First Contact With E.T.

[Drunkrobot]

I think we would change our way of thinking of ourselves. If we discovered evidence of another intelligent civilisation, we can make a few assumptions.

1. There is nothing totally "unique" about Earth's ability to sustain life, like how the discovery of exoplanets show that the solar system isn't unique in having planets.

2. If life, especially complex life, can exist somewhere else, then life is probably abundant, given the vast number of stars in our one galaxy.

3. Of these many civilisations, it is reasonable to suggest that at least a few of them are malevolent.

4. Given the military-industrial complexes' ability to accelerate technological growth here on Earth, it's likely said malevolent aliens are more advanced than we are.

After first contact, no matter if it is a simple radio message, a salvaged alien space probe, or underground ruins on Mars, it is no longer "you" and "me", more "us" and "them". Nothing unites people together like a common threat (Hitler united the USSR in a way Stalin never could). The entire human race would mobilise it's resources and advance it's technology so we could start our role on the galactic stage.

[RedDwarfIV]

I doubt that they would try to take over the world, or harm us (intentionally at least). If they are similar to people, in order to be technologically advanced enough to travel to other worlds, they would very likely need to be advanced in other aspects of their lives, and would not need to resort to direct warfare to achieve their goals.

That sounds a lot like the argument made by the scientist in Mars Attacks!. Read Footfall by Larry Niven for an example of why aliens might try to invade - They might just try to damn the impracticalities and do it anyway.

We have barely begun exploration of our own home system. Rather than replying immediately, we should use a message as motivation to develop our space technologies base - eventually leading to our having spacecraft capable of piloted interstellar travel [be it manned or robotic. Something more useful than getting a slingshot off a gas giant and going off into deep space on an unplanned tangent. Once we have both the capability of interstellar spaceflight and the means to defend ourselves, THEN we can think about an actual reply. It's at that point that we approach a status that an alien race might find 'civilised' by their definitions. At the moment, aliens could fling rocks at us from space and we'd have virtually no defence.

This is not to say that aliens can't be peaceful... but if we give rockets triple redundancy in case of failure before sending them up, then why not our planet?

[blueshark15]

[Pingonaut]

The best.

10chars

[Devo]

I have always been a firm believer in Alien species, or the possibility. I have no religion to hold me back and am open to any possibility. That being said, I don't think Aliens would visit us or make it known.

We are a barbaric race still fixated on land masses and religious overtones, why would anyone want to come to earth?

[Ival70]

That sounds a lot like the argument made by the scientist in Mars Attacks!. Read Footfall by Larry Niven for an example of why aliens might try to invade - They might just try to damn the impracticalities and do it anyway.

I am a big Larry Niven fan, though I don't think I have read that one yet, I will be sure to put it on my reading list.

I also think that using the message from aliens as a "wake up call" to develop ourselves would be the smart thing to do.

[Motokid600]

I like to think that one day WE will be the aliens.

[blueshark15]

Jokes aside, My personal favorite alien contact scenario, as well as my favorite book is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifold:_Space

It goes very in depth, and is both an intricate and plausible story, you guys should check it out, it is part of a series, but if you were to read them out of order it would not matter as they are all variations of the same seires of events.

Anyway, it involves von Neumann probes, who come into the system thinking it was empty. The whole series involves variations of the fermi paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

and seems to adress the very questions that this thread asks.

Edited July 29, 2013 by blueshark15

[Seret]

I like to think that one day WE will be the aliens.

Um, we are already. Do you mean you hope we'd find them before they find us? The trouble with that is that alien civilisations with a tech level equivalent or lower than us would be pretty hard to find. There are efforts amongst planet hunters to look for chemical markers in spectral lines that would indicate the presence of a biosphere, but an intelligent species that wasn't radiating something obviously technological would be seriously hard to find.

[magnemoe]

Um, we are already. Do you mean you hope we'd find them before they find us? The trouble with that is that alien civilisations with a tech level equivalent or lower than us would be pretty hard to find. There are efforts amongst planet hunters to look for chemical markers in spectral lines that would indicate the presence of a biosphere, but an intelligent species that wasn't radiating something obviously technological would be seriously hard to find.

Free oxygen would prove life no way of knowing its intelligent. We could be detected pretty easy by radio signals, however we have only used radio who can be detected outside the solar system in 70 years and decent chance we will not use it in anther 50 but pretty much switched to low power cell based communication.

