Has SETI been taken over by the Greys?
If so, we're doomed, doomed!
SETI Institute damps down 'wow!' signal report from Russia
The killjoys at the SETI Institute -- killjoys all over the world, really -- are damping down wild speculation that a Russian instrument has seen a “possible” alien transmission. Right now, as it happens, nobody knows what was spotted by the RATAN-600 telescope in Russia, partly because its operators kept the observation under …
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Wednesday 31st August 2016 11:58 GMT Blank-Reg
"Your explanation for anything slightly peculiar is aliens, isn't it? You lose your keys, it's aliens. A picture falls off the wall, it's aliens. That time we used up a whole bog roll in a day, you thought that was aliens as well. "
"Well we didn't use it all, Lister. Who did? "
"Rimmer, Aliens used our bog roll? "
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Thursday 1st September 2016 15:28 GMT Radio Wales
Aroused - but in a shy way.
It's definitely not aliens in these circumstances. I - I mean - we, have been studying the science of Parallel Universe Breakthrough for years, and can confidently discount aliens from these scenarios.
The situation where you return to the room you have just left because you forgot to pick up your keys - whatever, and despite having seen them less than five minutes ago, they have vanished - seemingly into thin air. You widen your search in ever increasing desperation, muttering to yourself - they were right here, I saw them/it dammit!
The usual scene plays out before your confused and angered eyes, as you return to the room yet again, and to your utter disbelief, There they are right there where you left them. It's even worse when your irritated partner strolls in just before you and picks said keys up saying "I thought you said you couldn't find them?" Adding a sarcastic "If they had teeth, they would have bitten you".
Yes, we've all been there. it is a worldwide phenomenon and of course has a earthly boring answer.
It is the Breakthrough Effect, where you - in a different dimension where slightly out of step with yourself and your phantom self did not forget their keys, so of course they're not there. Obviously! After a while the temporary rent repairs itself and disappears. leaving your keys where you left them. Normality is restored and leaves you muttering to yourself about how things seem to have a mind of their own and maybe you need glasses... And then you forget about it - until the next time.
Nah, nah, nah, nah.........
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 07:29 GMT Big_Boomer
Shhhhhh
Keep the radio noise down! Otherwise the humans will want to talk to you and you know what they are like. Once you acknowledge their existence you will NEVER get them to shut up. Just look at their excessive EM emissions,....like anybody cares whether The Trump beats The Clinton or vice-versa. <sigh>
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 08:50 GMT Mage
Most likely
If it's real and more than 20 LY away, then it's natural.
In the unlikely event that it's artificial, then it's rather close (like Proxima B etc).
The Cosmic Background Radiation, Inverse Square Law and Thermodynamics (Shannon-Nyquist Law) mitigate against any distant artificial radio signals. We need to concentrate on Spectroscopy.
I hope the James Webb project is successful.
Note that the purpose of the Radio Telescopes isn't to look for alien transmissions but signals from stars, which are incredibly powerful radio sources compared to any possible artificial radio signal. Clue in name.
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 18:59 GMT John Brown (no body)
Re: Most likely
Of course, if it's a "wild" signal by a tech at the alien equivalent of the non-steerable Aricebo or the Chinese FAST, using a very tight beam and every bit of power she/he/it/whatever could scrounge up before the Men In Black stopped she/he/it/whatever then we'll never know. Of course, being non-steerable, there may not be another alignment for a very, very long time.
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 21:31 GMT Destroy All Monsters
Re: Most likely
Thermodynamics (Shannon-Nyquist Law)
I don't see what a theorem about the sampling rate necessary for reconstructing an analog signal has to do with Thermodynamics, or interstellar communication for that matter.
Also, the "Cosmic Background Radiation" is strongly above 11 GHz (centered at ~160 GHz). Actually 11 GHz seems to be still a quiet region.
We need to concentrate on Spectroscopy
What? I don't suppose you mean optical SETI...
Note that the purpose of the Radio Telescopes isn't to look for alien transmissions but signals from stars
I don't see anyone who disputes this but one can always piggyback for some signal processing goodness now that the CPUs are cheap and plentiful.
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 11:05 GMT Mage
Nonsense in the Media
A lot of silly speculation in the Guardian and UK Independent.
"He wrote that the strength of the signal might suggest that it came from a Kardashev Type II civilisation." Because actually if it is from 90 M LY away, it can't be an artificial signal using any physics we know. How likely is it that it's even a directional signal? It will be something generated by the star, if it's real at all.
The Kardashev scale is science fiction, a nice idea with no basis in fact or science, that E. E. "Doc" Smith would have been proud of.
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 13:41 GMT Teiwaz
Re: Nonsense in the Media
"Misread "Kardashev Type II civilisation" as Kardasian Type II civilisation, because let's be honest, the Kardasians are definately a type II civilisation."
Even pack mentality 'spoonheads' would be preferable to 'Kardashian type II civilisation' which of late we appear to be (if one looked at certain transmissions on the western hemisphere of earth).
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Tuesday 30th August 2016 23:33 GMT Andrew Jones 2
Re: Nonsense in the Media
Well to be fair.... www.observer.com/2016/08/not-a-drill-seti-is-investigating-a-possible-extraterrestrial-signal-from-deep-space/ he did name the scale after himself.... but I have to admit - when I read this:
"In his acclaimed work “Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations,” Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev explained that a Type II civilization would be able to harness the energy of their entire host star. The most common hypothetical example of this would be a Dyson Sphere—which is a massive artificial structure that could completely encapsulate a star and transfer the energy to a nearby planet."
I couldn't help but think - I've just finished Binge Watching Star Trek: TNG on Netflix and I'm pretty sure they had an episode about the Dyson Sphere.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
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Wednesday 31st August 2016 08:23 GMT Anonymous Coward
Amused to Death
The signal could have been caused by aliens amusing themselves to death...
And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Groups 'round the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data in their lists
And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry
No feelings left
This species has amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
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Thursday 1st September 2016 21:54 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Amused to Death
This species has amused itself to death
Yeah, overcome by progressivism.
It's actually sad that Waters got all of it arse-backwards. In the same album Watching TV we read in particular: Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek That no-good low-down dirty rat. Who used to order his troops To fire on the women and children.
Makes me puke. Sorry, Waters old chap, but here grandpa would have fought FOR Chiang Kai-shek and AGAINST Mao who REALLY did much worse than order his troops to fire on the women and children (but mainly against the Japanese, who are not even mentioned. Imagine that, Imagine that!)
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Wednesday 31st August 2016 13:05 GMT Hargrove
W/ 'umble apologies
(1 GHz bandwidth is “a billion times” the bandwidth typical SETI searches use).
Sorry to inject a technical note.
That would make the bandwidth "typically" used by SETI 1 Hz. No wonder they can't detect anything.
The good news is that we can all leap to the conclusion that the universe is awash with intelligent life that we haven't detected.
The bad news (need I mention Donald and Hillary?) is that we in the States do not appear to be among them.
I'm of the Don Henley school of thought: "There not here; they're not coming."
Biting the hand that feeds IT
