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Not that I think an alien artifact is likely either but an interesting question is whether we could recognize such an artifact if we found - especially if we fo
by joe_the_user 4y ago
Not that I think an alien artifact is likely either but an interesting question is whether we could recognize such an artifact if we found - especially if we found nothing but basically twisted wreckage.
- pmontra 4y agoLet's suppose we shoot a piece of steel in space and after one billion year it splashes into an alien ocean. Natives take it ashore. Would they be able to understand that after all the exposure to radiation and possible collisions it's not only a lump of iron, carbon and a few other elements but something made by people somewhere else? Would it look like a normal meteor or its composition and structure is different?
- guerrilla 4y agoNot an expert but I'm pretty sure it'd be easily identifiable as artificial because of the uniform composition and regular grain structure in steel. I think it would not only be clear that it was refined because of purity but also that it was far more regular than something natural. [1] 1. https://youtu.be/uG35D_euM-0 https://youtu.be/uG35D_euM-0
- bnegreve 4y agoSome crystals are very regular. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal#/media/File:Ho-Mg-ZnQuasicrystal.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal#/media/File:Ho-Mg-ZnQu...
- vardump 4y agoThere might be a different isotope signature, that might give its origin away.
- Sporktacular 4y agoIf it appeared worthy of analysis.
- marcosdumay 4y agoIt will certainly look unusual. It's not clear to me that it will look artificial (we are pretty bad at deciding that one), but it won't look like anything else around it.