I Want To Believe
August 29, 2016 9:04 PM Subscribe
"No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilization, but it is certainly worth further study. Working out the strength of the signal, the researchers say that if it came from an isotropic beacon, it would be of a power possible only for a Kardashev Type II civilization. If it were a narrow beam signal focused on our Solar System, it would be of a power available to a Kardashev Type I civilization. The possibility of noise of one form or another cannot be ruled out, and researchers in Paris led by Jean Schneider are considering the possible microlensing of a background source by HD164595. But the signal is provocative enough that the RATAN-600 researchers are calling for permanent monitoring of this target."
It's probably nothing. But on the off-chance it's a Kardashev Type II alien civilization with a Dyson Sphere, wouldn't you rather hear it here first?
It's probably nothing. But on the off-chance it's a Kardashev Type II alien civilization with a Dyson Sphere, wouldn't you rather hear it here first?
I think we should think of it as a potential, rather than a target. This story has been sleeping for a year. I read about it today.
posted by Oyéah at 9:08 PM on August 29, 2016
posted by Oyéah at 9:08 PM on August 29, 2016
Between this and the alien megastructure there sure is a lot going on in space these days.
posted by Artw at 9:13 PM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:13 PM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
"It’s also the case that the known planet around the star is in an awfully tight orbit, which means it’s probably a place that’s hotter than Seattle’s best restaurant."
Confirmed: Seattle's best restaurant devoid of intelligent life.
posted by miyabo at 9:15 PM on August 29, 2016 [38 favorites]
Confirmed: Seattle's best restaurant devoid of intelligent life.
posted by miyabo at 9:15 PM on August 29, 2016 [38 favorites]
Wouldn't a Kardashev Type II civilization mean that we wouldn't see this star? If we're listening (I almost said looking) for Dyson Spheres, it stands to reason that we should be aiming where stars aren't, not where stars are.
posted by thecjm at 9:15 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by thecjm at 9:15 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Don't forget to visit the dark matter galaxy.
posted by sammyo at 9:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 9:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
Amazon hires extremophile exobacteria as node developer.
posted by Artw at 9:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
SETI just has a bad case of the not invaded here (by our aliens) syndrome.
posted by sammyo at 9:18 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 9:18 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
The year-long delay is enough on its own to make it doubtful (without all the other shady bits going on here), but an unusual signal burst is at least often an interesting stellar phenomenon that signals an interesting new thing about the universe, so that's good. (Either that or that's some killer signal interference they've got going on and they should fix that.)
(At least it's 95 light years away so it's not sending the 1936 Berlin Olympics back at us as per Contact, which I have always suspected is the real way aliens will contact us.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:20 PM on August 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
(At least it's 95 light years away so it's not sending the 1936 Berlin Olympics back at us as per Contact, which I have always suspected is the real way aliens will contact us.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:20 PM on August 29, 2016 [11 favorites]
They will send Rocky and Bullwinkle to the Russian Seti People.
posted by Oyéah at 9:27 PM on August 29, 2016
posted by Oyéah at 9:27 PM on August 29, 2016
2016 couldn't get any more bizarre if aliens did make first contact, so I say let's go for it.
posted by codacorolla at 9:27 PM on August 29, 2016 [73 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 9:27 PM on August 29, 2016 [73 favorites]
> The SETI@Home team have their doubts.
Thanks for posting that SETI@Home link. When the blurb came across my screen I found it interesting until I got to RATAN-600. Too many occasions of crying wolf by those guys, and I'm going to need to see more than a single unconfirmed blip before I get excited by their results, sorry.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:33 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Thanks for posting that SETI@Home link. When the blurb came across my screen I found it interesting until I got to RATAN-600. Too many occasions of crying wolf by those guys, and I'm going to need to see more than a single unconfirmed blip before I get excited by their results, sorry.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:33 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
It took over a decade to discover that a microwave oven was the cause of some fast radio burst-like transients. A single detection is not really ... anything.
posted by kiltedtaco at 9:41 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by kiltedtaco at 9:41 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Ars Technica asked Nick Suntzeff at Texas A&M what this could be if it weren't an alien signal:
Suntzeff added that he would not be surprised if the signal was due to a terrestrial origin, because it was observed in part of the radio spectrum used by the military. "God knows who or what broadcasts at 11Ghz, and it would not be out of the question that some sort of bursting communication is done between ground stations and satellites," he said. "I would follow it if I were the astronomers, but I would also not hype the fact that it may be at SETI signal given the significant chance it could be something military."posted by fremen at 9:43 PM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
101110111011PLEASE ADD ME TO YOUR LINKEDIN NETWORK111001011011
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:43 PM on August 29, 2016 [103 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:43 PM on August 29, 2016 [103 favorites]
Searching the Galaxy for an Italian Restaurant (Terence Mckenna)
posted by bukvich at 9:49 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bukvich at 9:49 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
"If you've detected six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:52 PM on August 29, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:52 PM on August 29, 2016 [13 favorites]
Listen, any other year, and I'd be thrilled. But 2016, you guys. 2016. In this of all years, do we really think first contact would go well?
posted by yasaman at 9:58 PM on August 29, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 9:58 PM on August 29, 2016 [20 favorites]
> "God knows who or what broadcasts at 11Ghz
Seriously, guy? A whole shitload of terrestrial point to point microwave data links. Those 3 ft to 8ft diameter white drum looking things you see on telecom towers. 11 GHz is the most popular and widely used FDD band plan after 6 GHz. It's also adjacent to Ku band geostationary satellite.
posted by thewalrus at 10:01 PM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
Seriously, guy? A whole shitload of terrestrial point to point microwave data links. Those 3 ft to 8ft diameter white drum looking things you see on telecom towers. 11 GHz is the most popular and widely used FDD band plan after 6 GHz. It's also adjacent to Ku band geostationary satellite.
