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It's called Pioneer 10

This data just adds to the mystery of where are they. Fermi Paradox

By all that's reasonable, if life is common, and this data just increases that likelihood, then it's extremely likely that someone somewhere would have colonized the galaxy.

Of course there are only a few reasonable conclusions (reasonable as I see it anyway...)

1. We're the only "intelligent" life around. Meaning that life may be common but intelligence as we see it is such a long shot that we are the only or the first.

2. We're the only life around. Meaning that a unique combination of events combined to produce life on this planet.

3. We're not the only intelligent life but the other's haven't reached this neck of the galaxy yet.

4. We're not the only intelligent life but we're off limits for whatever reason.

Feel free to juggle the odds or toss in new ones...

The likelihood of other meaningful life in the Universe just got better. And I for one welcome the possibility.

I, for one, welcome our new Drake Equation overlords.

I'm terribly sorry, but you're wrong.

First, SETI must "play by the rules". It cannot point to government conspiracies and grainy photos as "proof" of ETI. It has so far turned up bupkis, precisely for this reason.

Second of all, are you saying the Drake Equation is crap? That there's simply nothing out there?

Read "The Borderlands Of Science" by Michael Shermer for further discussion about SETI and what sets it apart from the frothing conspiracy fools. In short, SETI is a shot in the dark, and based on a premise for which there is no proof - life on other worlds - but it is done in the same way we discovered germs or broke the sound barrier, by adhering to scientific principles.

"This stable, middle-aged star is just a bit hotter and brighter than our sun. And if alien life is anywhere, it's likely to be there," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

It's important to have a suitable star, but that's only one term of the Drake Equation.

A less sensational quote might have been, "And if alien life is anywhere, it's possible that it's there."

10. That old 1981 pontiac is now so rusty that even the junk yards won't take it.

9. Cyclops and Wolverine have been fighing over her for 26 years no. Enough is enough, get her out of the picture.

8. As part of the deal for acquiring the Phoenix Suns, the Martian sports magnate had to buy the whole city.

7. The NHL Phoenix Coyotes got tired of all the ribbing about having a hockey team where there is no ice. The Martian poles way outfreeze Canada. Put that in your back-bacon, Maple Leafs!

6. They wanted to keep those 133 degree summer temperatures. All they have to do now is replace the "+" with a "-".

5. It's part of a plot by Scottsdale to take over the state.

4. "Project Phoenix" wants to shut down by finding Phoenix as the example of life on another planet.

3. It's punishment for the city name violating one of J.K. Rowling's book title trademarks.

2. Get rid of it already, it is too confusing to remember whether or not the O goes before the E.

1. "Because it blocks my view of Tucson".

A picture of DSS 62: The dish that picked up Pioneer 10
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/vlbicor/pic_htm/d ss62.htm

PIONEER 10 AT ARECIBO
http://www.seti.org/science/ao-p10.html

Pioneer Home page
http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/p ioneer/PNStat.html

Earth (the dot in the middle) as seen from 3.7 billion miles away by the Voyager 1 spacecraft, on 6/6/1990:
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/pale_blue_dot.h tml

A Ride Under the Arecibo Radio Telescope
http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/under_the_mesh.ht ml

is what I read about what they'd do once intelligent life is found.

That must be why radio telescopes don't have a 'reply' button. Also makes me think our many years of transmitting radio signals should have been accompanied by 'do not reply to this message' disclaimers to avoid huge amounts of radio spam in 100,000 years.

Given the time scales involved in round-trip transmission, why would they even think it mattered?

N = R * f p n e f l f i f c L

N = The number of civilizations in The Milky Way Galaxy whose radio emissions are detectable.

R* = The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life.

f p = The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.

n e = The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life.

fl = The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.

f i = The fraction of life bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges.

f c = The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space.

L = The length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

Assuming 100,000,000,000 stars, 1/10th of those stars having habitable planets, 1/100th of those planets developing life, and 1/100th of those lifeforms becoming intelligent and producing technology, that leaves us with about 100,000 potential civilizations sending messages. Granted, the majority of these numbers are made up, but I would venture that they're on the conservative side.

So it's likely enough that we're being sent some sort of evidence of civilization. Whether or not that civilization will still be around by the time we hear them is another matter entirely.

As long as Microsoft keeps on supporting projects such as this one, I'll be able to cope with its infamous commercial behaviour.

Let's just assume that a planet just like Earth[TM] is the only way to get intelligent life.
Add all of the extra pessimistic factors described in the article to the Drake equation. Put in reasonable values for everything. If you get an answer greater than one the Fermi Paradox means that finding intelligent life (or it finding you) is still likely, if you manage to keep a civilization around long enough.

We'd better hurry up and find those 4 additional Earths, so there can be enough natural resources for everyone to be able to get online!

Nice post, mister cut & paste karma whore. You might at least have removed the "more info" links from your text.

This is probably the best place to start:
Contact. This is similar to the references I have seen before-- groups of scientists and science fiction authors brought together to create first contact scenarios. Although Contact is not a political group, it is a scientific association.

