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Mr. Dan Aykroyd has sent his beam to space! 

[msnnews]

You might be able to communicate with aliens next week

The Lone Signal project will blast out a torrent of user-generated text and image messages next week with the intention of contacting any forms of intelligent life in our galaxy.

See the complete story.

[oodlesedoodles-deactivated20130]

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The Mountain (by Terje Sorgjerd)

Everyone must watch...

[sparklebuns]

[doll61]

is anybody outthere……….

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Do Extraterrestrial Beings Speak English?

Human explorers in science fiction often find themselves encountering new worlds or E.T. species. Television series such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica as well as films such as Star Wars and Alien have created a diverse cast of sentient beings—big, small, with and without antennae, adapted to different climates—in an attempt to characterize the diversity of creatures in a galactic empire. In spite of this visual diversity, many of the explorers of early science fiction found that they could communicate quite easily with extraterrestrial beings in their own native language of English! While this is partly a storytelling device to keep audiences entertained, it is worth asking ourselves: if we do beam messages into space, will the extraterrestrials understand?




Any extraterrestrial civilization that is actively searching for radio signals is at least as old, and probably much older, than humanity. In all likelihood, any extraterrestrial beings that we could conceivably contact will be much more advanced than us. Perhaps the sentient beings are really so much smarter than us that they can learn any languages of Earth with ease. If they do receive our messages—or someday welcome one of our astronauts—maybe they could learn English without breaking a sweat (if in fact they do sweat). Or perhaps they wear a universal translator device that allows them to understand any and all languages in the galaxy. If the galaxy is teeming with an empire of sorts, then perhaps this sort of translation technology is necessary for typical interstellar travelers. Maybe, just maybe, extraterrestrial beings could be able learn to speak like us.




The tricky part would be making sense of all the irrationalities, emotions, and cultural references that form the basis of all Earth languages. Extraterrestrials could be excellent mathematicians and could even have an uncanny ability to learn syntax and grammar rules. But would they be able to understand human concepts such as love, hope, anger, beauty, jealousy, or happiness? How would they make sense of words that describe the things of our world—cats, cars, carnivals, and kaleidoscopes—that may be entirely foreign to them? Would extraterrestrial beings even use language? Perhaps they have no sense of hearing at all and communicate in entirely different ways! We can never know for sure, at least until we make first contact. But in the meantime, thinking about the universality of language is at least a first step toward thinking like a sentient being.


[lonesignaltest-blog]

Human explorers in science fiction often find themselves encountering new worlds or alien species. Television series such as Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica as well as films such as Star Wars and Alien have created a diverse cast of alien forms—big, small, with and without antennae, adapted to different climates—in an attempt to characterize the diversity of creatures in a galactic empire. In spite of this visual diversity, many of the explorers of early science fiction found that they could communicate quite easily with extraterrestrial beings in their own native language of English! While this is partly a storytelling device to keep audiences entertained, it is worth asking ourselves: if we do beam messages into space, will the aliens understand?

Any extraterrestrial civilization that is actively searching for radio signals is at least as old, and probably much older, than humanity. In all likelihood, any extraterrestrial beings that we could conceivably contact will be much more advanced than us. Perhaps the aliens are really so much smarter than us that they can learn any languages of Earth with ease. If they do receive our messages—or someday welcome one of our astronauts—maybe they could learn English without breaking a sweat (if in fact they do sweat). Or perhaps they wear a universal translator device that allows them to understand any and all languages in the galaxy. If the galaxy is teeming with an empire of sorts, then perhaps this sort of translation technology is necessary for typical interstellar travelers. Maybe, just maybe, extraterrestrial beings could be able learn to speak like us.

The tricky part would be making sense of all the irrationalities, emotions, and cultural references that form the basis of all Earth languages. Aliens could be excellent mathematicians and could even have an uncanny ability to learn syntax and grammar rules. But would they be able to understand human concepts such as love, hope, anger, beauty, jealousy, or happiness? How would they make sense of words that describe the things of our world—cats, cars, carnivals, and kaleidoscopes—that may be entirely foreign to them? Would extraterrestrial beings even use language? Perhaps they have no sense of hearing at all and communicate in entirely different ways! We can never know for sure, at least until we make first contact. But in the meantime, thinking about the universality of language is at least a first step toward thinking like an alien.

[lonesignaltest-blog]

SpaceShipTwo, Private Launch Vehicles, and Global Tech Development

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo made its first successful rocket-powered test flight , yesterday.  Departing from the California's Mojave Air and Spaceport, SpaceShipTwo was carried to just shy of 50,000 feet at which point it decoupled from its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, and subsequently test-fired its hybrid rocket motor.  SpaceShipTwo’s hybrid rocket motor burn lasted just 16 seconds yesterday morning, carrying the craft to a maximum altitude of 56,000 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 1.2, which is 1.2 times the speed of sound.  During proposed commercial spaceflights, SpaceShipTwo’s engine burn will last for approximately 70 seconds, carrying the vehicle to a maximum altitude of 361,000 feet and a maximum speed of approximately Mach 3.37, or around 2,500 miles per hour.  Over 500 people have already joined the waitlist to ride SpaceShipTwo – a sub-orbital jaunt with a $200,000 price tag.

At least initially, very few people will be able to afford the prohibitively high cost of a commercially provided trip to space, but I’d argue that what transpired yesterday morning has even more significant meaning for the future of human space exploration and global technology development.  Today certainly marked SpaceShipTwo’s most significant milestone to date; though, perhaps more importantly, this morning’s flight continues to suggest real viability for the privatization of industries and technologies that have historically only been entrusted to government entities.  

The Obama administration’s space policy involves, among other things, an unprecedented reliance upon commercially produced launch vehicles for future space missions.  While it has been the object of much criticism, in this writer’s opinion, this decision demonstrates a prescient vision for how future advances in technology and space exploration will be realized. President Obama has gone so far as to predict a manned mission to Mars orbit by the mid-2030's. The reality of the situation is that smaller, private firms are typically more nimble and better able to respond to evolving challenges with evolving technologies. For example, the innovation of a trailer-sized fusion reactor such as the one promised by Lockheed Martin's Skunkworks within the next four years is specifically the type of technological leap required to manifest visions like a manned mission to Mars on President Obama's proposed timeline.  There are also debatably fewer disincentives to risk-taking and innovation in non-governmental organizations, which arguably are prerequisites to genuinely paradigm-shifting advances in design and technology.  Furthermore, the privatization of space flight incentivizes efficient launch vehicles and programs because, like all other free market entities, private space firms will be driven by a desire to maximize profit.  Competition breeds innovation - allowing the free market to drive innovation in space exploration is a necessary and inevitable step forward if we are to continue to push the boundaries of what human beings can do in space.