HD 40307g

The newly discovered planet is a good candidate for examination by radio telescopes. If a technical civilization should reside there, its being very near, on the galactic scale of things, should render even modest radio signals detectable.
The mass of the planet, 7 to 8 times that of Earth shouldn't be as daunting as it sounds. Its diameter is inferred to be about twice that of Earth, assuming it is a solid planet, rather than a gaseous one. (A super-Earth, rather than a mini-Neptune). This would render the surface gravity only 1 & 3/4 to 2 times that of Earth. This sounds much better for large, motile life forms, albeit sturdily built ones.

Finding out that another planet supports "intelligent" life and at that distance would be the greatest tease I could imagine, especially if they are at the same stage of development as us. Can you imagine sending a hello greeting and waiting almost 100 years for a reply? I'm assuming they wouldn't fire an answer back immediately.

But it might inspire us to accelerate our space efforts toward interstellar flight. I can imagine military types insisting that we need to get there before they can get here.
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Bob DeWoody

As it turns out, the star HD 40307, around which the newly discovered planet swings, is thought to be only about 1.2 billion years old. Probably too young for one of its planets to have evolved intelligent life. Supposing conditions are, or could be made suitable for intelligent life, it might have been colonized by a civilization able to travel the stars. If this occurred, they are well ahead of us in technical development. If they still use radio waves, they have probably been doing so for a long time, and are probably aware of our existence, given the negligible distance that separates us, galactically speaking. We might pick up their space radar, or perhaps a microwave-based weather control system.

I still hold firm to the belief that any space faring beings that are aware of our existence and our overall behavior will avoid us like the plague and do their best to keep us from discovering them.
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Bob DeWoody

Given the age of the universe, and the more than ample time for much more advanced civilizations to have developed in this galaxy, and to have filled it, it seems odd that Earth has not been colonized or invaded or plundered long before now, if that was the way things are done in this part of space. Perhaps this planet is a biophysical and cultural preserve, and a well protected one, at that.

Unlikely, since all life on this planet seems to have a common genetic heritage, including dolphins and humans. One would naturally expect to see divergent genetics in a intrusive species from another planet.

If all life is based on DNA, carbon and water it is remotely possible that the DNA from some alien life forms would be virtually identical to ours. I read somewhere a long time ago that humans are dependent on a few elements that are rare here on earth and that may be evidence that we were placed here and are not native to this planet.

My favorite theory regarding that is the possibility that the human population of earth is built up from a penal colony of space faring rejects so obviously we would have been placed on a remote planet and that all communication with us is forbidden.
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Bob DeWoody

The 'stardust' that goes into our makeup is the basic chemical elements made and dispersed by the stars. And, yes, all material life forms are presumably made of these elements. I agree that the chance of extraterrestrial genetic material being indistinguishable from our own is remote. Our DNA is too complex, too subject to a particular history and set of local conditions which cause unique modifications. In addition, we seem to fit in very well with other life on this planet. We are very genetically similar to a great many life forms on this planet; within a percent or two of the great apes.

You could be right, Bob but they also could consider us vulnerable, weak and easily conquerable (and we are...). Earth might be really interesting to them as it is a fertile planet with a lot of resources and not yet destroyed by us, human beings.