A theory on why we probably haven't received signals from aliens

[Darnok]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Directive it is good reason not only for sci-fi.

Why do you think aliens didn't contacted us? Are you aware of every appointment for example of Obama and Putin?

If aliens can contact us they would contact world leaders not scientists groups like SETI.

[Aethon]

SETI at home is actually a project of the University of California at Berkley, and it only processes a small percentage of their data.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Aethon

[PB666]

Actually SETI has a lot of help by the (probably millions of) people who take part in SETI@home,

where people sacrifice a little bit of their processing time in order to help with automatically scanning the huge data volume (that years of radioastronomy by SETI have generated) in order to find interesting signals.

I used to let SETI at work run on our 250 mmx file and print server, that was before our institute install Symantec enterprise edition and the stupid altera conform program, basically took all memory to run applications in the background. I'de run it now except the corperate stuff takes 2 gigs of memory and I have to make sure folks can spool up their print jobs. He's making the assumption that peeps don't care, we do care. I used to do the transect spotting also. They got all corporate over the types of machines best designed for running SETI for security reasons. But the damn server does not run any application software, not even IE, and is file encrypted and at almost zero risk for hacking, and no patient information. You can thank HIPAA for that one size fits all governance. On the other hand we also used to play Quake after 5 on Zero lag T1 connections with other folks on the same router. The day those stupid Jets hit the towers, everything changed, we went from being a open science Inst, to an orwellian security operation.

[cypher_00]

Zefram Cochrane wil create the first warp drive in 2063 so we have to wait awhile longer for the vulcans to contact us.

[Darnok]

Zefram Cochrane wil create the first warp drive in 2063 so we have to wait awhile longer for the vulcans to contact us.

So in 2030 nuclear war is certain

[GeneralVeers]

I suspect that somewhere in the universe there are little green aliens playing a game called "Human Space Program", and they spend all their time on message boards complaining about the weak reaction wheels and being forced to rely on overpowered RCS thrusters for control, and that the early game is unrealistically focused on airplanes and unmanned rockets.

Damn. JetJaguar just blew my cover.

[WestAir]

Damn. JetJaguar just blew my cover.

Get out of there Wedge, you can't do any more good back there!

It is highly possible that all of intelligent races out there have developed Faster-Than-Light communications

I'm not sure if "highly possible" is the right phraseology. Personally, I think there are probably thousands of alien planets in our Milky Way, but I also think the ones that are space fairing are just too far away to make contact within any reasonable timeframe. I think, millions of years from now, we'll get a message from a civilization that died out millions of years ago.

[GeneralVeers]

Get out of there Wedge, you can't do any more good back there!

You can't see it, but I am facepalming really hard right now.

It's "Get CLEAR, Wedge, you can't do any more good back there!"

[PB666]

Smaller planets should be more common but are harder to detect, mars is too small but something with 0.8-0.5 g should support life easy enough. An smaller and closer Moon would also be more useful for space activity.

But yes space is hard, interstellar travel is many magnitudes harder than everything else.

That depends on wher the planet is in the goldilocks zone and how unstable the stars output is. A smaller planet would need to be closer to the star than earth and the stars output would need to be more stable than the typical star. A larger planet could farther from its star in terms of output.

Life in general is hard, the great oxygenation event was critical here on earth, it allows for thinking warm blooded animals, without which sentiency would likely not occur.

[WestAir]

You can't see it, but I am facepalming really hard right now.

It's "Get CLEAR, Wedge, you can't do any more good back there!"

Haha, you KSP goers are a tough crowd. I haven't seen that movie in years! Now let's blow this thing so we can go home.

[_Augustus_]

I think that either we're one of the most advanced civilizations, aliens have a Prime Directive, or maybe we're just too boring.

We could be treated like ants. Aliens may have concluded that there's no intelligent life on Earth.

Really, I can see why. We haven't sent humans to anywhere but the Moon, and that was 50 years ago and we haven't returned since.

Maybe if we go to Mars we might be recognized as intelligent or be able to be contacted without breaking the rules of the Prime Directive..

Also I think that interstellar travel is done via Alcubierre drives or Tippler cylinders.

[magnemoe]

That depends on wher the planet is in the goldilocks zone and how unstable the stars output is. A smaller planet would need to be closer to the star than earth and the stars output would need to be more stable than the typical star. A larger planet could farther from its star in terms of output.

Life in general is hard, the great oxygenation event was critical here on earth, it allows for thinking warm blooded animals, without which sentiency would likely not occur.

Why, yes atmosphere density matter, you don't want lots of leaks so its an lower cap on planet size.

However we does not know the size and atmosphere density relationship and its probably pretty random, venus and earth has pretty much the same size.

[Requia]

Maybe they do not believe in aliens - and thus do not search for any contact. Or maybe we were at Bronze Age when they searched our area of space. Ot maybe our closest neighbours are at Bronze Age, unable to receive our signals and send their own for us to receive. Possibilities are endless.

Or the last time they showed up they saw dinosaurs. There's some pretty extreme scale issues, they'd need to be covering hundreds of thousands of stars a year in order for the odds to have put em at Bronze Age, if we assume that life is actually possible in a place like Europa exoplanet maps don't help much.