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SETI@Home Publishes Skymap
An anonymous reader writes "The skymap of where in the night sky to find the most promising SETI@Home signals is reported today, along with the research plan for the March Stellar Countdown project. The dedicated use of the Arecibo Telescope to revisit these spikes, pulses, and steady signals, focused on 166 star candidates. Those 166 were pruned from the five billion signals that have been found since 1999, depending on the signal's persistence, closeness to a known star, and frequency. The next step is particularly fascinating, if a signal appears to have increased since the first observation put that star on the checklist."
I'm reposting this because apparently, there are a lot of moderators modding down as "troll" anyone who posts anything that even smells like "SETI is stupid". Despite getting one "interesting" mod, my post is now buried. So, here I go again. THIS IS NOT A TROLL. I've made a statement(SETI is pointless) and I'm backing it up with a lot of reasons why. Seems like good discussion material to me.
The whole thing is pointless. Here's why.
* Chance of physically intercepting the signal is next to nothing. They don't get much radio time, and they can't cover much of the sky.
* Now chances of actually recognizing the signal as intelligent life are unknown. They've got some great theories. Who knows if they're right?
* Ok, maybe you see it and you recognize it. Can you decode it?
* Alright, so who cares if you decode it, you FOUND INTELLIGENT LIFE that existed at least several hundred of years ago
* Ok, so you send a reply. You figure out where that source planet will be when the signal finally reaches it.
* "The aliens get it" requires the same hurdles. Mainly, they have a SETI program, they've got their ears pointed in the right direction, they identify the reply as intelligent life, etc. Hell, it assumes they haven't nuked themselves into extinction like we're on the steady path towards.
* Now, lets say they decide to reply(ie, they're not xenophobic, they don't think it's pointless, etc). It takes another couple hundred years to get back to earth, assuming they aim right etc.
* Now you're assuming someone here on earth actually is still listening. In a couple hundred years, is anyone going to remember SETI? We have trouble keeping languages around!
* Great, someone's actually listening and gets the signal. You've just had the century-long equivalent of the 20 second bar conversation. "Hi". "Hi". "So, uh, send radio signals often?"
SETI people conveniently ignore almost all of these obvious problems that make the entire search pointless.
Please help metamoderate.
It depends who is in power. Religious people will NEVER disclose first contact. Since nearly every country on the planet is run by a theist, I don't think governments will disclose anything.
KoalaBear33
......The worst thing in my life happened when the stock market started mattering more than the economy
After spending years searching the radio frequencies on earth for intelligent life, the closest I have found are Dr. Laura, Howard Stern, and Rush Limbaugh ;-) Maybe there is intelligent life on other planets?
no shit man. i like slashdot and i dont want a -1 on here, but i have one question... ARE THEY FUCKING BLIND? we are not alone...
You are about to give someone a piece of your mind, something which you can ill afford...