posted by thewalrus at 10:01 PM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
My own theory is that this is yet another case of discovering bad science journalism.
posted by humanfont at 10:11 PM on August 29, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 10:11 PM on August 29, 2016 [10 favorites]
Suffice that it's a shedload of god knows what all and then some then...
posted by wotsac at 10:11 PM on August 29, 2016
posted by wotsac at 10:11 PM on August 29, 2016
Well, I did download BOINC. I used to run the screensaver for years in another lifetime.
posted by bongo_x at 10:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 10:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
I have this theory that each year has a perfect balance of good and bad in it. Given how terrible 2016 has been so far, we're due for something amazingly good soon. First contact with alien life might be it!
posted by JDHarper at 10:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by JDHarper at 10:16 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
I read about this earlier today and it is really fun, but unfortunately one occurrence isn't enough to prove anything. But maybe further monitoring will strike gold! I hope so, but there's really no way to know and a lot of good reasons to not get excited.
Still cool, though. And it shows that the universe is always coming up with new ways to surprise us.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:18 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Still cool, though. And it shows that the universe is always coming up with new ways to surprise us.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:18 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think it's exciting because one time we thought we'd found aliens but actually we'd found pulsars! I mean maybe they just found radio interference, which is boring, but if it's a legit space signal it's probably a cool stellar phenomenon, which is always interesting.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:19 PM on August 29, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:19 PM on August 29, 2016 [19 favorites]
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
posted by corb at 10:20 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by corb at 10:20 PM on August 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh and in response to this "...wouldn't you rather hear it here first?" The answer is yes. It would be awesome to load Mefi some day and see a post that says "Alien Life Discovered."
posted by Kevin Street at 10:23 PM on August 29, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 10:23 PM on August 29, 2016 [9 favorites]
I can't read "Kardashev Type" without thinking Kardashian (that'd be Type II) or Cardassian (Star Trek, therefore Type I)... and aren't Dyson Spheres those ball-things on some of their vacuum cleaners?
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:55 PM on August 29, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:55 PM on August 29, 2016 [16 favorites]
surely the headline would have to be "Alien Life Discovered [real]"
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:02 PM on August 29, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:02 PM on August 29, 2016 [7 favorites]
Nah, that's the subject line from this broadcast
posted by Apocryphon at 11:21 PM on August 29, 2016
posted by Apocryphon at 11:21 PM on August 29, 2016
thewalrus, "God knows who..." is often used to mean "there are so many valid options I have no reason to speculate one over the other".
For example, the doorbell rings on a weekend when lots of different people have been dropping by impromptu. Who is it? God knows who -- could be anyone.
posted by lastobelus at 11:26 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
For example, the doorbell rings on a weekend when lots of different people have been dropping by impromptu. Who is it? God knows who -- could be anyone.
posted by lastobelus at 11:26 PM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
the alien has already been here for a very long time
posted by philip-random at 12:34 AM on August 30, 2016
posted by philip-random at 12:34 AM on August 30, 2016
roughly 95 light-years from Earth
Or 190 years round trip, so this can't be a reply to anything we've ever broadcast.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:10 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Or 190 years round trip, so this can't be a reply to anything we've ever broadcast.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:10 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
I hope that they checked their kitchen appliances.
posted by elgilito at 1:18 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by elgilito at 1:18 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't know about this "Type I " and "Type 2" civilization stuff....sounds kind of herbert to me....aren't there civilizations who are trying to become pure energy beings, instead of being preoccupied with technology and power?
posted by thelonius at 2:31 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 2:31 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Wake me up when we hear something at 4.46 ghz.
posted by midmarch snowman at 3:08 AM on August 30, 2016
posted by midmarch snowman at 3:08 AM on August 30, 2016
Looking forward to the totally measured, restrained buzz about this at this weekend's Exeter UFO Festival. If you happen to be going, look for me (I'll be wearing one of my shirts), and we'll see if folks are aware of the Reptilian Connection.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 3:39 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 3:39 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
aren't there civilizations who are trying to become pure energy beings, instead of being preoccupied with technology and power?
My mid-draft sci-fi composite-novel-in-progress set on a farm in West Virginia is built entirely on the notion that the next paradigm shift in human evolution will be the invention of a truly compelling counter-argument, though it's less about ascending to the sterile whiteness of religion-based human-shaming pure energy beings and more about goat farming, giddy buttfucking, and everyone running down the mountainside four times a day to wave at the Capitol Limited on its way to Chicago.
If aliens give us a call, it'll all be ruined, and I'll have nothing to do but pen an unpublishable series of young adult girl detective novellas starting with Vol. 1: Joe And The Upsetting Sex Thermos.
posted by sonascope at 3:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
My mid-draft sci-fi composite-novel-in-progress set on a farm in West Virginia is built entirely on the notion that the next paradigm shift in human evolution will be the invention of a truly compelling counter-argument, though it's less about ascending to the sterile whiteness of religion-based human-shaming pure energy beings and more about goat farming, giddy buttfucking, and everyone running down the mountainside four times a day to wave at the Capitol Limited on its way to Chicago.
If aliens give us a call, it'll all be ruined, and I'll have nothing to do but pen an unpublishable series of young adult girl detective novellas starting with Vol. 1: Joe And The Upsetting Sex Thermos.
posted by sonascope at 3:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
It may sound primitive and unscientific, but through the fairies, we could ask Mothra to help.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:17 AM on August 30, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:17 AM on August 30, 2016 [17 favorites]
Is it a repeating signal that seems to come to a terminus? Do we need to find an old Mac and dust off Jeff Goldblum?
