
Existing laser tech could be used for “porch light” to attract alien astronomers - rodneyrdx
http://news.mit.edu/2018/laser-attract-alien-astronomers-study-1105
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andrewljohnson
I prefer a Dark Forest strategy for approaching the universe.

If anything, we should be thinking about how to emit less radiation that can
be traced back to Earth into space.

Best case: aliens send us technology via morse code.

Worst case: relativistic projectile from advanced civilization destroys Earth.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Forest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Forest)

~~~
seiferteric
At this point I think I would rather take our chances with the aliens since we
are going to destroy ourselves anyway.

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ALittleLight
For being such a cynic about humanity you're awfully optimistic about aliens.

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gisely
I think there might be some reasons to be optimistic. Any civilization that
might notice our signal and decide to interact with us has with us has existed
much longer than our own civilization with high probability. Thus, there is
more evidence of long-term stability in such a civilization than our own. With
stability comes the potential for experience, with experience the potential
for wisdom.

~~~
merpnderp
Why would you believe they’d have our extremely temporary set or morals? Human
empires have lasted for thousands of years and the one thing that binds 99% of
human history is soul crushing enslavement of each other.

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Johnny555
_especially if those astronomers live in nearby systems, such as around
Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth, or TRAPPIST-1, a star about 40
light-years away that hosts seven exoplanets, three of which are potentially
habitable. If the signal is spotted from either of these nearby systems, the
study finds, the same megawatt laser could be used to send a brief message in
the form of pulses similar to Morse code._

 _“If we were to successfully close a handshake and start to communicate, we
could flash a message, at a data rate of about a few hundred bits per second,
which would get there in just a few years,”_

40 light years in "just a few years"? So this laser beam travels faster than
the speed of light?

In any case, I don't open my front door and flash my lights to invite
strangers off the street, and I don't think we should be doing the same thing
to strangers from outer space, you never know if it's an interstellar axe
murderer and if they meet us at our planet, then they are already known to be
far more technologically advanced than we are so there's nothing we can do to
stop them.

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devoply
I would venture a guess that all so-called intelligent life seeks make use of
anything that it can get its hands on and order it according to its will. If
this is true, then you really don't ever want to meet other intelligent life.
At best they would integrate you into their economic system, just like we
integrate people with lower intelligence into our economic system... or
underdeveloped countries for that matter. A bit worse would be making us into
slaves, which might appeal to their humanity. Most likely is simply to
eliminate us and take the planet for their own colony and keep us as pets.

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JohnJamesRambo
That’s a closed minded view of intelligence. There’s a level above
exploitation where you value other intelligent life and cherish it.

~~~
mrob
It's well established that fish feel pain[0]. It's also possible to kill them
far more humanely that we do now, e.g. by electroshock or by eugenol
anesthesia. Despite this, out of the 1+ trillion fish killed by humans every
year, almost all of them die slowly and painfully. We choose to do this simply
because it's more convenient. Why would aliens treat humans any differently?

Intentionally signaling to aliens is one of the stupidest ideas I can think
of. The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski has a good
analogy (longer quote here:
[http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/aliencontact.ph...](http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/aliencontact.php#killingstar)
), describing a thought experiment of surviving the night in a crime-ridden
Central Park:

"How do you survive the night? The last thing you want to do is shout, "I'm
here!" The next to last thing you want to do is reply to someone who shouts,
"I'm a friend!"

What you would like to do is find a policeman, or get out of the park. But you
don't want to make noise or move towards a light where you might be spotted,
and it is difficult to find either a policeman or your way out without making
yourself known. Your safest option is to hunker down and wait for daylight,
then safely walk out.

There are, of course, a few obvious differences between Central Park and the
universe.

There is no policeman.

There is no way out.

And the night never ends."

[0] [https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/fish-feel-pain-now-
wh...](https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/fish-feel-pain-now-what/)

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PhasmaFelis
> _Why would aliens treat humans any differently?_

There's no obvious reason why aliens should perceive humans as either a threat
or a resource. There may be non-obvious reasons, or they may be irrational
about it. But unless interstellar travel is a lot easier than we think it is,
it's unlikely that aliens would assume visitation is likely in either
direction.

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village-idiot
Are they fucking crazy? Turn out that light!

Our first encounter with space faring aliens will probably go about as well as
native Americans first encounter with Europeans.

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beerlord
The value that Earth provides is the fact that it hosts millions of living
species.

Mere geological resources can be gathered from asteroids or other planets with
lesser gravity wells.

The Alien species would have to determine if Human technology, economy and
culture holds any value to them. If it does, they will conduct a cost-benefit
analysis of the various billions of humans inhabiting the planet, and
eliminate the least-productive in order to improve average genetic quality and
bring the overall species back to within the carrying capacity of the planet.

For example, 56% of the Earth's population from the least-productive countries
could be eliminated, for only a 6% decrease in scientific output, and 17%
decrease in GDP. Doing so would also result in a 23% decrease in carbon
emissions.

Of course, if they find that humanity holds negative value, they will simply
eliminate all humans, and turn the planet into a giant nature park.

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chillacy
They could treat us like we treat dogs, lab mice, or beef cattle too...

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detritus
...sport.

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eloff
This seems to me like shining a laser pointer randomly up into the sky and
hoping someone from a passing plane sees it?

Is this practical given the vastness of space and the directionaality of this
laser?

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joezydeco
Well not just a plane passing overhead, a plane passing overhead 200 years
from now.

Maybe we should be aiming the big laser at Oumuamua. With a big HEY COME BACK
HERE message.

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rdtsc
I've wondered if that was the purpose of the "probe". To see if anyone follows
it, or otherwise interacts with it. Let's say you know there is a habitable
planet, but you don't want to land there first, instead send a probe and see
if the planet reacts to it. If they do, it would indicate a rather advanced
civilization.

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rajekas
I bet aliens love it when you shine a pointer in their eyes

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crobertsbmw
How we would agree on a handshake? Aliens don’t know English let alone Morse
code.

~~~
pavel_lishin
But any alien that can build a receiver knows math, and understands physics,
and probably has come to similar conclusions about computation. They _might_
be so different from us that communication would be impossible, but it's not
likely.

If nothing else, you can draw simple two-color pictures by sending pixels in a
NxM grid, where N and M are both primes. Enough minds thinking about the
problem will eventually figure it out.

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booleandilemma
What’s the worst that could happen?

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devoply
What's the best that could happen? No such thing as a free lunch.

