New Planets discovered....cool!

[Virtual_Burlesque]

The nearest we have come to an observable first contact between humans and aliens is what happened dung Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds on Halloween Eve, 1938.

Is there anything about that evening’s events that leads one to predict intelligence reaction will be the hallmark of any future meetings?

Has basic human intelligence raised sufficiently to predict a more rational reaction?

 

[Weird Harold]

I remember reading in The Andromeda Strain about an Air Force study where they convinced people they had met aliens.

Apparently about 80% of the people reacted with homicidal xenophobia.

I know, it's fiction. But it's also silly enough to be true.

I'd be surprised if the real figure would be as high 80% if that fictonal study could be duplicated -- but 40% would be more than enough to ruin any chance for a peaceful First Contact and 40% is probably a conservative estimate of the xenophobe faction.

 

[Weird Harold]

The nearest we have come to an observable first contact between humans and aliens is what happened dung Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds on Halloween Eve, 1938.

Is there anything about that evening’s events that leads one to predict intelligence reaction will be the hallmark of any future meetings?

Has basic human intelligence raised sufficiently to predict a more rational reaction?

The War of The Worlds is a story about an alien invasion so the panic isnt really representative of what a peaceful (or at least non-violent) contact might bring.

I don't think human intelligence has changed much since 1938, but I do think familiarity with communications technologies has generally grown beyond the naivete of the typical radio listener in 1938.

 

[Lord DragonsWing]

The War of The Worlds is a story about an alien invasion so the panic isnt really representative of what a peaceful (or at least non-violent) contact might bring.

I don't think human intelligence has changed much since 1938, but I do think familiarity with communications technologies has generally grown beyond the naivete of the typical radio listener in 1938.

I agree with you WH. These planets have been out there for billions of years and we're just now discovering them. Soon, they're predicting we'll find an Earth-sized planet. How will people react to that?
During Orson Welle's broadcast there were many suicides from people just tuning in not knowing it was a story. We haven't changed. Independence Day showed how some will react. Many will do the same as the movie and many will react the same as they did in 1938. The scary part is of course are we prepared if it ever happens?

I think we're just being avoided like a disease. The equations show there are many more intelligent and lesser intelligent civilizations out there. We're just now discovering some planets. Yet I'm sure many of them know about us already.

 

[Carl East]

It makes me laugh that they're only just now discovering planets out there, as if this is some kind of news. Something I've known all my life, I mean to think we're the only sentient beings in this universe is completely nonsensical and arrogant. I also agree with LDW, I believe they've known about us for many years, and also know that we wouldn't be ready for first contact.

The chances are, that those beings that are well above us in the tech department, are probably billions of light years away. I wouldn't mind betting though that there are some similar planets to our own near by, but that they're not as advanced as we are.

I just hope by the time we visit these planets (and we will one day) that we're ready to do so and are not still an aggresive race.

Long before that happens though, we need to conquer our own little corner of the universe. I mean we still haven't got a decent orbiting space station let alone bases on the Moon and Mars. These things are very important stepping stones to travelling out there where no human has gone before. Also, we have got to get over this linear thinking, that solid fuels is the only way to go.

The best speeds we can achieve at the moment may sound impressive, but in space talk we would be snails trying to cross a continent. I truly believe that when we reach a certain stage in our technological awareness, that we will be visited by other senient beings and that we'll discover a vast community out there just waiting for us to get onto our feet.

Unfortunatly I'm going to miss it all, and that SUCKS. lol

Carl

 

[AngeloMichael]

Keeping things interesting...

I find all this speculation about life on other planets fascinating and always have, but I do recognize it as speculation and nothing more.

Considering how large the universe is, vast is an even better word, even if our solar system is somewhat unique, there are still most likely millions out there like ours among the billions of star systems. So I think the odds that there is life and possibly even intelligent life on other worlds somewhere out there quite likely. Ever making contact with them, is another story. However, I think if the human race is around long enough and continues its exploration of space, one day we might very well find evidence of other life or civilizations even, but not necessarily contact with other civilaiztions.

