Will we have the tools to spot nearby aliens by 2030?

[Hdreamz]

We'll have the tools to spot nearby aliens by 2030
07 November 2013/ NewScientist

SO CLOSE, and yet so far. We are now pretty certain that there are billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy – rocky worlds about the same size as ours, orbiting similar stars at similar distances. Ideal places to search for alien life. The nearest may be a mere 12 light years away, too far to visit but certainly close enough to take a look (see "Fake planets reveal distance to Earth's nearest twin").

Unfortunately, we can't look – at least not yet. The discovery is extracted from data collected by the Kepler Space Telescope, which malfunctioned in May. There may be more surprises buried in Kepler's data, but its Earthlike-planet-spotting days are over.

Still, the finding bolsters the belief that we are just a few years away from a truly jaw-dropping discovery. Kepler's successor, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, is due to launch in 2017. It will scour the sky for small rocky worlds around nearby stars, and is expected to find hundreds. Future instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the proposed StarShade mission will follow up these discoveries, probing the planets' atmospheres for signs of life.

The idea that there might be another living planet a few light years from home, orbiting a star visible with the naked eye, is a tantalising prospect. For better or worse, the odds are stacked against that. But we can be pretty confident that, if life is common in the universe, we will have found signs of it by the middle of the next decade.


Though I believe that finding evidence of life outside the solar system is simply a matter of time I feel that many articles and academics fall prey to the 30-40 year cycle of technology. Believing that with a vague amount of time to advance at similar rates that a threshold will be crossed and our interstellar eyes will be opened to worlds that have been hidden behind a curtain of human ignorance and unfathomable understanding. The same could be said of AI, lunar and solar exploration, robotics etc...

We certainly have come a long way but some of the obstacles in front of us are huge and even if we discover life out there in the deep dark, are we ready for it?

 

[Dittohead not!]

We'll have the tools to spot nearby aliens by 2030
07 November 2013/ NewScientist

SO CLOSE, and yet so far. We are now pretty certain that there are billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy – rocky worlds about the same size as ours, orbiting similar stars at similar distances. Ideal places to search for alien life. The nearest may be a mere 12 light years away, too far to visit but certainly close enough to take a look (see "Fake planets reveal distance to Earth's nearest twin").

Unfortunately, we can't look – at least not yet. The discovery is extracted from data collected by the Kepler Space Telescope, which malfunctioned in May. There may be more surprises buried in Kepler's data, but its Earthlike-planet-spotting days are over.

Still, the finding bolsters the belief that we are just a few years away from a truly jaw-dropping discovery. Kepler's successor, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, is due to launch in 2017. It will scour the sky for small rocky worlds around nearby stars, and is expected to find hundreds. Future instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the proposed StarShade mission will follow up these discoveries, probing the planets' atmospheres for signs of life.

The idea that there might be another living planet a few light years from home, orbiting a star visible with the naked eye, is a tantalising prospect. For better or worse, the odds are stacked against that. But we can be pretty confident that, if life is common in the universe, we will have found signs of it by the middle of the next decade.


Though I believe that finding evidence of life outside the solar system is simply a matter of time I feel that many articles and academics fall prey to the 30-40 year cycle of technology. Believing that with a vague amount of time to advance at similar rates that a threshold will be crossed and our interstellar eyes will be opened to worlds that have been hidden behind a curtain of human ignorance and unfathomable understanding. The same could be said of AI, lunar and solar exploration, robotics etc...

We certainly have come a long way but some of the obstacles in front of us are huge and even if we discover life out there in the deep dark, are we ready for it?

Probably about as ready as the native Americans were for the Europeans to discover them.

 

[Hdreamz]

I suppose an argument could be made that we will never be ready, only more prepared.....

 

[Bodi]

Probably about as ready as the native Americans were for the Europeans to discover them.

I hear you but other than force fields that stop nuclear missiles which seem physically impossible, we would do better if for no other reason than we are at least open to the idea that it is possible.

