Hawking backs venture to listen for aliens

[Occams Razor]

Well in that case, it doesn't matter what Hawking says because we are already inadvertently letting ET know we exist. I'd like to see some figures on the signal strength from common aircraft radar over hundreds of light years.

For sure... they either have some really good gear, or they're talking out of their backsides to get some more grant money. I suspect they're thinking more of tens of light years than hundreds.

We have deliberately sent high power transmissions into space for METI and for planetary surface mapping. The Aricebo radio telescope uses around 20TW of ERP to map the surface of planets and moons in our solar system. These signals are big enough to travel deep into space.

They used the Aricebo planetary radar to look at Jupiter, and only got return signals from its moons. That's how they determined Jupiter is a ball of gas, it has no solid core.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Occams Razor

[promKing]

Back in the day Carl Sagan talked Steven Spielberg to donate $100k to SETI research

[Anomalocaris]

Why That $100m Alien Listening Project May Be a Waste of Time

http://gizmodo.com/why-that-100m-alien-listening-project-may-be-a-waste-o-1719910237

Edited July 24, 2015 by Anomalocaris

[toast]

Why That $100m Alien Listening Project May Be a Waste of Time

Link does not lead to that heading/article.

[Anomalocaris]

Link does not lead to that heading/article.

Fixed, and thanks for the heads up

[toast]

Ok, the base for the article and the question itself is the Fermi Paradox that was always paradox to me as it totally ignore

the laws of economy. We, humans, could live at the bottom of the ocean at a depth of 10.000 meters but we dont as it

would be too expensive and energy absorbing to built the habitats and to keep them running. We could also live on the top of

the highest mountains but we dont for the very same reasons. An alien race that would prepare for an interstellar colonization

would have to manage that the conditions on the target planets would not be the same as on the home planet. Means gravity,

respirable air, radiation, flora/fauna and others as well. So, as the planets (that we know) have all different conditions for living,

the alien race have to be prepared with expensive and energy absorbing equipment to be able to live on planets , those have

different conditions to their home planet.

In a nutshell, a discussion about the question if SETI is expedient or not can be discussed in general but the Fermi Paradox

cannot be a base for an argumentation against SETI.

[Occams Razor]

I think the professor is most likely correct... life is probably common in the galaxy, and the best way to detect it would be spectral analysis of the atmospheres of the planets.

However, out technology isn't good enough to allow spectral analysis of the atmospheres of planets that are the sort of distances away that we're talking about.

So... do we sit on our hands and wait for that technology to mature, or do we do the best we can with the technology available to us. I think it's reasonable to assume a technologically advanced civilization will go through a radio phase as part of it's technological development.

Whether that radio phase will align with us looking for them is something else. A civilization could have started playing around with radio 19 years ago, but be 20 light years away, or they could have moved on from radio technology a billion years ago.

Personally, I think radio and optical (looking for laser bursts) SETI is worth a go. The only way to ensure we never find them is to not listen, or look.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Occams Razor

[TonopahRick]

If they want to spend the money to look I for one am all for it.

[TheGreatBeliever]

Now there is this.. Then there be articles saying some countries been in touch with ETs for years..

[Paranomali]

I remember watching into the universe with Stephen Hawking, and his belief was that we shouldn't be looking for E.Ts. Now he's on board a $100 million dollar endevour to search for them. I hope his words don't come back to bite him.

[bison]

I remember watching into the universe with Stephen Hawking, and his belief was that we shouldn't be looking for E.Ts. Now he's on board a $100 million dollar endevour to search for them. I hope his words don't come back to bite him.

I believe Dr. Hawking warned against contacting extraterrestrial intelligences, not merely listening for their signals. The new project includes no plans for contact. He apparently makes this distinction.

[Paranomali]

Aye fair enough. Although honestly i believe one thing will lead to another. If they hear what they are trying to hear it would be full steam ahead to try to make contact

[Midyin]

I thought a few years back Hawking had said we should avoid aliens.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8642558.stm

Make your mind up, Stevie!

he doesn't want us to talk to them, but he's probably as curious as the rest of the world on weather or not there is any intelegint life out there..

[Derek Willis]

he doesn't want us to talk to them, but he's probably as curious as the rest of the world on weather or not there is any intelegint life out there..

This has been discussed earlier in this thread and in others. Personally, I don't believe just because Stephen Hawking is an astrophysicist means his opinion on this is more valid than anyone else's.

[badeskov]

This has been discussed earlier in this thread and in others. Personally, I don't believe just because Stephen Hawking is an astrophysicist means his opinion on this is more valid than anyone else's.

Since we have no idea of ET and their psychology, you and I and everyone else are just as qualified as Stephen Hawking in this respect. It is, in other words, pure guess work based on a data set of one, that data set being us.

Cheers,

Badeskov