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anth
Member
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2006 03:09
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E.T. Where are you?
Its 46 years since Frank Drake initiated the SETI program. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
It is of course carried out by aiming radio telescopes at star systems, and listening for radio signals.
Why have we not heard from any aliens so far?
Well for starters...
SETI has only carried out a full survey of around 1000 stars. That's out of the hundreds of billions that occupy our galaxy.
I've heard this is rather like landing in the USA and attempting to find somebody that plays the Oboe! Times a few thousand times less likely that is.
secondly, we are only now just beginning to apply technology which can discover actual planets around other stars. These planets are too big and strange and not at all Earthlike, and not likely to support alien life. The SETI guys are infact working in the dark until we can develop technology which can actualy see Earthlike worlds around other suns.
One very good reason is, radio signals!? That is so last century! Civilizations could have abandoned radio as a form of communication billions or millions of years ago. The radio signals from aliens could have passed us by before we even walked on planet Earth.
It would be like somebody trying to talk to you using smoke signals. When all the while you're using a mobile phone.
It's quite possible that aliens have moved onto using technology like gamma rays for communicting. These would carry millions of times more data in a signal burst. Or even laser technology to talk to each other which is within our grasp right now, but outside SETI's area of investigation.
What do you think? I refuse to believe aliens do not exist. I refuse to believe also that just because SETI has not found alien intelligence that there is none out there.
The universe is so big we may never ever meet our neighbours before the Earth ceases to exist. We may never even hear from them via a SETI type program.
I've never met an Eskimo or even communicated with one in any way, but it does not mean they do not exist! *L*
The galaxy is huge, let alone the Universe. Way too big to rule out alien life just on the fact that a bunch of primitive humans cannot find it using technology which is backward now, even by our limited standards.
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demonvamp
Member
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2006 08:55
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I refuse to believe they don't exist, either. Even if they're shaped like a pinball machine.
QD 
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dlgrubbs
Member
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2006 17:48
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perhaps they are already here, and amoung us...plenty of speculative evidence they have been here before, that is just as valid as the statistics most businesses base their future incomes on...keep your towel handy and a fish in your ear... 
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anth
Member
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2006 18:02
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There is alot of good evidence, i like to read it all. *L*
But, having said that, i've been an astronomer since forever. When my dad gave me a pair of binoculars at the age of about 7.
I can honestly say i've never seen anything that couldnt be explained. I've probably watched the skies more than 90% of people.
Don't get me wrong, there's not a night that goes by where i don't wish i could see something extra terrestrial. It would be the most amazing experiance.
In years gone by i can understand how nobody captured a decent UFO image, but now, we all carry an array of digital camera's, in phones, or real purpose camera's, and even small video cams around alot more.
I went to a big air show last week, my budget DV video camera was focussing in on fast jets doing over 600MPH at 7 or 8 thousand feet no problems. With no tripod, and on full zoom. I'm pretty sure if we were being visited there would be some awesome photographic evidence nowadays.
I WANT TO BELIEVE!
I have to say, the more you learn about the universe, the more likely you are to believe in life on other worlds. But, the less likely you are to see a UFO. Cos, you're not seeing a UFO every time a meteor explodes in a fire ball, or when the space station flies over head, etc. It stands to reason, if you can identify more objects than other people as an astronomer you're going to be less likely to see the unidentified UFO's included. *L*
Here's a challenge. Why not google for some great UFO pictures, or post some great evidence for UFO's and aliens having visited this planet. It would be very interesting to see if there has been some good recent photographic evidence. 
I like this! If they do visit, they just better look like they came right from a 1950's B-Movie! 
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:00
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I think the Eskimo, or rather Inuit, analogy is kind of inadequate, seeing how though you may have never met one, several other people have.
That said, I'm of the mind that it's arrogant to think we're the only ones kickin' around, I mean, why would the entire universe be so stinking big if we were, and at the same time I'm not holding my breath waiting for an alien ship to cruise by and ask us if we want to make an interplanetary alliance, or to perhaps consume our resources seeing how there aren't many planets around that can support life. Until I run into an alien I'm not going to worry about them.
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anth
Member
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:54
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Alot of people have met aliens too, apparently. But i have not, sadly ( Although i don't believe them. ) so, i stand by my Inuit thingy. *L* ( even if it was a stupid anology! )
Alot of people say if Aliens have moved beyond the level of technology we are at presently and survived without blowing themselves up. They must be clever, and peaceloving, and therefore nice.
I'd add to that, cunning and or devious. Or that they would be the winners of the war that blew everyone up, except themselves. So they could quite easily be very nasty.
If you subscribe to that, is it right to go broadcasting radio messages to star clusters telling whoever is out there where we are and giving out information about us, DNA included!
The above message was broadcast from Earth towards the globular star cluster M13 in 1974. During the dedication of the Arecibo Observatory - still the largest radio telescope in the world - a string of 1's and 0's representing the above diagram was sent. This attempt at extraterrestrial communication was mostly ceremonial - humanity regularly broadcasts radio and television signals out into space accidentally.
The M13 Star Cluster.
Even were this message received, M13 is so far away we would have to wait almost 50,000 years to hear an answer. The above message gives a few simple facts about humanity and its knowledge: from left to right are numbers from one to ten, atoms including hydrogen and carbon, some interesting molecules, DNA, a human with description, basics of our Solar System, and basics of the sending telescope.
If any alien can work out that message, they must be extremely advanced thats all i can say!
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 24 Jul 2006 13:07
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I can't remember why I opened this window. Oh! Yes. It was to say that there are what...maybe a hundred or two people world wide who say they've met aliens, and yet none of them have substantial proof. If you wanted to go meet an alien here and now you wouldn't really be able to do that now would you. However, if you felt like wandering into an Inuit community, all you have to really do is charter a plane.
Again. Stupid! *shakes fist at Anth* 
And DNA ftw!
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anth
Member
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# Posted: 24 Jul 2006 15:13
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What i was really trying to say is, you could equate stars, planets, and other worlds and the trillions of them that there are in the universe, with Earth. ( i did say it was stupid btw. *LOL* )
But. If you took the land masses of the Earth as an example, you could safely say other lands on Earth were occupied, even if you had no "proof" or knowledge of them being occupied. Just by applying logic.
Same goes for the Universe.
I would not require an ounce of proof that Inuits existed on Earth to believe it was true. Cos to me it would be highly likely. Same goes for Aliens out there somewhere. I really believe the Universe is so vast it has to be true.
To add another thing to all this, i bet there is more than a couple of hundred people worldwide who believe they have met, seen, or been abducted by aliens. ( no i do not believe them btw. )
I've managed to keep a topic in the space forum on the front page of OTF for days by talking about absolute garbage. If i'm not careful i'll have another General Chatter on my hands. Great!
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 24 Jul 2006 17:51
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That's what I'm here for, your daily dose of garbage!
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quincyw
Member
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2006 17:23
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<!--QuoteBegin--anth+July 23 2006,22:54--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (anth @ July 23 2006,22:54)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->If you subscribe to that, is it right to go broadcasting radio messages to star clusters telling whoever is out there where we are and giving out information about us, DNA included!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br>As long as you don't include a phial of A positive blood, it's all good. <!--emo&:?--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/srp.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':?'><!--endemo-->
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