 

[rhinefire]

Since science talks about transporting information through lasers or whatever they call them. The ideas on space travel must be re-thought. Even today the UFOs, who is to say it is impossible to construct something with information through lasers? Isn't this a subject in constructing hand guns today on a much lesser scale? It is way too hard to build a Flash Gordon ship to sail through light years of space than to transmit information. Science is coming around I believe to considering alternative measures of transportation and the Star Wars stuff is going back to ToysRUs.

 

[Dittohead not!]

In all of the speculation about crossing the interstellar gulf, we've forgotten about something.
The universe is not in four dimensions only, but in many.
It is entirely possible that there is an infinite number of Earths only a few millimeters away, just in a fifth dimension that we haven't learned to explore just yet.

Perhaps, should we become civilized without rendering our living space unfit for higher life forms, we will be shown how to access other worlds that we currently know nothing about.

 

[Hdreamz]

In all of the speculation about crossing the interstellar gulf, we've forgotten about something.
The universe is not in four dimensions only, but in many.
It is entirely possible that there is an infinite number of Earths only a few millimeters away, just in a fifth dimension that we haven't learned to explore just yet.

Perhaps, should we become civilized without rendering our living space unfit for higher life forms, we will be shown how to access other worlds that we currently know nothing about.

I was worried you were about to start espousing string theory for a second there but am glad you went towards multiversal dimensions. Until we unlock Dark energy and dark matter i think we are going to be stuck in the current generation of tech, being able to slowly increase power and efficiency with existing technology. This may well allow us to explore the inner solar system and even Jupiter. But for the outer solar system and anything beyond that a revolution is needed. As for the millions of Earths, as much as it is always possible, i cannot see it personally being the case... It just doesnt sit well with my admittedly cold dimensionally bereft mind.

 

[Dittohead not!]

I was worried you were about to start espousing string theory for a second there but am glad you went towards multiversal dimensions. Until we unlock Dark energy and dark matter i think we are going to be stuck in the current generation of tech, being able to slowly increase power and efficiency with existing technology. This may well allow us to explore the inner solar system and even Jupiter. But for the outer solar system and anything beyond that a revolution is needed. As for the millions of Earths, as much as it is always possible, i cannot see it personally being the case... It just doesnt sit well with my admittedly cold dimensionally bereft mind.

It is difficult to grasp the idea of a multiverse with our three (or four, counting time) dimensional minds. I don't really understand it, of course, either, but the idea of limitless Earths just millimeters away is a tantalizing idea nevertheless.

 

[Hdreamz]

It is difficult to grasp the idea of a multiverse with our three (or four, counting time) dimensional minds. I don't really understand it, of course, either, but the idea of limitless Earths just millimeters away is a tantalizing idea nevertheless.

Makes you almost want to watch "Sliders" again....

 

[LaughAtTheWorld]

Depends on how you define nearby, which I hear is very fluctuating in space.

 

[Bodi]

We'll have the tools to spot nearby aliens by 2030?

I have the ability to spot them right now... my eyes.

 

[specklebang]

The NSA will retrieve their meta-data for us.

How safe that makes me feel.

 

[Hdreamz]

Depends on how you define nearby, which I hear is very fluctuating in space.

I would imagine that is an arbitary number, i could say 500ly... but there is no real definition of the term nearby in galactic termsy. I suppose our local stellar neighbourhood cluster is our definition of nearby i.e 40ly...

 

[Harshaw]

We certainly have come a long way but some of the obstacles in front of us are huge and even if we discover life out there in the deep dark, are we ready for it?

What does "ready for it" even mean?

 

[Dittohead not!]

What does "ready for it" even mean?

We'll find out when the time comes. My bet is that we won't be.

 

[Harshaw]

We'll find out when the time comes. My bet is that we won't be.

That doesn't answer the question. What does it mean? You must have some idea if you say "we won't be."

