Active search strategies and the SETI protocols: is there a conflict?

Lemarchand, Guillermo A.; Tarter, Donald E.

doi:10.1016/0265-9646(94)90021-3

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…While Diamond is correct in noting that many astronomers neglect the potential perils of an ETI encounter, it would be a mistake to assume that astronomers are uniformly naïve in this regard. For example, Nobel Laureate astronomer Sir Martin Ryle opposes active efforts to communicate with ETI due to concern that humans would be attacked [36,[74][75]. Similar concerns have been raised by several others [26,43,[76][77].…”

Section: Selfish Extraterrestrialsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis

2011

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While humanity has not yet observed any extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), contact with ETI remains possible. Contact could occur through a broad range of scenarios that have varying consequences for humanity. However, many discussions of this question assume that contact will follow a particular scenario that derives from the hopes and fears of the author. In this paper, we analyze a broad range of contact scenarios in terms of whether contact with ETI would benefit or harm humanity. This type of broad analysis can help us prepare for actual contact with ETI even if the details of contact do not fully resemble any specific scenario.

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Section: Selfish Extraterrestrialsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis

2011

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“…It has been said (see e.g. Norris 2004, Lemarchand andTarter 1994) that Ryle himself wrote to the IAU, but there is no such letter in the Ryle or IAU archives.…”

Section: Pilkington Comments (Pilkington 2011) That Ryle Consideredmentioning

confidence: 99%

The SETI episode in the 1967 discovery of pulsars

Penny

2013

EPJ H

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In the winter of 1967 Cambridge radio astronomers discovered a new type of radio source of such an artificial seeming nature that for a few weeks some members of the group had to seriously consider whether they had discovered an extraterrestrial intelligence. Although their investigations lead them to a natural explanation (they had discovered pulsars), they had discussed the implications if it was indeed an artificial source: how to verify such a conclusion and how to announce it, and whether such a discovery might be dangerous. In this they presaged many of the components of the SETI Detection Protocols and the proposed Reply Protocols which have been used to guide the responses of groups dealing with the detection of an extraterrestrial intelligence. These Protocols were only established some twenty five years later in the 1990s and 2000s. Using contemporary and nearcontemporary documentation and later recollections, this paper discusses in detail what happened that winter.

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“…in Eqs. (10) and (11). METI messages could include content more likely to be understood by ETI watchers compared with the leakage alone.…”

Section: (Q1) Should Human Civilization Cease Radio Communication On mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The merits of investing in METI are additionally difficult to evaluate because of the contrast between pessimistic scenarios that involve the extinction of humanity as a result of contact with ETI and optimistic scenarios involving contact that will bring about solutions to major problems of our civilization. 11 Furthermore, the costs of long-term METI at high levels of detectability likely would be much greater than the tangential benefits of METI (i.e. M C >> M M ), so the most relevant comparison is between M C the potential benefits or harms p d 〈 M 〉 Λ from transmission.…”

Section: (Q3) Should Human Civilization Transmit Long-duration Signalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both deliberate METI signals and unintentional leakage radiation contribute to the overall radio 2 emission from Earth. There has been concern that this signature of our technological civilization could constitute a risk because it reveals our location in the galaxy to any potentially hostile extraterrestrial civilizations [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. There have even been calls for a moratorium on deliberate METI transmissions until international agreements for how to proceed have been reached [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The benefits and harm of transmitting into space

et al. 2013

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Deliberate and unintentional radio transmissions from Earth propagate into space. These transmissions could be detected by extraterrestrial watchers over interstellar distances. Here, we analyze the harms and benefits of deliberate and unintentional transmissions relevant to Earth and humanity. Comparing the magnitude of deliberate radio broadcasts intended for messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) with the background radio spectrum of Earth, we find that METI attempts to date have much lower detectability than emissions from current radio communication technologies on Earth. METI broadcasts are usually transient and several orders of magnitude less powerful than other terrestrial sources such as astronomical and military radars, which provide the strongest detectable signals. The benefits of radio communication on Earth likely outweigh the potential harms of detection by extraterrestrial watchers; however, the uncertainty regarding the outcome of contact with extraterrestrial beings creates difficulty in assessing whether or not to engage in long-term and large-scale METI.

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Active search strategies and the SETI protocols: is there a conflict?

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis

Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis

The SETI episode in the 1967 discovery of pulsars

The benefits and harm of transmitting into space

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