Astronomers Hope to Find E.T. in Next 25 Years

Reuters ^ | 16 July 2002 | Belinda Goldsmith

[PatrickHenry]

SETI ping.

[toupsie]

I'm betting they will find Jimmy Hoffa first!

[parsifal]

I say to heck with SETI until we get this rogue asteroid thing figgered out. Talking on the telephone with an alien would be fun, but I would feel a lot happier if I knew my call wasn't going to get interrupted by a 10 mile wide piece of rock hitting us at like 90 gazillion miles per second. parsy.

[RightWhale]

Here's the existing thread: SETI.

[PatrickHenry]

Darn. I did a search but didn't see the earlier thread. Moderator, please lock this thread. It's a duplicate.

[El Gato]

But Shostak thinks any intelligent extraterrestrial life will have gone light years beyond the intelligence of man.

"What we are more likely to hear will be so far beyond our own level that it might not be biological anymore but some artificial form of life," he said. "Don't expect a blobby, squishy alien to be on the end of the line."

Hmm, what makes him think that all such intelligent ETs would be advanced beyhond humankind. Some might be, others might be much less advanced. We more or less sat on our rumps for many millinia before inventing civilization. Others may still be sitting there.

Besides, I tend to think that these folks are looking in the wrong part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Sort of like looking for signals in the low frequency band (and Morse code like ones at that) when all the talking is going on at microwave and above frequencies. They are also probably looking for the wrong type of modulation.

[RightWhale]

You two should talk.

[Sub-Driver]

Nah, he's my next door neighbor.....spends his day's taking stuff outta his suv and putting stuff in it........his wife does the same, they live in the front yard......AND i left Texas to get away from these types..

[bzrd]

Interesting article. Though isn't this whole notion of ET based on the assumption that life can form independent of an intelligent source??

It is still an assumption isn't it? Or did I miss something?

I know you will never read it in the standard journals or pop science media, but isn't the fact that ET hasn't been discovered yet, something of a mystery, given the assumption that life can form through a purely unguided naturalistic process. If the assumption is true, then life should be plentiful in the universe [arguably even our own galaxy], given the numbers of stars alone.

Awaiting the usual explaining away.

Brian.

[PatrickHenry]

Everyone, please post in the original thread. This one is a duplicate and should be pulled soon.
ORIGINAL THREAD, BIGGER & BETTER, HERE.

[SBeck]

[arguably even our own galaxy]

Arguably even in our own solar system (Mars, Europa, Ganymede).

[TJFLSTRAT]

Found ET at Cicuit city, DVD rack $11.95.

[JessicaDragonet]

The universe is probably teeming with life...but we can't see it. We're in another dimension. Since we screwed everything up...we were put in the "time out" corner so we can't annoy the others.

[edwin hubble]

Thanks for the ping, Patrick

I see the August 2002 issue of Scientific American -- Michael Shermer's "Skeptic" column attempts to explain why ET hasn't called yet.

The last variable in the Drake Equation (L= the length of time an intelligent, technology-using culture is "on the air") may be short.

He suggests that any large population's high culture may only last a few hundred years. The more advanced the technology, the relatively shorter the length of the civilization. ... according to the author.

Over the decades this was one of the most fascinating of the Drake variables. How long before a civilization blows itself up? or evolves away from the use of technology of radio transmission?

[PatrickHenry]

I see the August 2002 issue of Scientific American -- Michael Shermer's "Skeptic" column attempts to explain why ET hasn't called yet. The last variable in the Drake Equation (L= the length of time an intelligent, technology-using culture is "on the air") may be short.

I read it. Personally I think the bottleneck is developing technology. It took us long enough. There could be loads of intelligent species out there, but living like ancient Egypt.

[Mr. Thorne]

As long as it isn't Moties!

[edwin hubble]

I agree... modern intelligence may have been with us for 50,000 years. Radio for about 100 years.

[PatrickHenry]

You gotta visit the original thread (links above). We've got a genuine crop-circle cult freak in there, starting around post 188. Quite amusing.