'What-if' an advanced ET were to notice Earth?...


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Message 1142268 - Posted: 18 Aug 2011, 20:25:04 UTC
Last modified: 18 Aug 2011, 20:26:46 UTC

A group in NASA have been brain-stormin' over how an intelligent ET encounter might develop:


Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists

Rising greenhouse emissions may tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report for Nasa


It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by scientists at Nasa and Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future. ...



Curious stuff!... But plausible?

Keep searchin',
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Message 1142424 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 2:34:38 UTC
Last modified: 19 Aug 2011, 2:35:38 UTC

So, the Sci-Fi movie "Skyline" is a possible scenario? That's scary.

As far as detecting ET, I think we might be looking in the wrong place. I believe ET could be broadcasting in the noise. Why? The advanced ET's don't want to be bothered with rabble that are still living in caves and digging in the dirt, from their point of view. They've all been where we are now, searching in the quiet band and finding nothing.

As time passed, their science and knowledge flourished until they discovered the 'key'. A relationship, a ratio, the unification theory, something that gave them the ability to distinguish order from the chaos of background noise. The noise isn't all just noise. We're not there, yet.

Hey, this was supposed to be Sci-Fi, right?? :)

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Message 1142641 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 16:46:26 UTC

I think it is just as plausible that if ET were to notice our existence they would make a log entry, verify that we can barely get ourselves into orbit, notice we are on the brink of our own demise and make a note to check back later.
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Message 1142719 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 19:50:38 UTC - in response to Message 1142424.

We have well-known signal processing techniques that will bring a signal up out of the noise. Noise is random but follows a well known Gaussian curve. When a signal is auto correlated or cross correlated it will jump up out of the Noise.

Noise will appear on any band. Thermal noise in the receiver as well as background radiation.

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Message 1142760 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 21:23:29 UTC - in response to Message 1142641.

I think it is just as plausible that if ET were to notice our existence they would make a log entry, verify that we can barely get ourselves into orbit, notice we are on the brink of our own demise and make a note to check back later.

OK, I think that fits Douglas Adams' summary of "Mostly harmless".

(See also: the guide)

Keep searchin',
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Message 1142810 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 22:30:21 UTC

A transmission from ET does not have to be 'intelligent' in nature, or even translatable in any form.
The simple recognition that such a transmission did come from some life form above the simple level of a microbe would be enough to validate the search for life outside of our planet.

Don't matter if it was morse code or bursts of noise.

If it was generated by anything other than spontaneous conditions........that is what we search for, my friends.
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Message 1142842 - Posted: 19 Aug 2011, 23:29:55 UTC - in response to Message 1142810.

If it was generated by anything other than spontaneous conditions........that is what we search for, my friends.


Certainly.

A sort of "Blind Man's Bluff" in space, but not the Star Trek version.

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Message 1142945 - Posted: 20 Aug 2011, 3:37:30 UTC - in response to Message 1142810.

Is the Hubble telescope, Keppler and other telescopes fit with radio receivers, if yes, could these telescopes detect a non-Earth signal?

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Message 1142973 - Posted: 20 Aug 2011, 5:24:16 UTC - in response to Message 1142945.

Is the Hubble telescope, Keppler and other telescopes fit with radio receivers, if yes, could these telescopes detect a non-Earth signal?

No, they are not able to receive radio waves. The Russian radiotelescope recently put in orbit might do it.
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Message 1143056 - Posted: 20 Aug 2011, 13:41:56 UTC

The following article makes the situation with this new paper clearer. One of the authors, and not the main one, has an academic affiliation with the NASA. He did not help write the paper as part of his work there. The report was not commissioned, sanctioned or endorsed by the NASA. The news media mistakenly made it seem otherwise. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/19/7419399-what-if-et-thinks-were-evil

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Message 1143065 - Posted: 20 Aug 2011, 14:47:57 UTC


Define "advanced ET".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale



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Message 1143320 - Posted: 21 Aug 2011, 5:26:17 UTC

Isn't this "what if" thread supposed to be about ET detecting us? Our detection capabilities have nothing to do with an ET civilization detecting our presence on earth.
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Message 1143429 - Posted: 21 Aug 2011, 10:08:50 UTC - in response to Message 1143320.
Last modified: 21 Aug 2011, 10:09:59 UTC

They wouldn't notice much. Or, would they ?

They might see that there is oxygen here so that there almost certainly is some form of life. They might detect coherent and radar type emissions and conclude that there were creatures, possibly similar to themselves. Since we are not broadcasting a beacon they would have to be in close in relative terms.

If they could decode our Television signals they would know pretty much how we looked and what life was like here on earth.

I believe they would have to be well within 100 light years and I don't believe that there is a high probability that there is other intelligent (like us ) life within this radius?

Would they come to conquer us ? They would be too far away.

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Message 1143433 - Posted: 21 Aug 2011, 10:39:27 UTC

Does the title of this thread mean from a distance or from local observation?

If from local observation, i.e. a space exploration expedition passes by the solar system and detects life on earth, I think they would just note it in their logs, and move on. We at our stage of evolvement would be of no interest to them, and no threat either. If they were advanced enough to be able to have conquered space travel, they would know the total worldwide panic that would ensue with direct contact.

If contact was made via some form of communications with another star system, that would be different. We may be able to send and receive messages, but the sheer distances invloved would probably mean that neither they or us could visit each other. In which case just knowing each other was there would be safe enough.

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Message 1143544 - Posted: 21 Aug 2011, 18:22:31 UTC

"What if . . ."

If they have any interest in self-preservation, they'll run the other way just as fast as they possibly can.
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Message 1143569 - Posted: 21 Aug 2011, 19:40:34 UTC

"What if ..."

Isn't that why Nibiru is on a collision course?

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