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No Intelligent Aliens Detected In Gliese 581

Posted by timothy on from the beam-me-sideways-this-time dept.

astroengine writes "Using an Australian very long baseline array (VLBA) of three radio antennae, the first very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) campaign has been carried out on a SETI target star: the famous Gliese 581 red dwarf. However, after 8 hours of observing the star — thought to play host to six exoplanets, two of which are in the star's 'habitable zone' — no alien signals were detected. This result isn't surprising, as the likelihood of us stumbling across intelligent aliens living in the Gliese 581 system transmitting radio is extremely slim, but it does validate VLBI as a very exciting means of using the vast amount of exoplanetary data (coming from missions such as the Kepler space telescope) for 'directed SETI' projects."

4 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. Are you guys stupid or something? by rab777hp · · Score: -1, Troll

    You have to wait another 20 years for a reply.... if it's 20ly away something traveling at C will take 20 years to get year... sure they'll have just gotten our signal, but even if they immediately send out a reply it takes another 20 years, idiots.

    1. Re:Are you guys stupid or something? by flyneye · · Score: -1, Troll

      All this assumes that WE are intelligent and others haven't done any better than radio waves for communication. Not likely in a society where Hillary Clinton isn't some homeless meth head begging at an Arkansas off ramp.

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    2. Re:Are you guys stupid or something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      This also assumes that if there was intelligent life in Gliese 581 that they would be post industrial revolution.

      They could be alien versions of knee grows. Then they'll never industrialize on their own. They will be primitive and tribal for many millenia unless another race introduces them to technology. Earth knee grows existed for thousands of years longer than whites and never made a sailboat, never domesticated animals, never invented the WHEEL for fuck sake let alone discovering electromagnetism! No reason aliens couldn't be that way.

      It's true and you know it. Do your PC duty and mod this down now. Even tho it's true!

    3. Re:Are you guys stupid or something? by Gothmolly · · Score: -1, Troll

      I wish YOU didn't exist. "sigh"? speculations that alien life has some sort of plant-wide telepathy field? Christ, how are you even allowed to use a computer?

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