Re: [GZG] A number of scientists respond to Hawking's concerns about Aliens

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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@mail.csua.berkeley.edu
http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lReading some of
the points in this thread, it seemed to me that maybe some
people out there in the great black think SETI has a more active role in
detecting extraterrestrial civilizations than merely listening? I could
be
very wrong and just misinterpreting. If I'm not, then understand SETI is
only listening, not transmitting (I don't remember now what SETI's
procedure
is to be if they actually detect something).

Which seques into Earth as a whole in transmitting. For the most part we
are
a pretty quiet planet. Yes, we bleeped onto the cosmic scene back in the
mid-20th century, but a couple decades later, after we went to more
direct
communications, microwave towers, satellite comms, and digital comms,
we've
pretty much damped down our own EM signature. If the Bad Ass Aliens
missed
listening for us during that little moment we were broadcasting wide
beam,
unlikely fairly they'll detect us SETI-style now (which poses a quandry
for
SETI as well).

As far as biology on Earth, we have in the last, what, 10-20 years, been
discovering life (pretty much bacterial iirc, but some larger organisms,
too) that live in such extremely hostile (and in some cases nearly
waterless) environments as to defy what we believed were the requisite
components for life as we know it (I'm mostly thinking the life that
lives
near volcanic vents down deep in the ocean and life that lives in
asphalt
lakes). Extrapolating and drawing parallels, we could easily find life
in
such hostile environments as on the surface of Titan. Whether it is
microbial or complex, time will tell.

IIRC (without looking back) I think John T said something about going
into
space and exploring/colonizing other planets will require a huge
monetary
output and there had got to be a really damned good reason to go. I
would
put forth a few reasons (imo good) for us to be heading out into the
black:

1) Resources (yes, we become the Aliens on the Resource Prowl)
2) New real estate to live on (the population on Earth is going to get
to a
point where our planet can no longer sustain it)
3) Species survival (at some point our star is going to transition to a
red
giant, and eventually give off a little firework detonation in the form
of a
nova; you don't want to be around to see either if you want to tell your
kids about it)

Anyway, just my random two bits worth for a Monday morning.

Mk