Maybe I watched too much Star Trek in my youth, but something occurred to me the other day that I’m curious as to whether anyone at SETI has attempted to address.

My understanding is that we are analyzing radio signals coming from space. The presumption, I guess, is that intelligent life will be using radio to communicate.

What if there *is* intelligent life out there, but they have developed an entirely different method of communication? In the Star Trek universe, for example, they are using something called “subspace communication” which theoretically does not utilize conventional radio waves. Because of that, we would likely be unable to detect that signal. And that intelligent life would go undiscovered by us, even if they were in our own back yard, so to speak.

Thoughts?

---

This is frequently answered question, and the answer is quite simple:
Until we are able to detect such signals we will be blind to them, unless said ET has established faster-than-light travel and decides to pay us a visit.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

There is no such thing.

SETI looks for basic amplitude-modulated radio signals because the hope is that this is the first electromagnetic communications (OK, other than light reflecting off the written word!) that anyone else will discover as it was for us, and thus this would be the "beacon" medium a more technologically advanced civilization would use if they wanted the highest possibility of it being discovered.

Of course, the converse could also be true. They could be using a more advanced medium we haven't even developed or even discovered yet, because they don't want to communicate with anyone else who isn't yet at that level of technology... sort of an intelligence test.

---

If ET is out there I'm sure they have the means to keep their presence hidden until or unless they choose to reveal themselves to us. We may get lucky and detect inhabitants of worlds that are at about the same level of technology as us. But ET's further than around 100 LY will probably never be contacted in a meaningful way.

---

Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

There are very very few Non-binary stars in the same spectral class as our Sun within 100 Lt. Yrs. It would take a star of this class to be around long enough to develop life as we know it.

As for distance, I think that we need to concentrate all of our searches and probes on Alpha Centauri. Since we have yet to find any truly Earth-like planets I hold out little hope that there are prototype Earths this near to us --but we can wish and continue to refine our search capabilities.

I'm thinking red giant systems might be worth putting under observation.
Prior to the star's expansion, a technically advanced species would leave the home world for outer planets or moons.
Radio communications between vessels and bases would seem likely.

Dan