Nov 18, 2022 03:23 AM
https://www.supercluster.com/editorial/w...st-contact
EXCERPTS: Imagine, if you will, James Bond stalking the dark corridors of some hostile foreign power. Or maybe the secret underground lair of some crazed (aerospace?) billionaire, searching for secret technology that threatens the world. Only this time, the technology came from a neighbor in the cosmos.
This depiction may be sensationalized and considerably campy, it highlights the concerns of two researchers from the University of Texas at Austin. Anthropologist John Traphagan and geothermal physicist and former United States Air Force Major General, Ken Wisian, published a paper in the journal Space Policy, suggesting that SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, could be dangerous. However, the threat wouldn’t come from invading aliens, but from ourselves and our messy geopolitics.
The modern expectation is that if SETI does succeed, it will be through something nondescript: overhead radio leakage, raw energy from power beaming, an indecipherable technosignature. If we’re really lucky, however, the detection of a signal might carry more information than just a simple sign that there’s somebody out there.
Maybe we’ll catch a deliberate signal, an encyclopedia galactica, loaded with information about advanced technology, extraterrestrial culture, and science way beyond our current knowledge. Or maybe we won’t. It matters neither way, say Traphagan and Wisian. What is important, they argue, is the perception that a signal could be valuable, and that nations may seek to co-opt and monopolize it to gain a strategic advantage over others.
[...] If Traphagan and Wisian are correct, then the momentous moment of first contact could ultimately be overshadowed by human paranoia, selfishness and suspicion, potentially leading us down a very dark road. Even more so now that the world is currently a powder-keg just waiting to explode.
[...] “I am an optimist at heart,” says Wisian. “But the key point is that we don’t say it will happen, or even that it’s a likely scenario, but only that it’s a possible scenario. And because of the risk level it must be taken into account and thought about in a serious way.”
[...] In their paper, Wisian and Traphagan do suggest taking measures such as perimeter guards, but Wright points out that if guards suddenly appear at the gates of Green Bank Observatory, it could create the perception that something has been detected, creating the very paranoia that Wisian and Traphagan hope to avoid.
It would also be redundant, thinks Wright, since there is already guidance in place about what to do if a real extraterrestrial signal is detected, in the guise of the First SETI Protocol...
[...] It means well, but the problem with the First SETI Protocol is that it has no teeth in law. It’s not a signed document or international treaty, and no one is forced to adhere to it. So while it describes how to act responsibly in the aftermath of a detection, until it becomes signed into international law, Wisian and Traphagan believe that it is inadequate in the face of geopolitical ructions.
[...] At present there is no grounds to worry about China locking things down. Western radio astronomers, among them the group at UC Berkeley as well as at Jodrell Bank in the UK, are working closely with Chinese radio astronomers and form a tight-knit bunch. “They’ve helped the Chinese develop the hardware and analyze all the signals, and most importantly had access to all the data,” says Wright.
A concern is that this state of affairs might not last forever. If one day China decides to boot out all western involvement in FAST, then red flags might be raised, but until then Wisian and Traphagan argue that it’s wise to be prepared, just in case. Tensions are high and recent relations between China and the US have been strained over the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty and the threat that China will invade the island nation.
A more immediate problem could be the geopolitical situation between Russia and the rest of the world. Historically Russian, or Soviet, scientists were a powerhouse in SETI, although in recent decades this seems to have scaled back. But consider this hypothetical situation: were Russian scientists to detect an extraterrestrial signal tomorrow, given the current international situation and sanctions against Russia, would that information be shared with the rest of the world? (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Imagine, if you will, James Bond stalking the dark corridors of some hostile foreign power. Or maybe the secret underground lair of some crazed (aerospace?) billionaire, searching for secret technology that threatens the world. Only this time, the technology came from a neighbor in the cosmos.
This depiction may be sensationalized and considerably campy, it highlights the concerns of two researchers from the University of Texas at Austin. Anthropologist John Traphagan and geothermal physicist and former United States Air Force Major General, Ken Wisian, published a paper in the journal Space Policy, suggesting that SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, could be dangerous. However, the threat wouldn’t come from invading aliens, but from ourselves and our messy geopolitics.
The modern expectation is that if SETI does succeed, it will be through something nondescript: overhead radio leakage, raw energy from power beaming, an indecipherable technosignature. If we’re really lucky, however, the detection of a signal might carry more information than just a simple sign that there’s somebody out there.
Maybe we’ll catch a deliberate signal, an encyclopedia galactica, loaded with information about advanced technology, extraterrestrial culture, and science way beyond our current knowledge. Or maybe we won’t. It matters neither way, say Traphagan and Wisian. What is important, they argue, is the perception that a signal could be valuable, and that nations may seek to co-opt and monopolize it to gain a strategic advantage over others.
[...] If Traphagan and Wisian are correct, then the momentous moment of first contact could ultimately be overshadowed by human paranoia, selfishness and suspicion, potentially leading us down a very dark road. Even more so now that the world is currently a powder-keg just waiting to explode.
[...] “I am an optimist at heart,” says Wisian. “But the key point is that we don’t say it will happen, or even that it’s a likely scenario, but only that it’s a possible scenario. And because of the risk level it must be taken into account and thought about in a serious way.”
[...] In their paper, Wisian and Traphagan do suggest taking measures such as perimeter guards, but Wright points out that if guards suddenly appear at the gates of Green Bank Observatory, it could create the perception that something has been detected, creating the very paranoia that Wisian and Traphagan hope to avoid.
It would also be redundant, thinks Wright, since there is already guidance in place about what to do if a real extraterrestrial signal is detected, in the guise of the First SETI Protocol...
[...] It means well, but the problem with the First SETI Protocol is that it has no teeth in law. It’s not a signed document or international treaty, and no one is forced to adhere to it. So while it describes how to act responsibly in the aftermath of a detection, until it becomes signed into international law, Wisian and Traphagan believe that it is inadequate in the face of geopolitical ructions.
[...] At present there is no grounds to worry about China locking things down. Western radio astronomers, among them the group at UC Berkeley as well as at Jodrell Bank in the UK, are working closely with Chinese radio astronomers and form a tight-knit bunch. “They’ve helped the Chinese develop the hardware and analyze all the signals, and most importantly had access to all the data,” says Wright.
A concern is that this state of affairs might not last forever. If one day China decides to boot out all western involvement in FAST, then red flags might be raised, but until then Wisian and Traphagan argue that it’s wise to be prepared, just in case. Tensions are high and recent relations between China and the US have been strained over the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty and the threat that China will invade the island nation.
A more immediate problem could be the geopolitical situation between Russia and the rest of the world. Historically Russian, or Soviet, scientists were a powerhouse in SETI, although in recent decades this seems to have scaled back. But consider this hypothetical situation: were Russian scientists to detect an extraterrestrial signal tomorrow, given the current international situation and sanctions against Russia, would that information be shared with the rest of the world? (MORE - missing details)