tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707899860426383843.post5147759004947233282..comments2023-03-03T05:42:28.380-08:00Comments on Are we still Earth Centered...: Intelligent Life, Advanced Civilizations might just be very Rare in the Galaxy.Jerry M. Weiklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00970080205826794921noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707899860426383843.post-81268241217912462502010-09-15T14:20:35.339-07:002010-09-15T14:20:35.339-07:00Live long and prosper.
I was just reading the a...Live long and prosper. <br />I was just reading the actual meaning over on Memory Alpha of "Dif tor heh smusma" and how the use of the hand gesture was incorporated by Spock into Star Trek. <br /><br />Humanity would need a very sophisticated commputer system to analyze not only the signal from an Alien planet, but to decipher the message and analyze gestures, patterns of speech, inflections within the words or vocabulary of the Alien species. That would present a challenge even to SETI. Hope the Universal Translater is up and workin when that day occurs.Jerry M. Weiklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00970080205826794921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707899860426383843.post-31635944655169427162010-09-15T13:52:44.921-07:002010-09-15T13:52:44.921-07:00Or we could have Jodie Foster listen in for a few ...Or we could have Jodie Foster listen in for a few minutes, decipher the code in weeks, and have a Machine built in a couple years...Pauliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15282322838637098439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707899860426383843.post-21717461543673517422010-09-15T13:36:12.045-07:002010-09-15T13:36:12.045-07:00Excellent contribution to the discussion, Paulie, ...Excellent contribution to the discussion, Paulie, and that is fascinating that you mentioned the dolphins and their capacity for intelligence. Even thought their environment is confined to the oceans here on Earth, they do provide another example of the possibility of intelligence arising on another world in a similar habitat or oceanic environment. Excellent point!<br /> <br />When I was writing this, I wasn’t considering the dolphins or whales and was thinking of terrestrial species. That is one of the greater benefits of individuals communicating and having a discussion and presenting ideas; everyone gains knowledge or wisdom in the process. <br /><br />I hope that Seth Shostak is correct, that within the next quarter century that a signal is discovered and detected. It would radically change our perceptions and concepts of life, just being able to “tune into” the frequencies of an alien civilization on another planet. Can you imagine how that would revolutionize fields of anthropology, sociology, and linguistic studies? It might take a century or more before humans could understand the language and vocabulary of an Alien species.<br /> <br />As you mention Dolphin’s earlier, I’m unaware if communication abilities have occurred, but I do remember seeing something about them being used by the Military for discoveries in the oceans. <br />Who knows, with the advances occurring in nanotechnology and communication, it might be possible in the future for the researchers to invent a means for them to communicate with us, allowing communication to occur between the aquatic intelligent species and us terrestrial species. <br /><br />Yeah, it will be a long time before the Cubs win a Series. "Dif tor heh smusma".Jerry M. Weiklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00970080205826794921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707899860426383843.post-7758932838492311382010-09-15T12:45:02.246-07:002010-09-15T12:45:02.246-07:00Hmmm... I'm not sure where to start. Panspermi...Hmmm... I'm not sure where to start. Panspermia may be the most likely mechanism responsible if we eventually discover life on Mars. With the ability to adapt to nearly every environment on Earth, and since we know it is quite probable that large impacts early in our solar system could have sent bacteria to Mars or other worlds, or vice versa, it's something that will take a thorough search of the solar system to disprove.<br /><br />As for civilizations, advanced technology may turn out to be rare, but I read this summer that astrobiologists now consider that intelligent life arose independently twice on Earth: humans and dolphins. I don't have any kind of estimate of the total species on Earth, all the way down to single cell organisms, but having two intelligent species doubles the likelihood that wherever life arises in the universe that there could be intelligence. I'm not suggesting that dolphins are about to send exploration spacecraft anytime soon, but it would be interesting to see if they evolve further in the next billion years or so that our planet is habitable.<br /><br />Frank Drake originally posited his famous equation to frame how the search for intelligent life should be conducted, sort of to set parameters for exactly what we don't know. Some of the variables are getting better defined, through the discovery of exoplanets, and more study in coming decades will further refine values for some of the variables.<br /><br />As I was telling you out at Adler, Seth Shostak of SETI thinks that with current and expected capabilities, if there are alien radio signals to detect, they should be found within the next quarter century. That's a heck of a wait, but not nearly as long as cubs fans have been waiting for a World Series winner. My bet is that we will find an alien radio signal before the cubbies win the Series.<br /><br />If I think of anything else, I'll post again later.<br /><br />All I know is that this is always an interesting debate. No real evidence for or against, and so many plausible scenarios for both camps. Time will ultimately tell, even if we're long gone.Pauliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15282322838637098439noreply@blogger.com