"Is there anyone else there?" is a question that people have asked many times in history. Although our ancestors had only imagination when they first thought of this question, today's astronomers and astrobiologists are gazing at other worlds, hoping to find what is called. Bioma

"Is there anyone else there?" is a question that people have asked many times in history.

Although our ancestors had only imagination when they first thought of this problem, today's astronomers and astrobiologists are gazing at other worlds, hoping to find what is called. BioImprint is a mark that can provide evidence for the existence of alien life.

Assuming that biological characteristics can take many forms, for example: gases in the Earth's atmosphere can only be produced by from organisms or organic matter.

The most interesting form of this biomarker in its extended version is called technical signature. These are already signs of intelligent life development technologies, such as the movie "touching" the radio signals in , or space probe drifting around the solar system and reconnaissance to support the distant civilizations that sent them here.

I know these examples are great, but they are here to understand what can be discussed.

In a previous publication, we thought it would be very difficult for us to find signs of intelligent life outside of the earth. However, new research work seems to be able to correct this view.

"biology" or "technology"?

So, which type of "life handwriting" is more common in the universe - biology or technology? Common sense suggests that biomarkers are more likely to be detected. In addition, the famous Drake equation used to calculate the number of intelligent races in the Milky Way makes us believe that outside the earth, we are more likely to fall. . .

. . . Signs about organic life itself (most likely primitive life), rather than signals created by technologically advanced civilizations.

But the authors of the above study believe that this hypothesis is wrong, because it originates from the fact that technology is inseparable from biology in both time and space - it is presumed that one person cannot exist without another.

➤ By checking technical signatures from four different angles— popularity, lifespan, detectability, and and can identify sex—they show us the possibility of finding alien signals in the sky.

propagation through self-repeated replication

The first indicator evaluated by the author is the popularity of technical signatures. Our artificial satellite not only flies around the earth. Venus, Mars and Jupiter also have their own probes and/or rovers we send there.

They allow us (and other parts of the universe) to constantly understand the surface and atmospheric conditions of these planets. Scientists don't even have to leave the comfortable chair of to get this data.

So it is natural to think that in dozens or thousands of years, humans will be able to establish remotely controlled technology base on other planets or their satellite . and it doesn't need there to have organic life there to rule them. As we become more proficient in space technology, the detectors we send out can travel further and further like dandelion spores.

For example, a planetary base creates a hundred new detectors, and then propagates and replicates the following bases, resulting in hundreds of more detectors. Furthermore, some generations of devices have gone beyond the reach of our solar system. Imagine the thousands of sailors living nearby star system .

Durability

Second variable: Durability. Technology will not "live quickly and die early" - the lifespan of these signals may be far greater than than .

The human problems of the past and present make it possible for us to treat the future of mankind with a pessimistic attitude... But compared to our fragile nature, technology can be more resilient to , and can survive in the cold and harsh space.

If all humans disappear tomorrow, all our satellites, spacecraft, probes and rovers will continue to transmit data for some time after we disappear. Our own technology is a kind of heritage that may live longer than us, and it tells other species that “humans are already here.”

Opportunity for detection and recognition

Technical signature last two indicators are detectability and recognizability. The author emphasizes that the technical signal we are sending now is better than our biological handwriting.

In fact, with our current technology, if we are on our nearest stellar neighbor Proxima Centauri, we can't even detect our own biometrics!

Meanwhile, our largest telescope array is very close to being able to detect the radio signals we send if they come from a distance of a few seconds. Therefore, technical signatures can be orders of magnitude stronger than biological signatures.

In terms of recognition, has some technical markers that are completely clear. The author gives an example of a narrowband radio signal—to the best of our knowledge, no organism can send such a signal.