Radio search for ET draws a blank

BBC News Online ^ | Thursday, March 25, 2004 | By Dr David Whitehouse

[RadioAstronomer]

Assuming you can get money from tax-paying suckers

Sigh! SETI is privately funded. No tax-paying "suckers".

[boris]

"Conclusion: we live in a quiet neighbourhood."

As a reluctant convert to the Rare Earth point of view, I agree. A quiet galaxy, or perhaps a quiet universe.

My current UYAG (Ultra Wild-Assed Guess) is that there are between 1-10 intelligent civilizations in the entire Milky Way; we are essentially alone.

--Boris

[farmfriend]

I'm referring, of course, to DUCT TAPE!

LOL! I like that one.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[RadioAstronomer]

My current UYAG (Ultra Wild-Assed Guess) is that there are between 1-10 intelligent civilizations in the entire Milky Way; we are essentially alone.

That is completely possible.

[gcruse]

"As I look back over the past 10 years I'm very proud of what we have achieved

I'd say, be proud of what you did.  You achieved nothing.   Looking is not achieving.

[PatrickHenry]

A quiet galaxy, or perhaps a quiet universe.

If so, that's very good news. It's all ours! We ought to hurry up and get out there to grab it -- all of it -- before some new species emerges out of the ooze somewhere and gets uppity.

[balrog666]

My current UYAG (Ultra Wild-Assed Guess) is that there are between 1-10 intelligent civilizations in the entire Milky Way; we are essentially alone.

Do you count us?

[boris]

"If so, that's very good news. It's all ours! We ought to hurry up and get out there to grab it -- all of it -- before some new species emerges out of the ooze somewhere and gets uppity."

Just tell us how.

=========================

Actually I find it profoundly depressing:
(1) If we are the best the Universe can do it is a pretty sorry universe;
(2) As a member (maybe) the only intelligent species in the universe, everything you do (or I do) is invested with a horrible portent. Even taking a dump. Think about it.

--Boris

[Victoria Delsoul]

No suspicious signal survived that test, but the astronomers are not down-hearted; they know that ET could be detected tomorrow, in a thousand years, or never.

Well, tomorrow is fine…a thousand years would be problematic, though.

[PatrickHenry]

Actually I find it profoundly depressing:
(1) If we are the best the Universe can do it is a pretty sorry universe;
(2) As a member (maybe) the only intelligent species in the universe, everything you do (or I do) is invested with a horrible portent. Even taking a dump.
Think about it.

I do think about it. Some preliminary conclusions: (a) ID is obviously out the window. (b) Our existence is of incalculable importance; nothing has any meaning except by our perception and understanding. (c) If we recognize our unique position in the great scheme of things, we should be motivated to take our lives and our actions more seriously.

In other words, if we're truly alone in the universe, it's the greatest boon to morality one can imagaine.

[PatrickHenry]

... a thousand years would be problematic, though.

We still have each other.

[Porterville]

Maybe God made man to populate the universe... pretty cool, all those resources.

[Victoria Delsoul]

You're right, I didn't think about it.

[TomB]

Thanks for the ping, my FRiend. ;-)

[edwin hubble]

"...due to technological advances, this RF that is being bled into space quiets down dramatically.

Just my two cents."


Great overview of the problem, RadioAstronomer.

As I recall Sagan and Drake anticipated a scenario in which a new technology-using civilization would transmit in RF for at time, and then go quiet.

In the Drake equation:
R * Fp * Ne * Fl * Fi * Fc * L = N

The "L" term is the "Lifetime" of communicating civilizations (years).

That time "L" could be the time from dawn-of-technology to extinction, or it could be until they go off-the-air for any reason (like a nuclear war that sends them back to the stone age).

---

Question on your last paragraph:
"..All that can reasonably be expected to be detected a faint signal from the narrowband carrier itself."

So...would we be looking for a doppler shift from a planetary-orbit in a narrow band?

[longshadow]

They could be out there ... somewhere.

Sure, they're just on other faces of the TimeCube, so we can't hear them.

[Hank Rearden]

They're heeeeeeere.

[lonevoice]

bump

[PatrickHenry]

Sure, they're just on other faces of the TimeCube, so we can't hear them.

Your profondity is astounding. But you forgot the obligatory link: TIME CUBE .