Scientists Claim to Have Found Evidence of ETs

[Sour Masher]

I'm sure many of you have seen this story pop up in the last day or so, and I realize it is so specious that it probably doesn't warrant discussion, but I can't help but post it. Here is one link to the story (many others have run essentially the same story on it): http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...-a7377716.html

Again, I know this is likely nothing, and SETI has already expressed deep skepticism of these researchers' methods and conclusions. Still, it is actual non-crackpots jumping to the conclusion that they found evidence of ETs. The space-obsessed kid in me can't help but get excited by this, just as I was really intrigued by that weird star that is experiencing both massive fluxes in light output as well as gradual dimming that scientists floated could be alien super structures (as a super long shot, but still exciting to see it even proposed as a legit possibility).

At the top of my bucket list is to live to see concrete evidence of other intelligent life in the universe, so I can't help but get jacked up with stuff like this.

Edit: Here is a link to an article that highlights that this new research is very likely NOT aliens: http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/1...st-alien-claim

But still, it is exciting to think about as a possibility.

[Steve]

where is nully?

[nullnor]

i like this thing http://www.ita.uni-heidelberg.de/res...rare-earth.pdf it's kind of short with a lot of pictures and covers most of the bases. it's lagging for me when i try to open it. i read it at work before tho. i guess there is a rare earth equation. i didn't know that before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_E...Earth_equation N = N* * Ne * Fg * Fp * Fpm * Fi * Fc * Fl * Fm * Fj * Fme i guess it would be better than the older drake equation. it's got some good points like a large moon (although it's still uncertain what kind of role the moon played) whether there is a planet like Jupiter, because it might seem like they form closer to the sun. but they have found ones farther away. and then i guess they summarize extinction events.

it's actually often that you recognize another variable. just the other day they were talking about the milky way colliding with some huge gas cloud. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...-to-our-galaxy

Astronomers have measured this comet-shaped region of gas to be 11,000 light-years long and 2,500 light-years across...and is expected to plow into the Milky Way’s disk in about 30 million years. When it does, astronomers believe it will ignite a spectacular burst of star formation, perhaps providing enough gas to make 2 million suns.

someone said before maybe one of the reasons earth is here now is because our solar system is farther away from the center of the galaxy where there might be more huge gamma ray bursts hitting solar systems and causing extinction events. i think one of our events was one. i could look it up but i think they are saying that.

but who can really say an extinction event would prevent intelligent life from developing. unless it sterilized the planet. ripped the atmosphere off the planet or something. i mean would we be here if the dinosaurs weren't wiped out? there's another factor, you can't have a planet too rich in oxygen and life or the life forms would be big and wouldn't need to use much energy for their respiratory system or have big brains to secure food. using earth as an example you need a little of both. i imagine a lot of solar systems have things like the Oort cloud sending things shooting at it from time to time. so maybe it's a question of timing. you want to have enough events until you get the right set up, but not too many.

you can substitute only having one technologically intelligent species per planet with just having one dominant species. as long as that specie interferes with the natural development of those other species. the dinosaurs would've kept preventing us from evolving. but that's still multicellular life. why did singlecelled organisms show up like only 500 millions years after earth and multicelled 3.5 billion years later? why did it take that long?

i think this was a good article http://www.astrobio.net/origin-and-e...r-life-evolve/

“Unicellularity is clearly successful — unicellular organisms are much more abundant than multicellular organisms, and have been around for at least an additional 2 billion years,” said lead study author Eric Libby, a mathematical biologist at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. “So what is the advantage to being multicellular and staying that way?”

The answer to this question is usually cooperation, as cells benefited more from working together..For instance, groups of cells may divide labor so that some cells grow one vital molecule while other cells grow a different essential compound, so these cells do better together than apart, an idea supported by recent experiments with bacteria.

which is kind of what this guy said in this article http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...racle-microbes

Microbiology is, in its way, a form of time travel—a field of study that can elucidate the earliest traces of human evolution...Often, microbes are interdependent: what is waste for one is essential for another. “At some point, it becomes almost philosophical,” he said. “Perhaps the coöperation that evolved for four billion years in the microbial world has not evolved in the macroscopic world because it is younger. Maybe in two billion years we will find it to the same degree.”

the earlier we find that life first developed on earth the less chance that there were other domains of life in our tree of life besides Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryote. but there could still be a missing domain. even perhaps one still around now that we haven't discovered yet since we only recently discovered Archaea. ..the whole thing is a balancing act. for example you can have a 10 billion year sun like ours and do more in a shorter amount of time, or a 50 billion year red dwarf that might have less to work with but more time to do it.

[nullnor]

also, the Basestar is the capital ship of the cylon fleet.

[nullnor]

i guess a dyson sphere is a much better idea than my idea of going around and using proton decay to blow up stars in an obvious pattern that can be seen across the universe by somebody. or that could be a backup plan!

SETI goes through a lot of protocols before they say they think they found something. i can't find it but not too recently some other team thought they had something. they talked back and forth with SETI and decided to wait, and then it turned out to be a satellite. i think this was recently. it talked about what they went through and stuff. but if and when it happens, it's gonna happen like that. one day you wake up and you have something. our technology can only get better. as far as we know so far we're the best the universe produced. we should live up to it.

[TranaGreg]

well, it turns out that comet/asteroid/whatever that flew by earth last year had some strange qualities that can't be easily explained ... strap in, our new overlords could be on their way ... (this is from phys.org, not exactly a hoax site)

Could 'Oumuamua be an extraterrestrial solar sail?

To recap, 'Oumuamua was first spotted by the Pan-STARRS-1 survey 40 days after it made its closest pass to the sun (on September 9th, 2017). ...
After examining the images, another international research team discovered that 'Oumuamua had increased in velocity, rather than slowing down as expected. ...

[baldgriff]

On

Something has already been here and may actually still be. Governments have known it and not disclosed it, but are going to have to in the next decade or so.

Off

[Steve 2.0]

On

Something has already been here and may actually still be. Governments have known it and not disclosed it, but are going to have to in the next decade or so.

Off

I have a tinfoil hat on the rocks, bartender.

[nullnor]

Star Trek slingshot maneuver. they were bringing a couple of humpback whales to the 24th century to talk to an alien space probe.

[Steve 2.0]

Star Trek slingshot maneuver. they were bringing a couple of humpback whales to the 24th century to talk to an alien space probe.

Bartender! I can't decide if I want a "slingshot maneuver" or an "alien space probe". Suggestions?

[Gregg]

Bartender! I can't decide if I want a "slingshot maneuver" or an "alien space probe". Suggestions?

Ummm...alien space probe is what happens if you have too many slingshot maneuvers.

[Gregg]

Bartender! I can't decide if I want a "slingshot maneuver" or an "alien space probe". Suggestions?

Fill a Collins glass with 1 cup ice and set aside in the freezer.
Combine gin, cherry-flavored brandy, triple sec, Benedictine, pineapple juice, lime juice, and grenadine in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 cup ice, cover and shake until chilled. Strain into the prepared Collins glass. Then pour into individual shot glasses. Arrange in 10 pin bowling pattern. Without spilling "maneuver" from the middle (5 pin) out (drink and replace empty shot glass in original spot. Continue until all 10 shots are consumed. Avoid alien space probe.

[baldgriff]

Slingshot Maneuver would be a great name for a band!

[Steve 2.0]

Slingshot Maneuver would be a great name for a band!

If only someone was using that shtick.

[baldgriff]

If only someone was using that shtick.

Yeah - that schtick is funny. I wonder where I got the idea.