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Detection of Earth-like Civilizations in Space Now Possible

Posted by Zonk on from the in-spaaaaaaace dept.

Mr. McGibby writes "Astronomers have come up with an improved method of looking for extraterrestrial life with an Earth-like civilization. Theorist Avi Loeb proposes to use instruments like the Low Frequency Demonstrator (LFD) of the Mileura Wide-Field Array (MWA), an Australian facility for radio astronomy currently under construction. The array could (theoretically) detect civilizations broadcasting in the same frequencies as our own society. From the article: 'Loeb and Zaldarriaga calculate that by staring at the sky for a month, the MWA-LFD could detect Earth-like radio signals from a distance of up to 30 light-years, which would encompass approximately 1,000 stars. More powerful broadcasts could be detected to even greater distances. Future observatories like the Square Kilometer Array could detect Earth-like broadcasts from 10 times farther away, which would encompass 100 million stars. ' The original paper describes the details."

2 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Knowing Your Neighbours by zippthorne · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ridiculous. It depends on just how much evidence you don't have. For instance, there's very little evidence of the existence of Yeti despite some rather concerted efforts to find anything at all. In fact, there is no evidence at all. Yet mountain lions are easy to find evidence of. Therefore yeti are far less likely to exist than mountain lions.

    Absence of evidence is prima facie evidence of absence.

    The question is, does your lack of evidence result from failing to look or from nothing turning up despite exhaustive searching?

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  2. Re:Not a big area by David_Shultz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    anybody who's more than 30 ly away won't be able to have a meaningful conversation with us over the course of a single researcher's lifetime

    Are you joking? Do you not think it would be meaningful just to receive the message "hello"? this would be one of the most important moments in the history of humankind (not to mention alienkind). A long conversation isn't needed for this to be meaningful. Heck, no conversation is required -we just want to find someone else out there.