[zeebee]

The interesting thing is, if there is intelligent life there, they would only now be just starting to receive our first radio broadcast transmissions from 90 years ago (when radio first began).

Our planet would have seemed dead to them until today.

Of course it is impossible to think about travelling there, but radio transmissions travel at the speed of light so anything we pick up from each other occurred 90 years ago.

They will not be able to see our first television broadcasts (from 1927) until 2017.

[Aric2000]

THe other thing is, that if there is a civilization that is say, 500 years ahead of us in technology, and they are less then 500 light years away, we could start recieving their transmissions ANY time now.

So it may not be a matter of transmitting, it could just be a matter of listening in the right direction, on the right frequency and with the right gain.

I believe that this is what Radioastronomer is working right now, I think that listening is the important part, because we are transmitting like a fricking radio lightbulb!! LOL

[RightWhale]

if there is intelligent life there, they would only now be just starting to receive our first radio broadcast transmissions from 90 years ago

Katherine Hepburn was older than that. Puts a reference into the timescale--one lifetime. One lifetime to get there at the speed of light, another lifetime to get back.