Science Tidbits #5

[Lupine]

And starting off the new thread we have some cold water to throw.

Not unexpected but still slightly disappointing.

[huggle]

Well, definitely not a signal from an intelligent civilisation

[scottydog]

I wonder when we will ever make first contact. Or if we already have.

[Lupine]

It might be fairly soon, though I'm certain that it won't be like people expect. The problem is that aliens will likely be so alien we'll have little point of reference to work with. That doesn't mean they'll be hostile, but it might mean that they'll ignore us.

[RJDiogenes]

And starting off the new thread we have some cold water to throw.

Not unexpected but still slightly disappointing.

Ah, well, it's always fun while it lasts.

Well, definitely not a signal from an intelligent civilisation

It was probably a Trump tweet.

I wonder when we will ever make first contact. Or if we already have.

I think we'll find definitive proof of extraterrestrial life long before any contact with an alien civilization-- I expect they will be quite rare.

It might be fairly soon, though I'm certain that it won't be like people expect. The problem is that aliens will likely be so alien we'll have little point of reference to work with.

That's what I always wonder. We may make contact, but it could be centuries before we can communicate anything beyond "We both exist."

That doesn't mean they'll be hostile, but it might mean that they'll ignore us.

That's one of the things that occurred to me about Tabby's Star. If there really is a Dyson Sphere there, it's probably not a good bet for communicating-- any civilization that builds a Dyson Sphere is probably pretty introverted.

[huggle]

I doubt we'd recognize an intelligent life form if we met it. After all, there are plenty of intelligent species on our own planet (whales, dolphins, ravens, crows, rats, gorillas, orang utans and chimpanzees and who knows how many more) and they still are being hunted, killed or kept in zoos.
Humans are sadly prejudiced and tend to think that in order to count as intelligent, a being needs to be able to do space travel and advanced mathematics + speak in an audible frequency and in whole sentences (a definition which excludes rather a lot of people I know).

[RJDiogenes]

That's true. If we visited another planet, we may not recognize an intelligent species. On the other hand, if they do use technology, that would be a giveaway-- and that's pretty much the only chance we have of spotting them at interstellar distances.

[Lupine]

Just a reminder: There's an eclipse this month.

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_exegtInbw[/BBvideo]

[RJDiogenes]

That was sexy. Yes, I'm weird.

[Lupine]

Nerdy with red hair, yeah I hear ya.

[RJDiogenes]

And a lab coat.

[Lupine]

Looks like two planets I have been using in my books (Leandra and Grisgelée) have been Discovered.

If one of them turns out to have a living atmosphere, I will faint.

[RJDiogenes]

Wow, Tau Ceti has Earth-like planets. That's great.

My alien species, the Hardshells, come from the planet Albumen at Tau Ceti. If that outermost planet spins three times as fast as Earth and has a single continent around the equator, then I'll faint.

[RJDiogenes]

Looks like TRAPPIST-1 is one to five billion years older than Earth. Which means that its alien civilizations are either way more advanced than us or killed themselves off before life even evolved here.

Also, this is pretty cool:

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS5UxLHbUKc[/BBvideo]

[Lupine]

^Music of the spheres indeed.

Looks like TRAPPIST-1 is one to five billion years older than Earth. Which means that its alien civilizations are either way more advanced than us or killed themselves off before life even evolved here.

Multiple civilizations could have come and gone in that time. The system might have quite an exciting history as one civilization arises, possibly colonizing and climateforming other worlds in the system. That civilization falling and a new one coming into existence and finding remnants of the previous civilizations on the other worlds. Or perhaps colonists to the other worlds being the only survivors of a calamity, rebuilding, and discovering to their shock that they originated from another planet.
Thrilling just to think about.