100 years ago we would be pretty much impossible to spot except if you could see structures like cities but the borders between fields might be easier to spot, however have fun doing this from another star system

[Seret]

Free oxygen would prove life no way of knowing its intelligent.

Well, I'm not a chemist but it does strike me that we know little about plausible alternative biological systems. Like all this stuff we'd have to start with what we know works on Earth and look for that first. So yes, oxygen would be required. There's a really good TED talk by a spectroscope astronomer that goes into a bit of detail.

We could be detected pretty easy by radio signals, however we have only used radio who can be detected outside the solar system in 70 years and decent chance we will not use it in anther 50 but pretty much switched to low power cell based communication.

100 years ago we would be pretty much impossible to spot except if you could see structures like cities but the borders between fields might be easier to spot, however have fun doing this from another star system

Yep, which could be the reason we haven't found anyone yet. There may only be a tiny window in which civilisations spam the galaxy with loads of RF.

[UltraVires]

Anyone ever read "Rendezvous with Rama"?

I think our first contact with aliens (if there are any) will be their equivalent to Voyager or Pioneer. A Robot probe will come whistling through the solar system one day, just minding its own business, and find us...

It's entirely possible that there could be a an alien space probe watching Earth right now, from somewhere in the outer solar system, and we would never know...

And for those of you worried about getting invaded by aliens, keep worrying! Earth has been radiating radio signals in all directions since before 1900... by this point all any alien within 150 light years has to do to find us is turn on his radio and listen... (that's where SETI got the idea)

[notfruit]

What about quantum computing? Maybe they use that.

[LeathalMeatball]

It is very likely that:

a. Physiological differences between them are too different for meaningful communication to take place, where the aliens are just too alien.

b. No intelligent forms of life exist close enough to earth to justify traveling there. Or they just don't want to, what do they have to gain?

[PakledHostage]

There's a really good TED talk by a spectroscope astronomer that goes into a bit of detail.

Coincidentally, I watched it last night. Here's the link: Garik Israelian: How spectroscopy could reveal alien life

[Omicron314]

Coincidentally, I watched it last night. Here's the link: Garik Israelian: How spectroscopy could reveal alien life

That's an extremely intriguing video. I cannot wait for the next 10-20 years!

[KOCOUR]

Anyone ever read "Rendezvous with Rama"?

I´v red it. And Reaturn of the Rama, and Ramas Garden, anda Rama Revealed. It was nice and entertaining series of books, but i somehow dont understand why you mentioning it here, as its idea of first contact wasnt any better, or more relevant than any idea presented here.

(Actualy in my oppinion those books was more about sending crappy morall messages, than about contact with alien life.)

[magnemoe]

It is very likely that:

a. Physiological differences between them are too different for meaningful communication to take place, where the aliens are just too alien.

b. No intelligent forms of life exist close enough to earth to justify traveling there. Or they just don't want to, what do they have to gain?

a) possible, at least if they are very old and turned into machines or something. On the other hand if they are probably curios carnivores or omnivorous, if they are capable of interstellar travel they has to have an excellent science and be pretty rational.

For body shape, don't expect something to weird, an tentacle monster would not move fast and would be eaten by an faster predator.

Probably two legs, two arms, an head with sensory organs and mouth. One option is the dinosaur body plan instead of humanoid. body is balanced between an heavy tail and body, bird use the dinosaur plan,

Humanoid does not imply cute, both goblins and Kzin would qualify.

probably nobody with interstellar ship very close. They would taken Earth in the "lets colonize some planets phase". They would probably gotten them long ago. However say 50 lightyears or 3-400 with FTL. At this distance you will run into to many other interesting places even if the travel time don't scare you. If you explore a lot you know about earth as in was here 10.000 years ago and don't expect much has changed.

On the other hand it might not be that many advanced civilizations. Not enough to be smart you has to be pretty flexible or you would not adapt to changes.

[Seret]

For body shape, don't expect something to weird, an tentacle monster would not move fast and would be eaten by an faster predator.

Not necessarily. Ever seen a squid or an octopus? Intelligent doesn't mean terrestrial, as the cetaceans have proved. There's no reason ET couldn't be aquatic. Tentacle monster style seems to make pretty effective predators here, why not elsewhere?

Probably two legs, two arms, an head with sensory organs and mouth.