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:21 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:21 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
October surprise anyone?
I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 4:34 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 4:34 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
Meh. Meh soup, even. I 'Meh' on your mysterious radio signal.
This is all so anthropomorphic (there's gotta be a better word for this) /based on how we 'think' it's going to be when the aliens contact us, that I just can't buy it. It's a little like how I thought my first kiss was going to be because I saw it happen once in the movies.
The aliens aren't going to drop a happy letter on us, if they're going to kill us all, they'll just try and kill us all. If they want something from us, they'll send it to us in a way that we get it, that they want something from us. They won't just blip at us once and hope that does it. That's a silly idea.
That said, figuring out what the hell this blip was is a worthwhile thing. Could be there's even something important behind it. But that's also likely even more interesting than just some pretend first contact...
(Secretly, of course, I wish that's what this was...)
posted by From Bklyn at 4:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is all so anthropomorphic (there's gotta be a better word for this) /based on how we 'think' it's going to be when the aliens contact us, that I just can't buy it. It's a little like how I thought my first kiss was going to be because I saw it happen once in the movies.
The aliens aren't going to drop a happy letter on us, if they're going to kill us all, they'll just try and kill us all. If they want something from us, they'll send it to us in a way that we get it, that they want something from us. They won't just blip at us once and hope that does it. That's a silly idea.
That said, figuring out what the hell this blip was is a worthwhile thing. Could be there's even something important behind it. But that's also likely even more interesting than just some pretend first contact...
(Secretly, of course, I wish that's what this was...)
posted by From Bklyn at 4:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Between this and NASA getting in contact with that lost space craft after two years, we have the plots for space horror movies pretty much covered.
posted by Catbunny at 4:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Catbunny at 4:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
The chances of anything coming from HD164595 are a million to one
posted by Damienmce at 5:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Damienmce at 5:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
So you're saying there's a chance?
posted by blue_beetle at 5:08 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 5:08 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
Never tell me the odds!
posted by midmarch snowman at 5:08 AM on August 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by midmarch snowman at 5:08 AM on August 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
*adjust rabbit ears*
*adjusts noise cancelation knobs on monitor*
*activates enhance zoom*
"Keeping up…with the…Kardashevians"
what
posted by Kabanos at 5:30 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
*adjusts noise cancelation knobs on monitor*
*activates enhance zoom*
"Keeping up…with the…Kardashevians"
what
posted by Kabanos at 5:30 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
> "The aliens aren't going to ... they'll just try ... they'll send it to us ... They won't just ..."
I will suggest that maybe it is quite difficult to predict in ANY way what forms of life utterly outside our quite limited experience are going to do.
posted by kyrademon at 5:32 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
I will suggest that maybe it is quite difficult to predict in ANY way what forms of life utterly outside our quite limited experience are going to do.
posted by kyrademon at 5:32 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
Do not answer! Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!
posted by Daily Alice at 5:41 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 5:41 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Trump: "I'm going to build a Dyson sphere, and I'm going to make the aliens pay for it!"
posted by Foosnark at 5:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [32 favorites]
posted by Foosnark at 5:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [32 favorites]
Keeping up…with the…Kardashevians
It's a show about orbiting passive collectors harnessing every last bit of of a central star's power with near perfect efficiency.
posted by condour75 at 5:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [13 favorites]
It's a show about orbiting passive collectors harnessing every last bit of of a central star's power with near perfect efficiency.
posted by condour75 at 5:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [13 favorites]
2016 couldn't get any more bizarre if aliens did make first contact, so I say let's go for it.
I'm beginning to think they Mayans were merely four years early.
When do we kill them?
We first have to figure out if they have oil.
I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
Trump: "I must go, my planet needs me." Note: Trump died on the way back to his planet.
posted by MrGuilt at 6:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm beginning to think they Mayans were merely four years early.
When do we kill them?
We first have to figure out if they have oil.
I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
Trump: "I must go, my planet needs me." Note: Trump died on the way back to his planet.
posted by MrGuilt at 6:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
This kind of thing is why the Hugos are important. Read The Three Body Problem, people!
posted by PMdixon at 6:21 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by PMdixon at 6:21 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
Trump wouldn't survive very long. He's the stereotypical, America fuck yah guy from the movie who decides that the best course of action is to go in front of the spaceship and make a speech about how America won't put up with no BS blah blah. He'll make sure the press is there and have some military in the background as 'props'. In Trumps case he's do it to show how strong he is and how even extraterrestrials will see my genius and vote for me.
Stuff on the spaceship opens as he stands there in smug satisfaction and then 'zap'.
In an alternate version he just tweets at them and sends the military on suicide mission after suicide mission. Just before he goes nuclear the aliens use there super technology to 'zap' through the phone and zap all the military.
Clinton would come out way better. She's the character that realized right off that they can zap everyone without blinking and does what she can to buy time while in the background getting people to research them and find a weakness. She'll get tons of crap from people thinking she's weak and selling people out. If the movie is feel good the smart people will find a weakness and prevail. If it's a darker type movie Clinton will realize that there is no fight gonna happen and work at negotiating the best possible situation for the world and our new alien overlords. At least the human race will survive to fight another day. She'll get crap for that too. Though a long time in the future after humans, along with their new alien allies (either another species or alien abolitionist types) manage to free themselves kids will be told the story of Clintons who did what the could to ensure that everyone all lived.
Subplots are Pence deciding that the way to prevail is to pray really hard and he spends his time working mass prayer rallies that over the course of the movie devolve into religious type fear and craziness.
Kaine spends his time helping making people feel better. He's the we must stay strong and focus on the best of what makes us human.
