Should SETI Call it Quits?

After reading the posting and looking at all related information, I believe I can give a response.
The question of if we are alone or not in the universe is one that is an old question. We often wonder, while looking up at the night sky, it is something that crosses some peoples mind. The universe is a very large and old thing, being around alot longer than the human species has been on the earth. Some scientist liken this to give an idea of the time span that they are looking at, is that the human race has been on the world what would have been considered about 30 seconds out of a 24 hour day.
As technology progresses, so does the ability to detect and analyze that data. At one time, it was speculated that were worlds that follow other stars, and then one day, astronomers were able to prove conclusively this to be true. They speculate about water being on other planets and bodies in the universe, and one only has to look no further than our own Solar System to find that has occured on the different planets, moons and other bodies that pass through this system.
There is no real guarantee that there is intelligent life out in the universe, that is advanced to make contact. But the age of the universe and the fact they are finding all of the necessary things for life to occure, these discoveries have been made in the past 10 years, as well as, that there is the possiblity that life at one time may have existed on Mars.
In 1977, in Ohio, a signal from outside of the solar system was detected, it was 72 seconds and thus was called the WOW signal. No one could explain this signal,nor has it occured again.
The ultimate problem that has been postulated, is that we may not be able to detect or know of any signal that is put forth, as it is a matter of a technology difference. If you consider that in 1950's the TV's would not be able to recieve an HD TV signal, nor would it be able to recieve all of the information.
It is also shown that signals tend to degrade the further from the source that it goes, so even the earliest radio and TV signals that are travelling in space, would eventually be unreadable and unintellable, and probably be viewed as natural radiation of the background of space.
I would say not to cut the program or call it quits. The technology and science is continuing to move forward, new descoveries and break throughs are made on a faster pace. If we do make contact or find out that we are not alone in the univerese, there is the question of how would the population react?
Most people think about such, but the reality of such would terrify most people. Part of the population would embrace such and the other part would fear the news.
Give it time, and one day the answer will be clear. If science fiction has shown anything, most advanced races, tend to be very leery about making contact with those that are not advanced.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


I think it's a worth while endeavor.

No, you're talking about millions upon millions of LIGHT YEARS. We've searched for what, 40 years, and we got a hit within the first decade of the program's existence?

I don't care how much money it costs, if there is even a SLIGHT possibility we can make contact, we keep that possibility available.

It's like having a telephone. You don't have to be on a call 24/7 for it to be a valuable tool to own. You never know... a call could come that warns you of an impending emergency...

No, SETI should never call it quits, because intelligent life may be a random occurrence and not long lasting in the universe and it may be a hit and miss thing with our way of communicating...never give up.

a reply to: InTheLight

Agreed. And there is always new technology to aid in the search. Read these articles. It's just a matter of time and technology.

www.hngn.com...

www.techfragments.com...

a reply to: Phantom423

That is quite impressive and I would presume there will be much needed research and experimentation at the outset, but, again, alien signals (in infrared only? why not encompass all types of signals as well?) must be pointing in our direction ... what will be the odds?

Drake pointed out several additional advantages to a search in this new realm:

“The signals are so strong that we only need a small telescope to receive them. Smaller telescopes can offer more observational time, and that is good because we need to search many stars for a chance of success.”

We should never stop listening ,a signal from another civilisation will change the world,I also think (and hope) that it will happen in my lifetime,just a tiny signal will change everything and deal a death blow to religions around the world who think we are so special that God sent down messengers to us or that he created the universe for us earthlings,I admit I just can't wait to rub it in.

We know that we are not alone the odds of us being the only intelligent civilisation in the universe is outrageous we just need that 1 signal and it's cased closed ,I believe we have already received a legitimate signal with the wow signal anyway.

Should SETI Call it Quits?

seriously? just when the technology is getting to where serious SETI investigations are supported?
when we can analyse the chemical make up of exoplanetary atmospheres?
when we are learning which exo planetary chemicals almost have to be produced by metabolism
when we now have the tech to detect military and airport radar signals 100's of light years away if they exist?
when we can detect contrast differences on a rotating exo jupiter and soon will be able to do that on terrestrial class planets?
when we are ready to detect technological signatures in ways never possible before?

this is the time someone considers giving up on SETI?

really?