Mouth of some kind and sensory organs makes sense, but there's no reason an alien would have to follow the spine+four limbs+head bilateral symmetry body plan of Earth life. The reason it's so abundant here is because it was a successful body plan early in life's development here, and subsequent life has retained it. If you cut open a giraffe and a haddock and a human you see similar structures because we all have common ancestors with those structures. Internally most animal life is strikingly similar. If the successful early life on another planet had radial symmetry, or six limbs and no head then it's likely most of the animals descended from it (including our ETs) would be built that way. So the ETs are likely to be much like the rest of the life on their planet, but that doesn't mean it would be at all similar to life on ours. The different abindance of elements on their planet means their composition and chemistry are almost certain to be different, and that's likely to result in different morphology too.

[RedDwarfIV]

Not necessarily. Ever seen a squid or an octopus? Intelligent doesn't mean terrestrial, as the cetaceans have proved. There's no reason ET couldn't be aquatic. Tentacle monster style seems to make pretty effective predators here, why not elsewhere?

Provided, of course, their spacecraft are capable of getting past the drag of water and then the atmosphere... and also provided that their scientists don't all electrocute themselves discovering electricity.

[magnemoe]

Not necessarily. Ever seen a squid or an octopus? Intelligent doesn't mean terrestrial, as the cetaceans have proved. There's no reason ET couldn't be aquatic. Tentacle monster style seems to make pretty effective predators here, why not elsewhere?

Granted underwater its an totally different story. However as RedDwarfIV pointed out, they are unlikely to have an technical civilization. Just smelting metals would be pretty hopeless. Yes it can be down but require advanced technology to do.

Mouth of some kind and sensory organs makes sense, but there's no reason an alien would have to follow the spine+four limbs+head bilateral symmetry body plan of Earth life. The reason it's so abundant here is because it was a successful body plan early in life's development here, and subsequent life has retained it. If you cut open a giraffe and a haddock and a human you see similar structures because we all have common ancestors with those structures. Internally most animal life is strikingly similar. If the successful early life on another planet had radial symmetry, or six limbs and no head then it's likely most of the animals descended from it (including our ETs) would be built that way. So the ETs are likely to be much like the rest of the life on their planet, but that doesn't mean it would be at all similar to life on ours. The different abindance of elements on their planet means their composition and chemistry are almost certain to be different, and that's likely to result in different morphology too.

I forgot about a six legged body plan, should work, might be a bit less effective for an fast animal but it should be much easier to develop arms.

And you are right we have no idea who they will look, add that you get locked into that you have an have to work with it. however much of the same ideas pop up again and again.

I mostly react to the unrealistic lifeforms who pops up then somebody want to be creative with no thought if they would be able to survive.

[Seret]

Provided, of course, their spacecraft are capable of getting past the drag of water and then the atmosphere... and also provided that their scientists don't all electrocute themselves discovering electricity.

From what I've heard our scientists electrocuted themselves plenty discovering it too!

Granted underwater its an totally different story. However as RedDwarfIV pointed out, they are unlikely to have an technical civilization. Just smelting metals would be pretty hopeless. Yes it can be down but require advanced technology to do.

I wouldn't like to say that one for sure. They might simply come up with different solutions to problems from us. However my point isn't so much that technological civilisations are possible underwater, but that alien habitats might be substantially different to our own and this could drive evolution to find some very alien forms. We just don't have enough data to say whether intelligence requires anything particular to emerge. Given that even here on Earth we've got some fairly smart cephalopods, cetaceans and birds I'm willing to be open minded and say the primate form doesn't have dibs on brains.

[Custard Donut (In Space)]

I think if aliens did exist and found our planet we may be highly valuable from a historical point of view, if they are a very old civilization they may have the problem of not knowing much about themselves before a certain point in time, as they too must have been primitive at some point, by observing us many gaps in their own history might be revealed to them, apart from it being darned fascinating to watch a completely separate people evolving.

Some people say if aliens were around they would have revealed themselves, but if they are watching us and taking notes then revealing themselves would screw up that experiment completely.

[PakledHostage]

@Custard Donut (In Space): That sounds like the aforementioned Rama series...

[Lanfranc]

And for those of you worried about getting invaded by aliens, keep worrying! Earth has been radiating radio signals in all directions since before 1900... by this point all any alien within 150 light years has to do to find us is turn on his radio and listen... (that's where SETI got the idea)

However, those broadcast signals diffuse according to the inverse square law, so at any meaningful distance they'll be indistinguishable from the background noise. SETI are looking for messages specifically targeted at Earth.