Meanwhile in Canada, Trudeau invites the aliens to his house, takes off his shirt, shows them some yoga poses and the aliens are like wow you're cool and Canada gets special place in the Aliens hearts.
posted by Jalliah at 6:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [33 favorites]
Trump wouldn't survive very long. He's the stereotypical, America fuck yah guy from the movie who decides that the best course of action is to go in front of the spaceship and make a speech about how America won't put up with no BS blah blah. He'll make sure the press is there and have some military in the background as 'props'. In Trumps case he's do it to show how strong he is and how even extraterrestrials will see my genius and vote for me.
Stuff on the spaceship opens as he stands there in smug satisfaction and then 'zap'.
In an alternate version he just tweets at them and sends the military on suicide mission after suicide mission. Just before he goes nuclear the aliens use there super technology to 'zap' through the phone and zap all the military.
Clinton would come out way better. She's the character that realized right off that they can zap everyone without blinking and does what she can to buy time while in the background getting people to research them and find a weakness. She'll get tons of crap from people thinking she's weak and selling people out. If the movie is feel good the smart people will find a weakness and prevail. If it's a darker type movie Clinton will realize that there is no fight gonna happen and work at negotiating the best possible situation for the world and our new alien overlords. At least the human race will survive to fight another day. She'll get crap for that too. Though a long time in the future after humans, along with their new alien allies (either another species or alien abolitionist types) manage to free themselves kids will be told the story of Clintons who did what the could to ensure that everyone all lived.
Subplots are Pence deciding that the way to prevail is to pray really hard and he spends his time working mass prayer rallies that over the course of the movie devolve into religious type fear and craziness.
Kaine spends his time helping making people feel better. He's the we must stay strong and focus on the best of what makes us human.
Meanwhile in Canada, Trudeau invites the aliens to his house, takes off his shirt, shows them some yoga poses and the aliens are like wow you're cool and Canada gets special place in the Aliens hearts.
posted by Jalliah at 6:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [33 favorites]
I like how the quote starts with "nobody's saying it's aliens" and then immediately starts speculating about the Kardyshev scale.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:43 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 6:43 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
roughly 95 light-years from Earth
Or 190 years round trip, so this can't be a reply to anything we've ever broadcast.
Unless the signal's not meant for us.
posted by mr_book at 6:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or 190 years round trip, so this can't be a reply to anything we've ever broadcast.
Unless the signal's not meant for us.
posted by mr_book at 6:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Do not answer! Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!
"We've traced the call and it's coming from inside the spiral arm!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:14 AM on August 30, 2016 [10 favorites]
"We've traced the call and it's coming from inside the spiral arm!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:14 AM on August 30, 2016 [10 favorites]
The chances of anything coming from HD164595 are a million to one
But still, they might, possible but entirely implausibly, come.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:26 AM on August 30, 2016
But still, they might, possible but entirely implausibly, come.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:26 AM on August 30, 2016
It's probably nothing. But on the off-chance it's a Kardashev Type II alien civilization with a Dyson Sphere, wouldn't you rather hear it here first?
Kardashev!
Kardashev!
Kardashev!
It's only a model.
SSSSH!!
posted by Herodios at 7:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Kardashev!
Kardashev!
Kardashev!
It's only a model.
SSSSH!!
posted by Herodios at 7:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
2016. In this of all years, do we really think first contact would go well?
95 light years away. If they are even aware of us, they are getting news about George V becoming King of England, the Mexican Revolution, Maccu Pichu being "discovered" (really, just becoming publicly known) and Italy going to war against the Ottoman Empire. So there's a lot of history to catch up on for the HD164595ians; let's not disappoint them with the fact that the writer's room seems to have lost the plot and is now just throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks.
posted by nubs at 7:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
95 light years away. If they are even aware of us, they are getting news about George V becoming King of England, the Mexican Revolution, Maccu Pichu being "discovered" (really, just becoming publicly known) and Italy going to war against the Ottoman Empire. So there's a lot of history to catch up on for the HD164595ians; let's not disappoint them with the fact that the writer's room seems to have lost the plot and is now just throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks.
posted by nubs at 7:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Wouldn't a Kardashev Type II civilization mean that we wouldn't see this star?
Not necessarily. In addition to IR emissions if they had a Dyson sphere setup, all a Kardashev rating means is that they have access to that level of power -- at type II, they have the power equivalent of the entire output of a star, but that doesn't mean that they actually are tapping all the power of a star, they could be using other means (direct matter-to-energy conversion, some form of power we are as of yet unaware, possibly something involving dark energy or dark matter, about which we know very little, or even gravity control, which offers some really neat ways of generating energy on demand.)
Still, not getting my hopes up after so many cries of "wolf!" from the SETI folk. It would be interesting if it proves out, but that seems unlikely at this time.
posted by Blackanvil at 7:55 AM on August 30, 2016
Not necessarily. In addition to IR emissions if they had a Dyson sphere setup, all a Kardashev rating means is that they have access to that level of power -- at type II, they have the power equivalent of the entire output of a star, but that doesn't mean that they actually are tapping all the power of a star, they could be using other means (direct matter-to-energy conversion, some form of power we are as of yet unaware, possibly something involving dark energy or dark matter, about which we know very little, or even gravity control, which offers some really neat ways of generating energy on demand.)
Still, not getting my hopes up after so many cries of "wolf!" from the SETI folk. It would be interesting if it proves out, but that seems unlikely at this time.
posted by Blackanvil at 7:55 AM on August 30, 2016
I will suggest that maybe it is quite difficult to predict in ANY way what forms of life utterly outside our quite limited experience are going to do.
