SETI@Home

[Nicholas Kang]

I have participated SETI@Home recently. I want to ask one question: Are there any members in this forum are members of the SETI@Home project?

 

Also, any opinions/improvements/suggestion about SETI@Home project?

[pavelcherepan]

I used to participate in CETI@Home but switched to Einstein@Home since it seems to me that there are more immediate benefits from the latter.

[Nicholas Kang]

Why? You don`t like to help in works related to hunting ETs?

[pavelcherepan]

Chances of discovering ETs are quite low and the possible scientific effect is not likely to be immediate since any communication with other life species is limited by the speed of light. On the other hand Einstein@Home looks for possible gravitational wave sources as the last, still unverified consequence of GR. Even if such waves haven't been discovered yet, the project is quite successful in finding radio pulsars which is still quite a significant result.

Edited July 9, 2014 by pavelcherepan

[EdEarl]

I run Bionic Manager with projects SETI, Climate Prediction, and Mind Modeling. SETI always runs, but the other two are sometimes idle.

[Nicholas Kang]

I run Bionic Manager with projects SETI, Climate Prediction, and Mind Modeling. SETI always runs, but the other two are sometimes idle.

 

They take up more processing powers?

[EdEarl]

They take up more processing powers?

Bonic Manager lets you specify how many CPUs, and what percent of CPUs will be used for processing its applications.

 

 

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Then why idle? I just received 204.68 Cobblestones of computation with an average of 16.04 Cobblestones. I am a new person to this project. How about you, Mr. EdEarl?

Chances of discovering ETs are quite low and the possible scientific effect is not likely to be immediate since any communication with other life species is limited by the speed of light. On the other hand Einstein@Home looks for possible gravitational wave sources as the last, still unverified consequence of GR. Even if such waves haven't been discovered yet, the project is quite successful in finding radio pulsars which is still quite a significant result.

 

Ok, that is your opinion. I tried Einstein@Home before but the deadlines are too short if compared to SETI@home. i won`t have the opportunity to turn on my computer everyday.

[EdEarl]

Then why idle? I just received 204.68 Cobblestones of computation with an average of 16.04 Cobblestones. I am a new person to this project. How about you, Mr. EdEarl?

My computer is always on, I have about 1.2M work done and 3740 average. SETI is a long shot, but with better and better radio telescopes the odds increase. Nonetheless, I think the odds of a hi tech civilization besides us in the Milky Way are long. The universe is a dangerous place, and Earth has already experiences several mass extinctions. It's only a matter of time before another occurs, and we are fragile and vulnerable. There's a good chance we will not become space travelers before the next extinction, and I all high tech civilizations face the same difficulties.

Edited July 15, 2014 by EdEarl

[Nicholas Kang]

Now 280.40 and 21.68 average. You think other civilizations do exist before but were destroyed in nuclear war?

[GeeKay]

Having just reached the midway point of Jared Diamond's excellent (and endlessly thought-provoking) "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive", I too am struck by the fragility (in this instance) of humankind-based civilisations. Personally, I suspect that even if other high-tech civilisations do "currently" exist elsewhere in our Galaxy, we all may remain unknowable to each other, given the sheer immensity of cosmic distances, plus a stern reading of the Drake Equation. On the other hand, we Earthlings could be analogous to those Easter Islanders - that is, we are a relatively civilised species, doomed not only as a result of all the unhappy consequences that flow from our isolation, but also in part because our seclusion has rendered us insensitive to the existence of other (rather more highly) advanced civilisations, some of whom, unbeknownst to us, may have already established worthwhile - even trade-based? - communications with each other. . . though, I realise this is straying into wish-fulfilment territory. Also, it's worth keeping in mind that our projections about any advanced alien civilisations, and eventual ability to communicate with them, may be hamstrung by our present lack of understanding regarding the laws of physics. For all we know, we could be, relatively speaking, still at the Ptolemaic stage in our grasp of scientific knowledge; or as Arthur C Clarke once observed, we are endeavouring to make contact with super-advanced extraterrestrials with the modern equivalents of drumbeats or smoke signals. Still, I believe the attempt should be made, perilous though it might end up being for a whole variety of reasons. But then, nothing ventured, nothing gained. . . a fundamental law of nature?

