New Europe-Wide Radio Telescope To Look For ET

astroengine writes "A new radio telescope is under construction, consisting of 44 stations (each consisting of several antennae) spread across Europe. The pan-European Low Frequency Array is half built and already returning unprecedented observations of cosmic radio sources. The best thing is, when it's complete, SETI will be able to use the array to seek out transmitting extraterrestrial civilizations in these untapped low radio frequencies."

Comments

First Post?

[DarkKnightRadick]

So we're looking for ETs who are also ham radio operators?

Re:First Post?

[Sarten-X]

I've always found it interesting how we assume that aliens will follow time at the same rate we do. As far as aliens are concerned, this could be a really really high frequency, and we humans move really fast. I'm not implying any physics screweyness... just the speed at which we move and process things happening.

Re:First Post?

[Lije Baley]

Well, they would likely be the only ones left, using radio, long after the others switched to telepathy, built flying saucers, and ultimely ascended.

Re:First Post?

[CRCulver]

I've always found it interesting how we assume that aliens will follow time at the same rate we do.

One might imagine that things like reaction time have to be relatively close to things like gravity, because otherwise species could be wiped out by falling rocks and such.

In any event, I've always imagined that SETI might just be a waste of time, because civilizations might only use radio waves for a comparatively miniscule amount of time before they hit some technological singularity and find some other means of communication. Maybe I've been reading too much Vernor Vinge, who emphasises the swift and sudden disruption a singularity might bring in books like Marooned in Realtime , but there's got to be a pretty decent probability that any civilizations technologically advanced enough to talk to us have already surpassed us.

Re:First Post?

[kitsunewarlock]

Or it could be that these primitive radio bands are part of the visible spectrum and we have been blinding their society for ages, causing any flying saucers that come close to the earth to crash on Jupiter...

Re:First Post?

[gandhi_2]

This is a fascinating point.

The odds that any 2 un-introduced civilizations might be dabbling with RF communications at the same time are probably pretty slim.

OTOH, we are backwards-compatible. Someone around here knows semiphore protocols, morse code over light, i'll bet someone on /. even knows a thing or two about smoke signals.

The odds that any civilization who surpasses RF communication completely abandons all knowledge of it is probably pretty slim.

Re:First Post?

[keeboo]

This is totally messed up. Why would they look for E.T. in Europe?

If E.T.'s anywhere, it's in Hollywood, USA!

I thought E.T. was in a landfill, in New Mexico.

Re:First Post?

[MadKeithV]

Ah if only I had mod points. Reference: Atari Video Game Burial .

Re:First Post?

[VShael]

Exactly. It's all relative. Like the snail who got mugged by the 3 tortoises.
When questioned by the police he said "I just don't know. It all happened so fast."

Re:First Post?

[TapeCutter]

Don't get me wrong I think science is the only genuinely usefull philosphy we have. However once a technological species arises on a planet it will rapidly dominate the environment and it's population will explode. In all other species such population growth rapidly consumes the available resourse then promptly drops of the proverbial cliff. It's only in the last century that our technology and population have reached the point where it's plausible that we could wipe ourselves out with nuclear war or environmental vandalisim.

Perhaps we don't hear ET because tecnological species are an evolutionanary flash in the pan, on geologic times scales as soon as they aquire the ability to destroy themselves they do so. Perhaps there are billions of life bearing planets where the only trace of technology is a mass extinction event marked by a layer of plastic and radioisotopes burried in the rock and a "razor thin" ripple of communication signals expanding across the cosomos. What would be the chances that Earth just happened to be sitting in one of those ripples at this particular point in cosmological history?

Re:First Post?

[pr100]

I've always found it interesting how we assume that aliens will follow time at the same rate we do.

One might imagine that things like reaction time have to be relatively close to things like gravity, because otherwise species could be wiped out by falling rocks and such.

Aha - that explains why there's no plant life on Earth :/

Science journalism[sic]

[gzipped_tar]

Read the scientific goals of LOFAR here: http://www.lofar.org/astronomy/key-science/lofar-key-science-projects

And here: http://www.lofar.org/geophysics/scientific-rationale/scientific-rationale

And even here: http://www.lofar.org/agriculture/fighting-phytophtora-using-micro-climate/fighting-phytophtora-using-micro-climate

But "extraterrestrial intelligence" is surely teh attentionz grabb0r!!!1

Thats not that far off

[voss]

The aliens looking for us might likely be viewed with the same amount of ridicule that SETI researchers receive from the general scientific community
on this world.

Some alien looking for us in primitive radio bands might very be the alien version of a ham radio operator. Of course to their "mainstream" community the idea
of looking for alien signals in sublight bands might be crazy.

It's not about ET

[bromoseltzer]

It's about science - mapping radio galaxies at high resolution at VHF frequencies. Really hard to do that amidst all the RF on those freqs. SETI is nice, but it's nice to get real results, too. Not to mention pretty pictures.

I wonder ...

[SlashDev]

... if ET is currently in recession and needs bailout money....