Here is a news article that came out today which conicidently covers a lot of what has been discussed in this thread. I wouldn't get too excited over it until anything is confirmed, but even if the signal is found to be caused by natural phenomena, it is still pretty exciting and makes me glad that SETI is getting some results.

Space signal studied for alien contact

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An unexplained radio signal from deep space could -- just might be -- contact from an alien civilization, New Scientist magazine reported on Thursday.

The signal, coming from a point between the Pisces and Aries constellations, has been picked up three times by a telescope in Puerto Rico.

There are other explanations besides extraterrestrial contact that may explain the signal. New Scientist said the signal could be generated by a previously unknown astronomical phenomenon or even be a by-product from the telescope itself.

But the mystery beam has excited astronomers across the world.

"If they can see it four, five or six times it really begins to get exciting," Jocelyn Bell Burnell of the University of Bath in western England told the magazine.

It was broadcast on the main frequency at which the universe's most common element, hydrogen, absorbs and emits energy, and which astronomers say is the most likely means by which aliens would advertise their presence.

The potentially extraterrestrial signals were picked up through the SETI+home project, which uses programs running as screensavers on millions of personal computers worldwide to sift through the huge amount of data picked up by the telescope.

 

[snooper]

It makes me laugh that they're only just now discovering planets out there, as if this is some kind of news. ...

The news is not that they exist, but that specific ones have been located. We all know that winning lottery tickets exist; the difficult part is locating one.

I... I mean to think we're the only sentient beings in this universe is completely nonsensical and arrogant. I also agree with LDW, I believe they've known about us for many years, and also know that we wouldn't be ready for first contact.

The chances are, that those beings that are well above us in the tech department, are probably billions of light years away. ...

If they are billions of light-years away, and know about us, who have been around for about 10,000 years, that implies FTL information transfer. DO you have any ideas how that might be effected?

... I just hope by the time we visit these planets (and we will one day) that we're ready to do so and are not still an aggresive race.
...

If we have lost our aggression, why would we be pouring enormous efforts into such a task?

... Long before that happens though, we need to conquer our own little corner of the universe. I mean we still haven't got a decent orbiting space station let alone bases on the Moon and Mars. These things are very important stepping stones to travelling out there where no human has gone before. ...

I didn't realiise that humans had been to Mars before?

... Also, we have got to get over this linear thinking, that solid fuels is the only way to go. ...

The first nuclear powered rocket leaves Earth orbit soon.

 

[Carl East]

The news is not that they exist, but that specific ones have been located. We all know that winning lottery tickets exist; the difficult part is locating one.

It won't be difficult at all in the future Snooper, because we'll have observatries in space one day. Not only that but we'll actually discover a means by which to travel that is quicker than LS (At least I hope we do)

[/i]
If they are billions of light-years away, and know about us, who have been around for about 10,000 years, that implies FTL information transfer. DO you have any ideas how that might be effected?[/QUOTE]

It doesn't imply FTL at all, unless you're thinking as a human being (which you are) it never ceases to amaze me how difficult it is for people to accept that there may be other ways to travel. You assume, because that is all we know, that there is only LS. Let's take a fantastic leap of faith and surmise that it really is possible to fold space and travel from one side of the universe to the other in the blink of an eye. Would that not mean that signals (as we know them) would be obsolete?

[/i]
If we have lost our aggression, why would we be pouring enormous efforts into such a task?[/QUOTE]

The fact is we have to leave this planet one day for good, at which time we will move to Mars as that will be habitable. We will also have to leave this solar system one day (all be it a few million years from now) This is why it's important to know everything there is to know about space and how to live in, and around it.

[/i]
I didn't realiise that humans had been to Mars before?[/QUOTE]

We haven't, I said we haven't even got a base on Mars or the moon yet.

[/i]
The first nuclear powered rocket leaves Earth orbit soon. [/QUOTE]

Nuclear power. hehe It might as well run on coal, nuclear power in space simply isn't the answer to the vast distances we're talking about.

Carl

ps I'm enjoying this thread.