Article <eu9ddjp2df3al0j0ghr68bhs0glloctvpu@4ax.com>

Deutsch English Français Italiano
<eu9ddjp2df3al0j0ghr68bhs0glloctvpu@4ax.com>

View for Bookmarking (what is this?)
Look up another Usenet article
Path: ...!feeds.phibee-telecom.net!2.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!feeds.news.ox.ac.uk!news.ox.ac.uk!nntp-feed.chiark.greenend.org.uk!ewrotcd!news.eyrie.org!beagle.ediacara.org!.POSTED.beagle.ediacara.org!not-for-mail
From: Bob Casanova <nospam@buzz.off>
Newsgroups: talk.origins
Subject: Re: New SETI search
Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2024 23:11:49 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 84
Sender: to%beagle.ediacara.org
Approved: moderator@beagle.ediacara.org
Message-ID: <eu9ddjp2df3al0j0ghr68bhs0glloctvpu@4ax.com>
References: <vaj062$2kr3d$1@dont-email.me> <menqcj1270ta8rjtmasodqi5nkier8rnhl@4ax.com> <vb5odm$31ra3$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Injection-Info: beagle.ediacara.org; posting-host="beagle.ediacara.org:3.132.105.89";
	logging-data="3226"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@beagle.ediacara.org"
User-Agent: ForteAgent/7.20.32.1218
To: talk-origins@moderators.isc.org
Cancel-Lock: sha1:M1e74vcJ01nTbN8CtfZbAf/DE2A=
Bytes: 5943

On Mon, 2 Sep 2024 18:22:56 -0700, the following appeared in
talk.origins, posted by Mark Isaak
<specimenNOSPAM@curioustaxon.omy.net>:

>On 8/26/24 10:24 PM, El Kabong wrote:
>> RonO wrote:
>> 
>>> A group is using the Murchison wide field array to monitor for super
>>> civilizations in other galaxies.  The civilizations would have to be
>>> super advanced in order to generate the 100 MHz signal that they are
>>> scanning for.  Huge amounts of energy would have to be channeled into
>>> transmission of such signals.  Would we ever expend such an effort to
>>> tell someone in another galaxy that we exist?  100 MHz is in the middle
>>> of the FM radio band, but in our expanding universe what would have been
>>> the frequency transmitted by any one of the 2,800 galaxies scanned in
>>> the survey?
>>>
>>> https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240826131354.htm
>>>
>>> Ron Okimoto
>> 
>> Previous searches at Aricebo and other sites looked for
>> alien signals at 1420 Mhz.  They picked that frequency
>> because it is a hydrogen line.  The thinking is that
>> aliens would more likely broadcast there than an
>> arbitrary frequency.  It never made sense to me because
>> the signal will be attenuated by any hydrogen lying in
>> the path, and because if you tune in to the hydrogen
>> line, you'll find... hydrogen noise!
>> 
>> Maybe space aliens will broadcast on 100 Mhz because it's
>> a nice round number?  Then again they might have 3 digits
>> per hand and use a base-6 system and think 60.466176 Mhz
>> is a nice round number where other hexadigits would
>> listen.  In any case you have to pick a frequency
>> somewhere.
>> 
>> The article you cited does link to an article on a
>> previous survey done in 2020, but it doesn't mention the
>> frequency.
>> 
>> If the aliens transmit from a large phased array like 
>> MWA, they could transmit a large effective power within
>> the beamwidth, without actually transmitting huge power.
>> But the beam has to be aimed in our direction.  Maybe
>> they send signals periodically in every direction.
>> Similarly the MWA has to have its array pointed in the
>> right direction at the right time.
>> 
>> The chances are slim, but worth trying.
>
>If I had vast technological resources and wanted to send an "I'm here" 
>signal to unknown aliens over potentially vast distances, I wouldn't 
>generate light. That would take way too much energy, especially if it 
>was broadcast widely. Instead, I would rig up some opaque sheets and set 
>them orbiting around a star, with gaps in places so that anyone watching 
>from the plane of orbit would see a dit-dah message spelled out 
>repeating every 6 (of our) months or so.  It would work only on a fairly 
>narrow plane, but at least it's better than a laser pointed at a single 
>target.
>
Interesting idea.
>
>Is SETI set up to look for anything like that?
>
Not that I've ever heard.
>
>Of course, I would never do anything to attract strangers until I was 
>more than confidence that my technology could overpower any hostile 
>aliens I might attract. If possible, I would set up the signal several 
>hundred light-years away from concentrations of my species' population.
>
I concur; the "bird in the pile of crap" joke is exemplary.
Pollyannas tend to have short lifespans.
>
-- 

Bob C.

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
 the one that heralds new discoveries, is not
 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"

- Isaac Asimov