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It's neat that it focuses on visible-light observations through a telescope, but I wonder what else is visible at long distances. Would spectroscopy reveal othe
by pavel_lishin 3y ago
It's neat that it focuses on visible-light observations through a telescope, but I wonder what else is visible at long distances. Would spectroscopy reveal other evidence of our existence? Besides the change in atmospheric co2 levels (which could be explained by natural ebbs and flows caused by, I don't know, volcanoes?), would they see an increase in our use of refrigerants in the late 1900s? Would the effects of nuclear detonations be detectable at all, even in principle? What about things like the use of sodium lamps, and then the switch to more LED lighting?
- marcosdumay 3y agoThe oxygen-rich atmosphere is a dead giveaway, and we can already detect this kind of thing hundreds of light-years away.
- pavel_lishin 3y agoThat doesn't say anything about a civilization, or any life more advanced than single-cells floating in an ocean though, right?
- marcosdumay 3y agoGood luck telling the difference between alien simple life and smart industry, even up close with a microscope. But life on Earth has a strong tendency into aggregating into complex organisms, so we can expect that one step to happen everywhere.