[Nicholas Kang]

Now 383.14 and 11.59 average. Yes, if our understanding of nature and the universe was correct since time immemorial, science should extint by today, but it didn`t, and in the future it won`t. What do you mean by a fundamental law of nature?

[GeeKay]

Yes, I should have qualified my final throwaway remark by rephrasing it as "living nature" instead of just "nature". One may still consider whether it is relevant to the above discussion. I did so myself, hence my tagging it with a question mark. Nevertheless, I still lean towards the adage "nothing ventured, nothing gained" serving as a convenient shorthand for the workings of Darwinian evolution. I could expand upon this point, but feel that in doing so would further increase the risk of my wandering away from the main themes contained in this thread and/or boring everyone rigid by stating the obvious, which is the sin of sins.

[Nicholas Kang]

Now 920.74 and 51.58 average. Well, could you further clarify your meaning, GeeKay. Sorry, I still couldn`t get your idea. I am living in Malaysia and currently 15 years old. You know, English is my second language. Maybe you can help in using simple language. Thanks and sorry for asking you to do extra job. Really sorry.

[GeeKay]

Nicholas, you should really consider reading up on Darwinian natural selection - assuming, of course, you haven't already? It is at present the only known mechanism that offers a thoroughgoing description of how living organisms thrive and evolve (and become extinct) over time. You won't go far wrong with born explainers like Richard Dawkins or Steve Jones. For starters just google their names. . . Hope this helps.

[Nicholas Kang]

I know Darwinian Natural Selection, but I don`t know how you are going to relate it with your explanation. Maybe you can clarify it?

[Carrock]

It's possible that most ETs have calculated that sending out, say, a terawatt of 'I am here' signals for a million years would give them a 50% chance of contacting one other ET civilisation.

 

They may not be advanced enough to take the long view.

 

Edited August 18, 2014 by Carrock

[GeeKay]

"I know Darwinian Natural Selection, but I don`t know how you are going to relate it with your explanation. Maybe you can clarify it?"

 

Yes, that's relatively simple: although we Homo sapiens cannot make any direct comparisons, other than studying ourselves in this respect, it would appear that inquisitiveness is a normal component of intelligence. In this thread's context, inquisitiveness = a desire by intelligent extraterrestrials to make contact with other intelligent species. . . ourselves, for instance? Hope that clarifies things.

[Nicholas Kang]

Yes, that's relatively simple: although we Homo sapiens cannot make any direct comparisons, other than studying ourselves in this respect, it would appear that inquisitiveness is a normal component of intelligence. In this thread's context, inquisitiveness = a desire by intelligent extraterrestrials to make contact with other intelligent species. . . ourselves, for instance? Hope that clarifies things.

 

I get your sentence meaning but not the overall meaning. You say maybe ETs would like to contact us, for instance. Ok, so what is your next idea, and the main theme? Do you support searching ETs or you have other meanings? Good English but this means I couldn`t really understand your message. Sorry for interuptions.

[GeeKay]

Yes, I do support the SETI programme - though I am aware of its inherent dangers (ref. Stephen Hawking). We don't know for sure if an intelligent species has to first get through an 'ethical' bottleneck in order to become a space-faring species. The SF novels by Larry Niven are instructive here. Unlikely though it might be in actuality, it's just possible to conceive of an alien species with 25th century space technology and the morality of The Beano (a British children's comic). Personally, I'm inclined towards the view aired by Frank Zappa, who when asked a related question, responded by saying that he considered the universe to be composed mostly of stupidity. It's the less 'stupid' parts we're discussing here, I guess.