Would advanced alien tech surprise you?

[Myasishchev]

I suppose in fairness it's not the world's most photorealistic engraving and nothing is highly detailed--actually, is it a bit chauvinistic to suppose that aliens would have the same cartooning processors that we do? That is, would they intuitively recognize some lines as a body?

 

[KJbushway]

Aliens I hope would have better Cartoons then us, you create warp drive, but you can't get beyound, flipping the pages of a notebook to create what looks like a motion picture.

 

[scotthm]

So what would it take to surprise you?

An alien showing up.

---------------

 

[Myasishchev]

Aliens I hope would have better Cartoons then us, you create warp drive, but you can't get beyound, flipping the pages of a notebook to create what looks like a motion picture.

What?

I mean, humans recognize a circle and dots as a face. (E.g., ). That requires specificity of pattern recognition that may or may not be universal, given that does not really look like a face, we only interpret it as such.

 

[robtclements]

In the light of all the advanced technologies discussed here, the slightly unfortunately named Ralph McNutt (of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University) came up with a design for what he called a realistic interstellar explorer back in 2000. The concept was developed by NASA under its now defunct NIAC (institute for advanced concepts) programme; & would have allowed entry-level interstellar exploration to be attempted with current human technology using conceivable budgets

The relevance to this discussion is that if we can send tiny machines interstellar distances others should be able to send them here. The most likely first contact scenario for humanity would be a miniature Sentinel scenario, where we stumbled upon technology in space of non-human origin. Frankly, this possibility wouldn't surprise me in the least. Duncan Steel has gone further, by speculating on the extremely odd orbit of asteroid 1991 VG. It looks like something which just left Earth orbit, shortly before we had the capacity to get anything INTO Earth orbit. Odds are best that there's a less mind-blowing explanation for the orbit (starting with incomplete data, of course); but one can always wonder

Links for these concepts are http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/library/meetings/annual/jun00/393McNutt.pdf (interstellar explorer) & http://www.setv.org/online_mss/1991vg.pdf (Duncan Steel) respectively, if anyone's interested

With regards
Robert

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

This related article seems fairly level headed on the subject of possible Bracewell probes in the solar system.

Alien Artifacts In The Solar System?

The article also mentions the LDE phenomenon, which I had completely forgotten about. I sense a few hours of web browsing ahead of me.

 

[robtclements]

This related article seems fairly level headed on the subject of possible Bracewell probes in the solar system.

The article isn't bad but the web site itself is seriously dodgy. Which is the problem, really-recognising that just because something is possible doesn't mean its real, nor does it demand that one's preferred explanation be the correct one. This is all serious troll-bait territory

Some time ago, i was guilty of adding a few of my own speculations into the SETA (search for extra-terrestrial artefacts) discussion, only to find my name getting linked to all kinds of woo-hoo. I was even abused for pointing out that the Greek atomists considered the possibility of other planetary systems without blindly accepting someone else's interpretation that the only way they could have done that was being contacted by ET....

In the words of that other great futurist (Snagglepuss), it was time for Robert to Exit, stage right....

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

This related article seems fairly level headed on the subject of possible Bracewell probes in the solar system.

The article isn't bad but the web site itself is seriously dodgy. Which is the problem, really-recognising that just because something is possible doesn't mean its real, nor does it demand that one's preferred explanation be the correct one. This is all serious troll-bait territory

Some time ago, i was guilty of adding a few of my own speculations into the SETA (search for extra-terrestrial artefacts) discussion, only to find my name getting linked to all kinds of woo-hoo. I was even abused for pointing out that the Greek atomists considered the possibility of other planetary systems without blindly accepting someone else's interpretation that the only way they could have done that was being contacted by ET....

In the words of that other great futurist (Snagglepuss), it was time for Robert to Exit, stage right....

Hopefully not pursued by a bear.

Yeah, I find this stuff amusing to read but I don't give a lot of credence to the wilder speculations and interpretations of things such as messages in LDEs. However, Bracewell probes are the kind of thing that civilisations might build and send out when they have sufficient maturity to be able to wait several tens of centuries for the results to come back. The probes don't require a particularly high level of technology, and the Copernican principle says that if our civilisation can think about building them, others might have actually done so, many, many times.

 

[robtclements]

Yeah, I find this stuff amusing to read but I don't give a lot of credence to the wilder speculations and interpretations of things such as messages in LDEs. However, Bracewell probes are the kind of thing that civilisations might build and send out when they have sufficient maturity to be able to wait several tens of centuries for the results to come back. The probes don't require a particularly high level of technology, and the Copernican principle says that if our civilisation can think about building them, others might have actually done so, many, many times.

Agree completely. The challenge which has always faced SETA is working out how to put the search in SETA

 

[KJbushway]

The way they talk in Stargate and Star trek is by sub-space particles that transfer electrical data. I don't think we have discovered that yet, however, an alien race coming here would have to have a communication system like that, becuase how would their people know they got here.

 

[Deckerd]

The way they talk in Stargate and Star trek is by sub-space particles that transfer electrical data. I don't think we have discovered that yet, however, an alien race coming here would have to have a communication system like that, becuase how would their people know they got here.

Unless, y'know, they can only communicate at a maximum of light speed because nothing can move faster?

 

[KJbushway]

That why they called it sub-space, particles that travel within space not in space. But I don't think we have discovered any, but that doesn't mean that none exist.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

That why they called it sub-space, particles that travel within space not in space. But I don't think we have discovered any, but that doesn't mean that none exist.

Greg Bear used quantum entanglement as a means for superluminal communication in Anvil of Stars. Whilst such "spooky action at a distance" has been measured to have a speed not less than 200 times c, it can't be used to transfer useful information -- as far as we know.

 

[Deckerd]

That why they called it sub-space, particles that travel within space not in space. But I don't think we have discovered any, but that doesn't mean that none exist.

Greg Bear used quantum entanglement as a means for superluminal communication in Anvil of Stars. Whilst such "spooky action at a distance" has been measured to have a speed not less than 200 times c, it can't be used to transfer useful information -- as far as we know.

Since Gene Roddenberry onward, science fiction television (and film) writers have been treating the laws of physics as a minor inconvenience, in order to travel very large distances quickly and without any time distortion. Wishful thinking doesn't change those laws now or ever.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

That why they called it sub-space, particles that travel within space not in space. But I don't think we have discovered any, but that doesn't mean that none exist.

Greg Bear used quantum entanglement as a means for superluminal communication in Anvil of Stars. Whilst such "spooky action at a distance" has been measured to have a speed not less than 200 times c, it can't be used to transfer useful information -- as far as we know.

Since Gene Roddenberry onward, science fiction television (and film) writers have been treating the laws of physics as a minor inconvenience, in order to travel very large distances quickly and without any time distortion. Wishful thinking doesn't change those laws now or ever.

Well, I never knew that, who'd have thunk it?

 

[Deckerd]

Somewhere or other I saw a raspberry blowing smiley. It would be a good addition to the stock.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Somewhere or other I saw a raspberry blowing smiley. It would be a good addition to the stock.

They come in two varieties: and

Missed one, but not really a razz:

 

[KJbushway]

We haven't been beyond our moon, Our satelites aren't even in another solar system yet. Lets face it we don't know everything. Our knowledge is limited, its our ego that lets us think that we know all.

 

[sojourner]

OOOO! Platitudes! I like platitudes! How's this:

There are more things in heaven and earth than we can imagine, nevermind understand.

 

[Deckerd]

Now now. A little platitude never hurt anyone.