This is why I hate most alien movies and also why I don't go to church.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is why I hate most alien movies and also why I don't go to church.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:01 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's just been decoded:
"B...E...S...U...R...E...T...O...D...R...I...N...K...Y...O...U...R...O...V...A...L...T...I...N...E"
posted by entropicamericana at 8:10 AM on August 30, 2016 [15 favorites]
"B...E...S...U...R...E...T...O...D...R...I...N...K...Y...O...U...R...O...V...A...L...T...I...N...E"
posted by entropicamericana at 8:10 AM on August 30, 2016 [15 favorites]
That's nonsense. It clearly reads
WITHIN THIS VALE
OF TOIL AND SIN
YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD
BUT NOT YOUR CHIN
GLORPAX-SHAVE
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:25 AM on August 30, 2016 [19 favorites]
WITHIN THIS VALE
OF TOIL AND SIN
YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD
BUT NOT YOUR CHIN
GLORPAX-SHAVE
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:25 AM on August 30, 2016 [19 favorites]
Reading today there seemed to be that academic sniffiness and we will turn our noble heads a moment and barely check out your claims. It felt political. But the question is, what do we have that they would want? A society with that much energy wouldn't need anything, except an outpost if even that. I can't imagine the signal was for us, rather it was just of such magnitude it reached us. Apparently we are a factory for producing a form of solid water, that would be the thing. Mining it would require the disassembly of the planet. So, you know, they are just not that in to us. We are like, or even less than, dogs in the kitchen, who think they may hear their owners' cars in the next block, treats maybe? They are never coming home to offer us a management position. I find it grating the energy consortium has convinced the science community, the heavy use of energy characterizes an advanced society. The idea of encapsulating stars to parasite their energies is evidence of a complete lack of deep thought as to the real workings of things. There is a lot of planning with regard to controlling the plasma emanations from our sun. The basic reality of our solar system is not well enough understood, and its relationship to life processes, to alter any of it.
Life has to be extremely varied and pinned to local properties of the physical environment. Some systems may have evolved satisfied, and uniform. Others may be chaotic as we seem to be. However our world would have to be viewed as an entire organism that is our value, the variation and history.
posted by Oyéah at 8:28 AM on August 30, 2016
Life has to be extremely varied and pinned to local properties of the physical environment. Some systems may have evolved satisfied, and uniform. Others may be chaotic as we seem to be. However our world would have to be viewed as an entire organism that is our value, the variation and history.
posted by Oyéah at 8:28 AM on August 30, 2016
Oh and in response to this "...wouldn't you rather hear it here first?" The answer is yes. It would be awesome to load Mefi some day and see a post that says "Alien Life Discovered."
I was... surprised... to see the headline "Alien species on exhibit at Hunt Library" across the top of our website at work the other day. [spoiler: it's art]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016
I was... surprised... to see the headline "Alien species on exhibit at Hunt Library" across the top of our website at work the other day. [spoiler: it's art]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016
The aliens are just going to contact us by firing a concentrated energy beam from light-years away that's calculated to exactly intersect our orbit and vaporize Earth.
Unless a rag-tag fleet of SpaceX fighters can hyperspace there in time and hit their exhaust port.
posted by freecellwizard at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Unless a rag-tag fleet of SpaceX fighters can hyperspace there in time and hit their exhaust port.
posted by freecellwizard at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
But the question is, what do we have that they would want?
Supplication?
posted by codacorolla at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016
Supplication?
posted by codacorolla at 8:31 AM on August 30, 2016
But the question is, what do we have that they would want?
Chocolate.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Chocolate.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
They are never coming home to offer us a management position.
In this economy, a lot of us will take entry level.
posted by nubs at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2016
In this economy, a lot of us will take entry level.
posted by nubs at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2016
TO XNHRGH DRUG
FREE H2O
posted by mubba at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
Oh and in response to this "...wouldn't you rather hear it here first?" The answer is yes. It would be awesome to load Mefi some day and see a post that says "Alien Life Discovered."
Really, I think we could agree the best way to hear it would be via Kurt Loder and MTV News circa 1991. ("MTV News: You hear it... FIRST.")
posted by entropicamericana at 8:43 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
Really, I think we could agree the best way to hear it would be via Kurt Loder and MTV News circa 1991. ("MTV News: You hear it... FIRST.")
posted by entropicamericana at 8:43 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
> But the question is, what do we have that they would want?
I wrote a short story a few years ago about aliens who came to Earth because we were funny, but not for reasons we thought we were funny (eg, jokes we make), but also not for reasons we might think that aliens would think we were funny either (eg, can't get our shit together).
I'm sure that's well-trod ground in sci fi circles, that aliens come to Earth for laughs, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility because I'm not sure what else we have to offer, cosmically speaking.
posted by Tevin at 8:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wrote a short story a few years ago about aliens who came to Earth because we were funny, but not for reasons we thought we were funny (eg, jokes we make), but also not for reasons we might think that aliens would think we were funny either (eg, can't get our shit together).
I'm sure that's well-trod ground in sci fi circles, that aliens come to Earth for laughs, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility because I'm not sure what else we have to offer, cosmically speaking.
posted by Tevin at 8:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
what do we have that they would want?
Nothing.
Why do they have to want anything?
Water is abundant in the universe--just grab a comet. Likewise, most material you can mine can be found on an asteroid or many other rocks floating around out there.
The value of the biomass might be there, either as food, fuel, or slave labor. But unless they are on to a level of physics several orders of magnitude greater than our understanding, and have the engineering and manufacturing capability to do something with it, that's moot.
There really is nothing they might want that they can't get elsewhere they likely come and get (at least in the next few generations).
But they can say, "Hey! We're here. Anyone there?" And they can listen.
Why? Because they are curious. They come to the same conclusion many of us on Earth have: that the Universe is simply too big, with too much stuff, for them to be the only life out there.