Searching for intelligent life first makes the presumption that you are intelligent life.

What we think of as "intelligent" and what the universe considers intelligent might be two different things. For all we know, we're like 5-year-olds shouting into the middle of the adult conversation. I suppose we can continue, but we have no idea if we're even going about it in the right way.

In the mid 80s I sent a $10 donation to Carl Sagan's SETI program because it sounded interesting. Since they are now using tax dollars to stay in operation and they really don't know what they are looking for, I say shut it down. Its a waste of tax dollars not saying the the same dollars would go to anything of more utility.

detection of signatures of relativisitic space craft:

www.technologyreview.com... rner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arxivblog%2FGmoU+%28The+Physics+arXiv+Blog%29

Always thought it was a stupid idea.

You basically sending a signal out saying "HEY PRIMITIVE SPECIES HERE INVADE US!"

a reply to: ZOOMER

If you did discover a signal doing the SETI @ Home thing on your computer, you can say goodbye to your computer... LOL

I imagine agents in black SUV's rolling up to my house to confiscate my computer. I try to politely protest, but they shut me down and take my computer anyway.

It takes forever to get reimbursed from the Feds...

a reply to: antmax21

ET life as in bacteria organisms, most likely yes... but I think they're aim is to find civilized ET life. I hope they are able to continue and NOT give up.

It'll be a sad day if they ever shut down and their message comes a day too late.

No, do NOT give up. Do NOT stop searching. The fact that nothing has yet been found (presumably) is irrelevant. Should early European explorers have "given up" after the first few ships sank trying to find distant shores? Should the Wrights have "given up" attempting to fly after their first few attempts crashed and burned? Should the Russians and Americans have "given up" when their rockets and payloads exploded on the launch pad?

Sure, light-weights, "give up" if you want to. Not me. And, don't worry, the rest of us will carry on. And yes, of course, we'll welcome you back with open arms when you jump back in and claim that you were "part of the discovery" and "believed all along" that it would succeed one day.

SO, go find something else to do in the meantime. Spend your valuable time, energy, and resources on something else you consider more worthwhile. We'll be here, patiently looking, patiently waiting. One day, perhaps even while we're still alive, validation will come. And if not, the journey and search itself is still worth it.

they could come clean today and disclose to the public what they already discovered
my belief is they found contact many times already and currently work with 'them' a et division
the sooner 'they' start showing up in ufos and 'earth surface visiting mode' we'll start seeing something quite different

a reply to: Royal76

Yep I have got no idea why the scum withhold all the information from us.
If you want to know about UFOs you need to visit the VATT telescope, the Jesuits who run it apparently talk openly of them,
I have been told by one friend that all off the planets are inhabited he told me a few other things that have been confirmed as well, the universe is 1/60th the same heat all the way through it none of this goldilocks rubbish I am reading a thread on chrisspivey.org... well worth a read very detailed and it shows you all of the information that points us to the truth.

They should only try to contact aliens that want to help us,
Buddha first.

X-Factor Age random alien isn't in love with Earthling's twelfth grade crush.

originally posted by: KublahCain
They should only try to contact aliens that want to help us,
Buddha first.

Well, shouldn't Buddha already know we are here? I don't think SETI would need to contact Buddha in order for him to help us if he chose to do so.

a reply to: stormbringer1701

This article is just more MIT silliness. The energy cost to push a spaceship to near-light speeds is so high that it couldn't be afforded. I mean really, really high. Like many orders of magnitude above our total energy consumption.

It is much better to look for signatures of fractional light speeds, in the range of 0.01 to 0.1 c. You can still get to a nearby solar system in a reasonable time with these speeds. For example, going through a Bok globule might produce enough nosecone heating for detection. Some more details here: stanericksonsblog.blogspot.com...