Two scientific questions were asked in an interview last night. First, there was the news report about the discovery of the ‘strongest proof’ so far ‘of life on a distant planet, K2–18B.
I was asked: “If life is confirmed there, what would be the next step? Should we try to make some sort of contact? In general you think it’s a good idea to reach alien if we know where we know?”
I explained that the new paper is based on the JWST detection of the spectral fingerprint of a single molecule, dimethyl sulfide, in the atmosphere of the exoplanet. According to another molecule, this molecule is not a reliable biomarker paperWhich shows that it is found in the interstellar medium without the presence of life. On Earth this molecule is produced by micro -organisms in the oceans.
Inferences based on the detection of molecular biomarkers in the atmospheres of exoplanets are indirectly. However, like me in a paper With my former student, Henry Lin and Gonzalo Gonzalez, the detection of molecules associated with industrial pollution, such as CFCs, will be much indicative, not only of life, but also of the technologies it developed. I think microbes are much more dull than intelligent life. Microbes are probably very abundant, but we can learn much more from a smarter child on our cosmic block.
If we ever discover life convincingly on an exoplanet, we should definitely listen to technological signals that it conveys. But a dialogue would be a challenge. For example this planet K2–18B has been removed 124 light years. If we now send a communication signal to it, the earliest time is for us to receive a response with the speed of light over 248 years from now on, in the year 2273. I am not so patient and would like to learn more about it by observing it in large details in the course of the centuries before the year 2273.
Because of the great distances to stars, I am not worried about predators. Those who can reach us are probably technologically much more advanced than we do. They will probably not consider us a serious threat. My concern is even that they will have every direct message (DM) that we will send them because they will not find us particularly intelligent given the geopolitics on our planet.
In a second news item, the new director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the White House, Michael Kratsios, gave his first public speech in which he noticed that “our technologies allow us to manipulate time and space.” This explanation was part of a broader discussion about how regulatory frameworks have possibly hindered technological progress since the 1970s, and insisted on a re -evaluation to improve American productivity and innovation. I was asked whether Michael’s statement indicates that the US government has secret knowledge about the manipulation of space time, collected from years of reverse engineering of extraterrestrial spacecraft that have been restored to earth.
In response, I explained that the field comparisons formulated by Albert Einstein in 1915, the curvature of space time on their left relate to the masses or energy density of matter or radiation on their right side. The distortions of time or space are tiny, unless a huge amount of mass is concentrated within a small volume.
For example, the sun deforms space time at a miniscule level of one part in 10⁸ at the position of the earth. The resulting small curvature is sufficient to let the earth move around the sun in a circle. When black holes with dozens of solar masses collide at cosmological distances, they produce small ripples in space time of one part in 10^{21} near the earth, first detected By Ligo in 2015.
The immediate vicinity of black holes is characterized by large space expenses, but the US government has no access to such environments. We use Einstein’s comparisons to acquire precise navigation with GPS systems. If these comparisons were wrong, we would get lost.
I have also clarified that every experiment by the US government does not reach the energy densities that are accessible at CERNs Great Hadron Collider Due to many orders of size. This means that if there is a new physics with regard to the manipulation of space time, this would have been noted in non -quotified data that is shared by the international community of CERN physicists. Secrets were leaked from the Manhattan project and physicists worldwide would have known of a large advance in gravitational theory.
If we ever learn how we can bottle the “dark energy” that causes the accelerated expansion of the universe, we may have access to repellent gravity that could propel a vessel without fuel. Discovering a more advanced civilization with this knowledge would unleash a new wave of American innovation that will greatly appreciate Michael Krattsios.
But we must first find these alien technologies. In order to make that happen, NASA and NSF must allocate billions of dollars to the search for alien techno sets and not only invest, as they do now, in the search for organic settings. Hopefully someone listens!