So, a hundred years ago, they sent out a message in a bottle--merely a beacon--because they saw a star with nine planets, one of which is in just the right spot.
Perhaps, one day a hundred years from now, will get an answer. "We're here, too!"
posted by MrGuilt at 8:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
Nothing.
Why do they have to want anything?
Water is abundant in the universe--just grab a comet. Likewise, most material you can mine can be found on an asteroid or many other rocks floating around out there.
The value of the biomass might be there, either as food, fuel, or slave labor. But unless they are on to a level of physics several orders of magnitude greater than our understanding, and have the engineering and manufacturing capability to do something with it, that's moot.
There really is nothing they might want that they can't get elsewhere they likely come and get (at least in the next few generations).
But they can say, "Hey! We're here. Anyone there?" And they can listen.
Why? Because they are curious. They come to the same conclusion many of us on Earth have: that the Universe is simply too big, with too much stuff, for them to be the only life out there.
So, a hundred years ago, they sent out a message in a bottle--merely a beacon--because they saw a star with nine planets, one of which is in just the right spot.
Perhaps, one day a hundred years from now, will get an answer. "We're here, too!"
posted by MrGuilt at 8:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
Perhaps, one day a hundred years from now, will get an answer. "We're here, too!"
Yes. I could see devoting a sizable portion of one's available resources (post-scarcity) to seeing if there's anything else out there. On one hand, you're sure there must be, and on the other hand it's so goddamn empty, and no one returns your calls.
posted by Mooski at 8:55 AM on August 30, 2016
Yes. I could see devoting a sizable portion of one's available resources (post-scarcity) to seeing if there's anything else out there. On one hand, you're sure there must be, and on the other hand it's so goddamn empty, and no one returns your calls.
posted by Mooski at 8:55 AM on August 30, 2016
As mentioned upthread, 11 GHz is busy enough in both terrestrial and space use, and it's also all too easy for malfunctioning transmitters on other frequencies to generate power there (11 GHz is also the first harmonic of the 5.x GHz WiFi band, so there's that). If I run my spectrum anlayzer here there are countless carriers from all sorts of electronic equipment that show up. So, without other observations from other sites, this really is a nothing report.
It's also unclear why anyone would transmit such a signal. Putting lots of power into a carrier is old news, even for us a hundred years into wireless. You want all your energy to be dedicated to information, which is why most modern radio comms looks increasingly like white noise to the unwary, Even stuff like radar, which explicitly squirts energy as energy, has structure to the signal, because you get a lot more information back if you chirp than if you have a plain continuous wave. Assuming there's a cost to generating your radio wave, you want to get the best use out of it. And if you want to say "hello, universe", there are many potentially more unambiguous ways to do it (my favourite being modulating the fusion process in your local star to shift emission lines, although that is non-trivial). Of course, who knows what aliens do or why they do it, so you can't rule out this being something with a purpose as mysterious to us as a Adele record is to an earthworm, but where do you go with that?
On a scale of borked Netgear router to bug eyed monster, this is firmly at the wrong end.
posted by Devonian at 8:56 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's also unclear why anyone would transmit such a signal. Putting lots of power into a carrier is old news, even for us a hundred years into wireless. You want all your energy to be dedicated to information, which is why most modern radio comms looks increasingly like white noise to the unwary, Even stuff like radar, which explicitly squirts energy as energy, has structure to the signal, because you get a lot more information back if you chirp than if you have a plain continuous wave. Assuming there's a cost to generating your radio wave, you want to get the best use out of it. And if you want to say "hello, universe", there are many potentially more unambiguous ways to do it (my favourite being modulating the fusion process in your local star to shift emission lines, although that is non-trivial). Of course, who knows what aliens do or why they do it, so you can't rule out this being something with a purpose as mysterious to us as a Adele record is to an earthworm, but where do you go with that?
On a scale of borked Netgear router to bug eyed monster, this is firmly at the wrong end.
posted by Devonian at 8:56 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
On a scale of borked Netgear router to bug eyed monster, this is firmly at the wrong end.
Perhaps what we are seeing is just the signal output as their advanced systems went into overload and started a civilization ending apocalypse. That would be 2016 - confirmation we aren't alone in the universe through witnessing the destruction of an advanced civilization.
posted by nubs at 9:02 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Perhaps what we are seeing is just the signal output as their advanced systems went into overload and started a civilization ending apocalypse. That would be 2016 - confirmation we aren't alone in the universe through witnessing the destruction of an advanced civilization.
posted by nubs at 9:02 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think of the Dyson Sphere concept as the enslavement of a star. That kind of thinking is so over the top, it taps into the brain dead and life defying ways we treat our only world. It is apart of the mindset that excuses enormous abuses. I don't like seeing that waved around as any kind of apex theory about civilizations.
posted by Oyéah at 9:15 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 9:15 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Is concrete an enslavement of gravel?
posted by aramaic at 9:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 9:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
what do we have that they would want?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:24 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
> what do we have that they would want?
I was going to go with "a hyperintelligent shade of the color blue" myself...
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:39 AM on August 30, 2016
I was going to go with "a hyperintelligent shade of the color blue" myself...
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:39 AM on August 30, 2016
Is concrete an enslavement of gravel?
Sure, from the perspective of the gravel... Leave it free to roam free on the gravel road, to be picked up in tire treads and deposited into some foreign locale, deposited in a stream to be gradually worn away into silt.
posted by joecacti at 9:40 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Our first alien contact will surely be like one of those Star Trek episodes where the aliens monitoring from nearby have some sort of technical problem that fucks up their ability to hide from us. Upon the sudden appearance of alien life in our midst, the greatest concern becomes interstellar romance.
posted by exogenous at 9:46 AM on August 30, 2016
posted by exogenous at 9:46 AM on August 30, 2016
*Tokyo-drifts into the thread, tires screaming, slams to a stop and flings open the door of my Lambourgini Countach*
"Great now EVERYONE'S got a podcast!"