Here is the actual link to our "First Contact" protocol.

As for natural processes that lead to temperatures below the cosmis microwave background temperature, there are at least of couple of obvious answers to that. One answer is that the CMB temperature is not exactly the same depending on which direction in the sky one measures. So if you consider the CMB temperature to be a single number, then any of those regions with a lower CMB temperature have matter at less than the CMB temperature. Admittedly, this is pretty much a cheat since you the CMB temperature should probably be considered a local value.

A stronger argument is that there probably are regions of space that are magnetically cooled below the local CMB temperature. All that is required for magnetic cooling is a mganetic field which will then preferentially trap particles with slower speeds parallel to the magnetic field. This is the same process that is at work in magnetic mirrors. Since magnetic fields are ubiquitous in space, its not too big of a leap of faith to assume that there are regions of space with higher than average magnetic fields that are far enough away from radiative sources that the magnetic cooling could bring the temperature below the CMB temperature. Regions behind intergalactic dust clouds could probably qualify.

Here.

"The Arecibo message, which was designed by Frank Drake (who was then Director of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and is now Chairman of the Board of the SETI Institute) together with his Observatory staff, was a simple graphic consisting of 73 rows of 23 "bits" per row. This number of rows and columns was chosen because each is a prime number. Prime numbers could be easily guessed by any recipients, and that would help them to decode the graphic. The message was sent by simple shifting of the signal between two frequencies in the 2,380 MHz band. It took three minutes to send the message.

The message itself gives the kind of information that any culture would want to learn about us: where we are located (at least within our solar system), what we look like (a crude stick figure), a simple drawing of the telescope used to send the message, and something about our biological construction (DNA and some of the building blocks of our biochemistry.) This message was sent as a "demonstration" to commemorate the upgrading of the 1,000 foot diameter Arecibo telescope with a new, more accurate reflector surface."

(http://www.seti-inst.edu/general/ao_message_cro p. html)

Yan

What about DeCSS code?

And there's the Drake Equation about the number of extraterrestrial civilizations. Quite transcendental, if not mathematical:
N = R* × fp × ne × fl × fi × fc × L

__

In this stumbling global economy, I can see the distributed computing model used more and more to provide cheap or free internet access. Juno and the SETI@home project for example, send raw data to it's volunteers home PC's to process, then later retrieves the results.
Pennypinchers may soon have to swap cpu cycles while they sleep if they want "free" internet access - not such a steep price IMO.

ISP's have to do something to offset costs, even sneaky ones like Juno.

That MAY be true if the reason for finding and imaging planets were to find extreterrestrial life, but it's not. That would just be the cherry on the cake.

It is to get a better understanding of how our own planet came into existence, to learn more about how the universe is comprised, etc...you know, REAL science. Are you saying that finding other solar systems beyond our own isn't important?

Sedondly, to say that a magical mythical god created life, when science has proven that we evolved, would be a tragedy. To stop all learning because God and the bible provide all answers would be a blow to discovery, BIG TIME. The Bible is a Christian book, what about all the other religions? Religion is required by the fact that every human being longs for the answers to questions of, "Where did we come from?", "Where are we going?", and "Why am I here?". Religion (whichever one you have been TOLD to choose by your social surroundings) answers all these questions nicely, and for that purpose.

What would happen if we suddenly were to realize, that we are NOT alone in this vast universe. A universe that is so vast, that most humans can't comprehend the size and distances involved. What would happen to your religious beliefs? To find out that we are not only NOT alone, but that we are relatively young in the universal intelligence pool. What then?

We live an a non-descript planet in the middle of a non-descript solar system in the middle of billions of stars that make up our Milky Way galaxy, one of billions of galaxies...and you're going to tell me that we are it?!?! Shame on you for your egocentric ideals. To project the hint that you KNOW that we are alone. Are you the ALMIGHTY god?! I think not, and no, you DONT know if we are alone, you couldn't possibly know, so why do you say these things??? We are finding the building blocks of life in deep "empty" space! So to say, that in trillions of tries, where live giving particles are found in all areas of space, just happened to evolve on OUR planet for no apparent reason (sarcastic), would be silly. To say that in the 20 billions years (our guess as of today as to the age of our universe) that our universe has been evolving, that Earth was the only place that life arose would also be rather simple minded. By the numbers alone, as stated by the Drake equation, to say that we are alone goes against the odds.

Lastly, just because Mr. Alien hasn't walked up to your door and introduced himself/herself (PC) to you, DOES NOT constitute proof that we are not being visited on a very regular basis, now is it. To say that we will never be able to travel faster than the speed of light is also extremely narrow minded. We (well, other scientists actually) are now sending light at 3 times 186,000 miles a second, not to mention, we have STOPPED light, and then sent it on its way. To say that manipulating gravity wouldn't bypass the speed of light conundrum is also wrong. To warp gravity is to also warp time and space. We can concievably travel vast distances in a relative instant, all within the realm of reality, TODAY.

