A SETI Signal (from ETs)?
posted by RRRGroup at
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
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12 Comments:
Isn't Seth one of the many scientists who disparage the idea that detection of "alien" signals could be hidden from the public in a real-life scenario? So much for protocols, and his theory in general.
By
Ron, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I don't think Seth Shostak, Ron, is a closet (or overt) censorship (suppression) aficionado.
RR
By
RRRGroup, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
He was circumspect in his quoted comments about the delay in reporting, but his displeasure was palpable. A chink in scientific candor's armor, for sure.
By
Ron, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Yes, he was irked that the Russians held on to the "news" for a year or more.
I understand his feelings. After all, he'd like his team to glom on to such a "discovery" and waiting a year, if the signal was real, would be devastating, as such a signal, like the infamous "Wow" signal, would be ephemeral if a broadcast signal, yes?
RR
By
RRRGroup, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I doubt he's worried about losing a place in history: a less than optimum antenna setup, and who knows if the Russians have followed protocol on anything else related to obtaining their data. What's potentially more interesting pertains to the "Wow" signal itself. The most recent theory has it that the signal may have come from transiting comets and their emissions. The comets had only been discovered and tracked recently, but backtracking puts them in the same arc of space as the signal's origin. They'll be returning to the same patch of sky next year and there will be plenty of astronomers tuned in to listen. So there may be a solution to one mystery signal forthcoming.
By
Ron, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
My problem (with SETI) and alien radio signals is that an alien civilization would have to evolved (broadcasting) technology just as we have, and be thinking as we do also; that is, they assume that there are other sentient beings out there (in the cosmos) awaiting a signal from other sentient beings.
I don't reprove the possibility but it's a Sci-Fi stretch (for me).
RR
By
RRRGroup, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I agree. SETI was only viable because it was the simplest and easiest way we knew to hunt for ET's signature. It certainly looked good to Drake and Sagan back then. Neutrinos or fast bursts might have made more sense in looking for advanced races, but we knew little or nothing about them and couldn't reproduce them even if. As well, scientists could barely procure funding for a radio search during the Proxmire years. Ironic that Proxmire's attempts to shut down the search makes some sense, not because it's "crazy" but because, like Hawking says, we may not be happy with what we find. But now that the horse has already left the barn, they want to start the debate about that.
By
Ron, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
My feeling, like that about trying to decipher the Ramey memo, is what's the harm (in a SETI search program)?
Sure it costs money but this country (the U.S.) throws money at lots of crazy projects. SETI is no worse than many (or most) of those.
I think it's propitious in some way (maybe many ways).
If it catches the attention of a barbaric civilization, that civilization can do little more harm than God has done to Hawking (and other humans).
I'm not a SETI buff, but it's okay with me (obviously).
RR
By
RRRGroup, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I posted the same article, on Yahoo, on my blog yesterday as well.
What is interesting to me, and somewhat suspect, is that the frequency was pretty much in an area heavily used for military communications. Could this have been a "bounced" signal from a military satellite?
Interesting article, but 95 light years away? A tad bit too far for us.
By
Tim Hebert, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Even if it is a ET signal, it is pretty meaningless. Just because ET is calling does not mean he is visiting anytime soon-- if ever... There is still an insufficient amount of information to determine if the signal was actually "real" or an unknown source signal from a distant source in the same portion of the sky as the star in question. (My what a coincidence that would be...?)
As I recall way back when the SETI folks started talking "alien signals" [in the late 60s early 70s] they thought that if ET had developed as we have then like us they would be unintentionally be sending out powerful radio signals [Radar signals, TV signals, and the like] on the order of mega-watts which might be heard if ET was listening. Of course the source is 95 LY away which means they are now [barring disasters] possibly 95 years ahead of us technologically.
OTOH...
I dug into my research notes [I used to follow this kind of stuff] and the star in question turns up on Tarter and Turnbull's "big list" Star Catalog of potential "Habitable Stars". It just happens to be a G2V like our sun.
Tarter is the "real life" source for the SETI astronomer in Carl Sagan's SF novel "Contact" (She was played by Jody Foster in the movie version). The list was originally posted at the University of Arizona but now is hosted by the University of Puetro Rico at Arecibo See http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habcat if you are into star catalogs and want to know the general idea of what Astronmers think is "habitable" [the definition here seems to be "habitable by humans"]
Is this real or is it more "Human Programming" a la Vallee's hypothesis regarding UFOs? What ever it is it is more real than what the History Channel is playing.
A recent article at 538.com covers the topic of what happens if ET shows up:
"Actually finding intelligent life is probably less likely than infesting another planet with our own germs, but the people who search for that life do have a plan for what to do if they succeed."
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-happens-if-et-phones-us/
By
Joel Crook, at Tuesday, August 30, 2016
HD 164595:
Yes, well nothing really new here. The signal the Russians first discovered in 2015 has come up empty, and even the Russians think it's of terrestrial origin. So does Drake's granddaughter:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/seti-signal-sun-like-star-hercules-aliens-life-space-science/
So why did they wait till August 2016 to cover this?
As Tim stated, very likely a military communications signal say analysts.
By
Brian B, at Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Brian/Tim
Some comments in my Facebook feeds, from Physics/Astronomy sites, still have an open mind on the signal, not closing the door to it being a sentient emission.
RR
By
RRRGroup, at Wednesday, August 31, 2016
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