 

[Dittohead not!]

That doesn't answer the question. What does it mean? You must have some idea if you say "we won't be."

Not really, but are we ever ready to face the unknown? Are we ready to admit that there may be others "out there" who are more advanced than we are?

 

[Harshaw]

Not really, but are we ever ready to face the unknown? Are we ready to admit that there may be others "out there" who are more advanced than we are?

How can you even try to answer that question if you don't know what "ready" means, and how can you assume we won't be?

 

[Hdreamz]

What does "ready for it" even mean?

I suppose its almost an oxymoron.

If we are contacted by electro magnetic signal and no other then its the philosophical readiness. If an advanced species has overcome the vast interstellar distances and time dilation then i doubt we could ever be ready.

Lets just hope when it does happen that we get to have a few phone/Skype dates before we meet up and decide whether to offer a nightcap.

 

[Harshaw]

I suppose its almost an oxymoron.

If we are contacted by electro magnetic signal and no other then its the philosophical readiness. If an advanced species has overcome the vast interstellar distances and time dilation then i doubt we could ever be ready.

Lets just hope when it does happen that we get to have a few phone/Skype dates before we meet up and decide whether to offer a nightcap.

That still doesn't even begin to define what "ready for it" means.

 

[Hdreamz]

That still doesn't even begin to define what "ready for it" means.

I didnt try to, its a pointless argument as it has no meaning. I merely gave some context.

 

[Harshaw]

I didnt try to, its a pointless argument as it has no meaning. I merely gave some context.

You said you "doubt we could ever be ready."

If "ready" has no meaning, then it was a totally pointless thing to say.

Look, you guys are the ones who keep saying things about our (not!) being "ready." You must have something in mind when you say it. So what is it?

 

[Hdreamz]

You said you "doubt we could ever be ready."

If "ready" has no meaning, then it was a totally pointless thing to say.

Look, you guys are the ones who keep saying things about our (not!) being "ready." You must have something in mind when you say it. So what is it?

It has a very individual meaning.

My general interpretation of being ready would be a planet that has finally managed to coexist with itself peacefully, if not harmoniously... Also a planet ready to accept the possibility of superior intervention without malign agency.

That would be my interpretation, but anyone's interpretation is subjective and based almost solely on opinion... But since you are arguing a peripheral point of the thread so vigorously that the best answer i have for you...

 

[Harshaw]

It has a very individual meaning.

My general interpretation of being ready would be a planet that has finally managed to coexist with itself peacefully, if not harmoniously... Also a planet ready to accept the possibility of superior intervention without malign agency.

That would be my interpretation, but anyone's interpretation is subjective and based almost solely on opinion... But since you are arguing a peripheral point of the thread so vigorously that the best answer i have for you...

How is it "peripheral"? It was the central question of your OP, and thus, the thread itself:

We certainly have come a long way but some of the obstacles in front of us are huge and even if we discover life out there in the deep dark, are we ready for it?

You can't answer the question without defining the term.

I guess my further question would be, why do you assume that extraterrestrial life, if it exists, and if there's intelligence, is somehow superior to life on Earth?

 

[Hdreamz]

How is it "peripheral"? It was the central question of your OP, and thus, the thread itself:

No, the central point of the thread was having the ability, not whether we were ready....

You can't answer the question without defining the term.

I agree, as I said I wasn't trying to answer this question as i stated above.

I guess my further question would be, why do you assume that extraterrestrial life, if it exists, and if there's intelligence, is somehow superior to life on Earth?

If extraterrestrial life were to contact us directly, i.e Arrive in orbit/solar system, then it would be generally safe to assume that the inherent technological advancement required to achieve such travel would render us at least vastly technologically inferior and would infer an advanced societal infrastructure. Whether we would consider such things as their societal/cultural make-up advanced outside of the sphere of their technology would be a questionable.

For us to detect life does not infer such superiority.Only the presence of life.