(collapses)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
"Great now EVERYONE'S got a podcast!"
(collapses)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
1. I think this is probably nothing
2. But I also think life is rare enough in the galaxy that we would be interesting to aliens just for existing
posted by emjaybee at 9:51 AM on August 30, 2016
2. But I also think life is rare enough in the galaxy that we would be interesting to aliens just for existing
posted by emjaybee at 9:51 AM on August 30, 2016
We've finally picked signals from an alien civilization, and while most of it's pretty good their comedies just aren't very funny. Guys, what are we going to say if it comes up? Just act like we haven't seen them yet?
posted by bongo_x at 9:52 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bongo_x at 9:52 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
We've finally picked signals from an alien civilization, and while most of it's pretty good their comedies just aren't very funny.
I know it's not a popular sentiment, but I kinda liked season two of Everbody Loves Schlorborx.
posted by dephlogisticated at 9:57 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
I know it's not a popular sentiment, but I kinda liked season two of Everbody Loves Schlorborx.
posted by dephlogisticated at 9:57 AM on August 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
what do we have that they would want?
What do orangutans have that modern humans would want?
Your question implies that a highly advanced technological civilization is somehow devoid of all biological and anthropological curiosity, or heck, just plain cussed nosiness.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:11 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
What do orangutans have that modern humans would want?
Your question implies that a highly advanced technological civilization is somehow devoid of all biological and anthropological curiosity, or heck, just plain cussed nosiness.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:11 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
>what do we have that they would want?
A (mostly) habitable planet with water and stuff? I mean, we're not getting the security deposit back, but it's rentable with a coat of paint.
>Your question implies that a highly advanced technological civilization is somehow devoid of all biological and anthropological curiosity, or heck, just plain cussed nosiness.
...or the impulse to loot, pillage, and/or colonize.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:17 AM on August 30, 2016
A (mostly) habitable planet with water and stuff? I mean, we're not getting the security deposit back, but it's rentable with a coat of paint.
>Your question implies that a highly advanced technological civilization is somehow devoid of all biological and anthropological curiosity, or heck, just plain cussed nosiness.
...or the impulse to loot, pillage, and/or colonize.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:17 AM on August 30, 2016
what do we have that they would want?
The knowledge of whether we can or would attack them.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
The knowledge of whether we can or would attack them.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
what do we have that they would want?
If 2016 takes many more cultural icons, the answer will be : not much
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016
If 2016 takes many more cultural icons, the answer will be : not much
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016
Don't anthropomorphize the Zylaxxians, people! Why would they necessarily be as awful as human beings are? Maybe they evolved from a more chill and less warlike ancestor than whatever their equivalent of the chimpanzee might be.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
They really, really want to play No Man's Sky. And they need a PS4.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:26 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
what do we have that they would want?
knowledge of what happened to the plucky lawyer and her compellingly short garment, of course
posted by entropicamericana at 10:33 AM on August 30, 2016 [10 favorites]
knowledge of what happened to the plucky lawyer and her compellingly short garment, of course
posted by entropicamericana at 10:33 AM on August 30, 2016 [10 favorites]
Look, just to warn you people, but Dyson spheres did not work out so well in New Eden. Just ask Jamyl Sarum.
I, for one, welcome our new Drifter overlords.
posted by gsh at 10:47 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I, for one, welcome our new Drifter overlords.
posted by gsh at 10:47 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
what do we have that they would want?
really? I have to be the one to do this?
They want us to send more Chuck Berry.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:47 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
really? I have to be the one to do this?
They want us to send more Chuck Berry.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:47 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Is the Dyson sphere the one that never loses suction?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:51 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
Isn't it possible that David Bowie discovered time travel and is sending a message from the beyond that he's okay? It seems like something he would do, right?
posted by AFABulous at 11:04 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 11:04 AM on August 30, 2016 [8 favorites]
>I feel like what this country needs right now is a press conference about how, yes, we have aliens, but the real question is whether Clinton or Trump benefits from the discovery.
Has nobody seen Mars Attacks? Clinton and Trump clearly BOTH end up with their heads grafted onto chihuahua bodies. Before the movie is even half-over.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 11:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Has nobody seen Mars Attacks? Clinton and Trump clearly BOTH end up with their heads grafted onto chihuahua bodies. Before the movie is even half-over.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 11:45 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
>What do orangutans have that modern humans would want?
Unfortunately this has an answer....
And recent activity on Twitter makes me think that someone's already begun implementing the Screwfly Solution....
posted by PandaMomentum at 11:57 AM on August 30, 2016
Unfortunately this has an answer....
And recent activity on Twitter makes me think that someone's already begun implementing the Screwfly Solution....
posted by PandaMomentum at 11:57 AM on August 30, 2016
what do we have that they would want?
GET SOME SELF ESTEEM, FELLOW HUMANS. We're great! We should be a galactic tourist destination! Maybe our beloved Earth's natural wonders aren't so impressive compared to the rest of the galaxy, we wouldn't know. But! You know what unique thing Earth does have? Humans. Humans who make art and music and who tell stories like it's our entire goddamn reason for existing. It might as well be.
Aliens should come visit us for our concerts and for our movies and for our museums. Aliens should come visit us because at our best, we'll beam at them and say, "we've been telling stories about you for such a long time, and we're so excited to meet you. Wanna hear some of our stories? Wanna tell us some of your own?" Aliens should come visit us because humans know how to party, and let's be honest, at least one--probably more--out of seven billion of us is going to be DTF, no matter how weird the alien anatomy is.
