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Once life gets intelligent enough we may be able to detect it by other means. For example, they would likely use electromagnetic waves to communicate, just like

by otikik 3y ago

Once life gets intelligent enough we may be able to detect it by other means. For example, they would likely use electromagnetic waves to communicate, just like we do[1]. That's based on the physics on the constraints set by our physical universe, not on our biology. If a civilization gets really advanced they might be able to do alterations to their own star that we would also be able to see. They might build megastructures around them, changing their brightness in unusual ways [2]. [1] https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JCAP...01..020L/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JCAP...01..020L/abstra... [2] https://www.universetoday.com/153603/a-new-way-to-detect-alien-megastructures/ https://www.universetoday.com/153603/a-new-way-to-detect-ali...

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Non-microbial life might be plainly obvious visually. You expect it to move around, and it's probably not going to look like a landslide or the wind blowing. Even if it's sessile at the bottom of some ammonia ocean trench, who will look at it and think that it's just a geological feature? When we talk about it being difficult to detect, we're talking about the microscopic stuff, aren't we? Or trying to notice it from interplanetary/interstellar distances, I suppose.
- otikik 3y ago
  > trying to notice it from interplanetary/interstellar distances That's the difficult part. "Visually" means different things when dealing with those distances. Often what we get from a whole star system is the equivalent of a few pixels worth of light. That's literally all we have to work with. If we are lucky we might be able to detect a planet orbiting the star if it happens to partially cover the star while we are looking at it. Still, it is surprising the amount of information that astrophysics can get from such a meager amount of data.
  - floxy 3y ago
    Maybe someday... Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens Mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421 https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421

by otikik 3y ago

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Non-microbial life might be plainly obvious visually. You expect it to move around, and it's probably not going to look like a landslide or the wind blowing. Even if it's sessile at the bottom of some ammonia ocean trench, who will look at it and think that it's just a geological feature? When we talk about it being difficult to detect, we're talking about the microscopic stuff, aren't we? Or trying to notice it from interplanetary/interstellar distances, I suppose.

otikik 3y ago
> trying to notice it from interplanetary/interstellar distances That's the difficult part. "Visually" means different things when dealing with those distances. Often what we get from a whole star system is the equivalent of a few pixels worth of light. That's literally all we have to work with. If we are lucky we might be able to detect a planet orbiting the star if it happens to partially cover the star while we are looking at it. Still, it is surprising the amount of information that astrophysics can get from such a meager amount of data.
- floxy 3y ago
  Maybe someday... Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens Mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421 https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421