Extraterrestrial intelligence
Extraterrestrial intelligence (often abbreviated ETI), or non-human intelligence (NHI), refers to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrial life. No such life has ever been proven to exist in the Solar System except for humans on Earth, and its existence on other star systems is still speculative.[1] The question of whether other inhabited worlds might exist has been debated since ancient times.[2] The modern form of the concept emerged when the Copernican Revolution demonstrated that the Earth was a planet revolving around the Sun, and other planets were, conversely, other worlds.[3] The question of whether other inhabited planets or moons exist was a natural consequence of this new understanding. It has become one of the most speculative questions in science and is a central theme of science fiction and popular culture.[4]
Intelligence
Intelligence is, along with the more precise concept of
Sentience, like consciousness, is a concept sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the concept of extraterrestrial sapience and intelligence, since it does not exclude forms of life that are non-sapient.
The term extraterrestrial civilization frames a more particular case of extraterrestrial intelligence. It is the possible long-term result of intelligent and specifically sapient extraterrestrial life.
Probability
The
So far, there is no proof of extraterrestrial life, including intelligent extraterrestrial life.[8]
The Kardashev scale is a speculative method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement, based on the amount of energy a civilization is able to utilize.[9]
The Drake equation is a probabilistic framework used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy.[10]
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
There has been a search for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence for several decades, with no significant results.[11] Active SETI (Active Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is the attempt to send messages to intelligent extraterrestrial life. Active SETI messages are usually sent in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the Pioneer plaque may also be considered an active SETI message.
Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI) is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that focuses on composing and deciphering messages that could theoretically be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment was the 1974 Arecibo message composed by Frank Drake and Carl Sagan. There are multiple independent organizations and individuals engaged in CETI research.
The
The Wow! signal remains the best candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal ever detected.[17]
On 14 June 2022, astronomers, working with China's
On 26 Jul 2023, House lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday to examine how the executive branch handles reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, also known as UAPs or UFOs. The House Oversight's national security subcommittee heard from three witnesses, including a former Navy commanding officer, with firsthand knowledge of how the government has handled reports of UFO sightings.
Potential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact
The potential changes from extraterrestrial contact could vary greatly in magnitude and type, based on the extraterrestrial civilization's level of technological advancement, degree of benevolence or malevolence, and level of mutual comprehension between itself and humanity.[20] Some theories suggest that an extraterrestrial civilization could be advanced enough to dispense with biology, living instead inside of advanced computers.[20] The medium through which humanity is contacted, be it electromagnetic radiation, direct physical interaction, extraterrestrial artefact, or otherwise, may also influence the results of contact. Incorporating these factors, various systems have been created to assess the implications of extraterrestrial contact.
The implications of extraterrestrial contact, particularly with a technologically superior civilization, have often been likened to the meeting of two vastly different human cultures on Earth, a historical precedent being the
UFOlogy
The
See also
- Extraterrestrial life
- Rare Earth hypothesis
- Cosmic pluralism
- Fermi Paradox
- Extraterrestrials in fiction
- Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (METI or Active SETI)
- Quiet and loud aliens
- Sapience
- Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, 2021 popular science book by Avi Loeb
References
- ISBN 978-0-13-408908-9.
- ^ Plurality of Worlds: The Extraterrestrial life Debate from Democritus to Kant, by Steven Dick, Cambridge University Press 1984
- ^ The Extraterrestrial Life Debate: 1750-1900, by Michael J. Crowe, Dover Publications, 2011
- ^ Are we alone? Peter Spinks. May 21, 2013.
- ISBN 0-521-42270-1.
- ^ Hickman, Leo (25 April 2010). "Stephen Hawking takes a hard line on aliens". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ Krauthammer, Charles (December 29, 2011). "Are we alone in the universe?". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ Kaufman, Marc (12 October 2022). "Life, Here and Beyond". NASA Astrobiology. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
No life beyond Earth has ever been found; there is no evidence that alien life has ever visited our planet. It's all a story.
- ^ Kardashev, Nikolai. "On the Inevitability and the Possible Structures of Supercivilizations", The search for extraterrestrial life: Recent developments; Proceedings of the Symposium, Boston, MA, June 18–21, 1984 (A86-38126 17-88). Dordrecht, D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1985, p. 497–504.
- ^ Zaun, Harald (1 November 2011). "Es war wie eine 180-Grad-Wende von diesem peinlichen Geheimnis!" [It was like a 180 degree turn from this embarrassing secret]. Telepolis (in German). Heise.
- ^ a b "The search for ET is a detective story without a body" by Nigel Henbest, New Scientist, March 9, 2013, p. 53.
- ^ Larson, Phil (5 November 2011). "Searching for ET, But No Evidence Yet". White House. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- UniverseToday. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ Hollingham, Richard. "What if the aliens we are looking for are AI?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
- ^ November 2016, Mike Wall 14 (14 November 2016). "Electronic E.T.: Intelligent Aliens Are Likely Machines". Space.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ ""Alien Artificial Intelligence is Out There" --And It's Billions of Years Old". The Daily Galaxy. 2019-01-01. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
- ^ "Was the Wow! Signal Alien?". Skeptoid. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
- ^ Byrd, Deborah (4 June 2022). "Has China's FAST telescope detected alien intelligence?". Earth & Sky. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Overbye, Dennis (18 June 2022). "A Chinese Telescope Did Not Find an Alien Signal. The Search Continues. China's astronomers have been initiated into the search for extraterrestrial intelligence with the kind of false alarm that others in the field have experienced for decades". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ S2CID 39284787.
- ^ Kazan, Casey (1 August 2008). "The Impact of ET Contact: Europe's Scientists Discuss The Future of Humans in Space". Daily Galaxy. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- Warner Books. pp. 157–163.
External links
- An astrophysicist's view of UFOs (New York Times; 30 May 2021)