Advanced technology? Whatever. Secrets of the universe? Definitely not. Unique resources? Not really. But goddamn we will SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME.*
*Offer not valid if you want to murder us all. This message has been sponsored by the Earth Tourism Board.
posted by yasaman at 12:07 PM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
GET SOME SELF ESTEEM, FELLOW HUMANS. We're great! We should be a galactic tourist destination! Maybe our beloved Earth's natural wonders aren't so impressive compared to the rest of the galaxy, we wouldn't know. But! You know what unique thing Earth does have? Humans. Humans who make art and music and who tell stories like it's our entire goddamn reason for existing. It might as well be.
Aliens should come visit us for our concerts and for our movies and for our museums. Aliens should come visit us because at our best, we'll beam at them and say, "we've been telling stories about you for such a long time, and we're so excited to meet you. Wanna hear some of our stories? Wanna tell us some of your own?" Aliens should come visit us because humans know how to party, and let's be honest, at least one--probably more--out of seven billion of us is going to be DTF, no matter how weird the alien anatomy is.
Advanced technology? Whatever. Secrets of the universe? Definitely not. Unique resources? Not really. But goddamn we will SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME.*
*Offer not valid if you want to murder us all. This message has been sponsored by the Earth Tourism Board.
posted by yasaman at 12:07 PM on August 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
Has nobody seen Mars Attacks?
I'll tell you one thing, they ain't gittin' the TV!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:09 PM on August 30, 2016
I'll tell you one thing, they ain't gittin' the TV!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:09 PM on August 30, 2016
Perhaps it originated from this saucer-shaped object.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 1:13 PM on August 30, 2016
posted by [expletive deleted] at 1:13 PM on August 30, 2016
what do we have that they would want?Conger eels! The nitrogen cycle! Thermohaline circulation! The best alt-country albums of 2015 (according to The Guardian)!
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:19 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Aliens should come visit us for our concerts and for our movies and for our museums. "
They tried, but they couldn't get tickets to Hamilton.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:35 PM on August 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
They tried, but they couldn't get tickets to Hamilton.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:35 PM on August 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
"Aliens should come visit us for our concerts and for our movies and for our museums. "
They tried, but they couldn't get tickets to Hamilton.
"We've finally decoded the message! It says Oh, Lin's gone? Fuck it. Peace out, earthlings."
posted by Etrigan at 1:44 PM on August 30, 2016
They tried, but they couldn't get tickets to Hamilton.
"We've finally decoded the message! It says Oh, Lin's gone? Fuck it. Peace out, earthlings."
posted by Etrigan at 1:44 PM on August 30, 2016
I think of the Dyson Sphere concept as the enslavement of a star.
No more than my lighter is the ensalvement of fire and / or butane.
posted by Dark Messiah at 2:58 PM on August 30, 2016
No more than my lighter is the ensalvement of fire and / or butane.
posted by Dark Messiah at 2:58 PM on August 30, 2016
You saw a spike? You think that was a spike?
That just was someone tapping the mike after turning on the sound system for Disaster Area's next big concert. Just wait until some roadie starts testing it with "One. Two. One. Two." and you get that inevitable first feedback squeal tearing through the system.
Then we'll have a real spike.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 3:18 PM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
That just was someone tapping the mike after turning on the sound system for Disaster Area's next big concert. Just wait until some roadie starts testing it with "One. Two. One. Two." and you get that inevitable first feedback squeal tearing through the system.
Then we'll have a real spike.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 3:18 PM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
A Quasar jam box
posted by clavdivs at 3:30 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 3:30 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Completely enclosed Dyson spheres are mostly a thought experiment.
There are a lot of other more open configurations that can make sense. Sure, you're not harnessing 100% (minus 2nd law of thermodynamics) but even 10% of a star's total output is a SHITTON of energy.
posted by porpoise at 3:34 PM on August 30, 2016
There are a lot of other more open configurations that can make sense. Sure, you're not harnessing 100% (minus 2nd law of thermodynamics) but even 10% of a star's total output is a SHITTON of energy.
posted by porpoise at 3:34 PM on August 30, 2016
No more than my lighter is the ensalvement of fire and / or butane.
How does one put salve on flames or gas?
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:36 PM on August 30, 2016
How does one put salve on flames or gas?
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:36 PM on August 30, 2016
If 2016 takes many more cultural icons, the answer will be : not much
Maybe the cosmology of Mormonism is correct and this system is where Kolob is located and the anomalous activity is from the apotheosis of 2016's deceased celebrities
posted by Apocryphon at 4:14 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Maybe the cosmology of Mormonism is correct and this system is where Kolob is located and the anomalous activity is from the apotheosis of 2016's deceased celebrities
posted by Apocryphon at 4:14 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me..."
posted by krinklyfig at 1:07 AM on August 31, 2016
Thy micturations are to me..."
posted by krinklyfig at 1:07 AM on August 31, 2016
Nope: Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:50 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 9:50 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
So you're saying... THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE?!?
posted by drezdn at 10:38 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 10:38 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm just saying, before you start throwing around Kardyshev types, maybe check that it's not a fucking toaster oven first.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:46 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:46 AM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin.
Awww, Belgium, man! Bunch'a swutting turlingdromes.
*resumes normal boring workday in a disappointed huff
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:04 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Awww, Belgium, man! Bunch'a swutting turlingdromes.
*resumes normal boring workday in a disappointed huff
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:04 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Probably a military satellite. (1m SETI Institute youtube.)
posted by Devonian at 3:00 PM on August 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 3:00 PM on August 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
This one may be a bust but I still believe in you, alien megastructure.
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
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posted by pt68 at 9:08 PM on August 29, 2016 [4 favorites]