Anyway, my rant is over. I just was blown away by narrow mindedness of some of the responses here. To know that we know LITTLE of the universe we live in seems to be forgotten. To assume (yes, makes an ass out of u and me) that we are it, and that discovery is BORING, is, well, illogical. Thank you for your time...Bartles and James

That MAY be true if the reason for finding and imaging planets were to find extreterrestrial life, but it's not. That would just be the cherry on the cake. It is to get a better understanding of how our own planet came into existence, to learn more about how the universe is comprised, etc...you know, REAL science. Are you saying that finding other solar systems beyond our own isn't important? Sedondly, to say that a magical mythical god created life, when science has proven that we evolved, would be a tragedy. To stop all learning because God and the bible provide all answers would be a blow to discovery, BIG TIME. The Bible is a Christian book, what about all the other religions? Religion is required by the fact that every human being longs for the answers to questions of, "Where did we come from?", "Where are we going?", and "Why am I here?". Religion (whichever one you have been TOLD to choose by your social surroundings) answers all these questions nicely, and for that purpose. What would happen if we suddenly were to realize, that we are NOT alone in this vast universe. A universe that is so vast, that most humans can't comprehend the size and distances involved. What would happen to your religious beliefs? To find out that we are not only NOT alone, but that we are relatively young in the universal intelligence pool. What then? We live an a non-descript planet in the middle of a non-descript solar system in the middle of billions of stars that make up our Milky Way galaxy, one of billions of galaxies...and you're going to tell me that we are it?!?! Shame on you for your egocentric ideals. To project the hint that you KNOW that we are alone. Are you the ALMIGHTY god?! I think not, and no, you DONT know if we are alone, you couldn't possibly know, so why do you say these things??? We are finding the building blocks of life in deep "empty" space! So to say, that in trillions of tries, where live giving particles are found in all areas of space, just happened to evolve on OUR planet for no apparent reason (sarcastic), would be silly. To say that in the 20 billions years (our guess as of today as to the age of our universe) that our universe has been evolving, that Earth was the only place that life arose would also be rather simple minded. By the numbers alone, as stated by the Drake equation, to say that we are alone goes against the odds. Lastly, just because Mr. Alien hasn't walked up to your door and introduced himself/herself (PC) to you, DOES NOT constitute proof that we are not being visited on a very regular basis, now is it. To say that we will never be able to travel faster than the speed of light is also extremely narrow minded. We (well, other scientists actually) are now sending light at 3 times 186,000 miles a second, not to mention, we have STOPPED light, and then sent it on its way. To say that manipulating gravity wouldn't bypass the speed of light conundrum is also wrong. To warp gravity is to also warp time and space. We can concievably travel vast distances in a relative instant, all within the realm of reality, TODAY. Anyway, my rant is over. I just was blown away by narrow mindedness of some of the responses here. To know that we know LITTLE of the universe we live in seems to be forgotten. To assume (yes, makes an ass out of u and me) that we are it, and that discovery is BORING, is, well, illogical. Thank you for your time...Bartles and James

So, let's assume SETI is successful and we enter into conversation with an alien society of incredibly aggressive capitalists, as seems to me the only possible outcome. What will their attitude be towards us? I don't think you can expect anything like, "Oh, look, a young species, let's teach them how to grow and prosper in the intergalactic community!" No. More like, "Look, another third-world planet to exploit!"

And this hypothetical super-capitalist society is going to patiently wait for us to send them a signal saying "Hey, we're here, come take us over"?

Sarcasm aside, while I do share your concerns, I don't think they're anything to get excited about, at least at the current stage--mainly because any civilization with the technology to travel here and the will and ability to take us over would presumably have done so a long time ago. It doesn't take a deliberate signal from us to be found; they could happen upon us by random searching, or, more likely, they'd pick up the EM signals we've been leaking for the past century.

Also, if SETI does find something, it doesn't necessarily follow that we'll respond; that's something to be decided by international committee, at which point I'm sure these concerns would be brought up.

I personally support SETI, just for the knowledge; that's what science is about, after all. Whether science is good for humanity at its current stage is a separate question, of course, but I like to think that we'll work out ways to put such knowledge to good use. Knowing that civilizations exist elsewhere, for example, could teach us a lot about evolution and such without needing to talk to the civilization in question. Failure to find any civilization would likewise tell us a lot. We may also discover phenomena completely unrelated to ETI as a side effect of the SETI studies.

And if they are out there and they are hostile, well, forewarned is forearmed.

Isn't there some hypothesis that given the number of galaxies, and the number of stars, and the number of planets, there should still be 10^? planets with life on them?

The Drake Equation gives an estimate for the number of planets that currently support intelligent life, in our own galaxy, given guesses about various quantities. There are a few pages around that will do the calculations for you (ok, it's not exactly difficult, but they do suggest "good" values too).

Of course, that's only for this galaxy. So I guess you can multiply any number you get by a few billion ...

--
Repton.