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Making It Hard For Extraterrestrials To Hear Us

Posted by timothy on from the sounds-like-a-fine-idea-to-me dept.

quaith writes "US astronomer Frank Drake has told scientists at a special SETI meeting in London that earthlings are making it less likely that we will be heard in space. In the past, we used huge ground stations to broadcast radio and television signals which could be picked up relatively easily — according to astronomers' calculations anyway. Now we use satellites that transmit at 75 watts and point toward Earth instead of into space. In addition, we've switched to digital which makes the transmissions even fainter. Drake has concluded that very soon, in space no one will hear us at all. I guess we'd better keep listening."

1 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. 1UP Drake's 7 by fibrewire · · Score: -1, Troll

    Mick Jagger said it best - "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."

    All that funding for so many years just to realize it was all a waste. How about we sell SETI to fund a real space program? Like one to bring back some stupid moon rocks? American moon rocks - or better yet i'll take that money and spend it on a robotic whore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=091ugdiojEM

    I swear this country gets closer to "Idiocracy" every year...