledge of all systems. If you send a crew of 500, you cut down on the amount of knowledge each man can carry which means whole crews of less specialized people. Think of an aircraft carrier and all the men it takes to operate one with no single man having or needing the knowledge to do all things.

With 3D printing will come the ability to to create space ships the size of aircraft carriers in space. I think people are seriously underestimating our technology and the rate at which its accelerating.

We talked about it a bit last night on this thread.

Asteroid threat in 2032? Don't panic, but don't brush it off