There have been a lot of astronomical missions lately to find evidence of intelligent life in outer space. If one of those missions is successful and find a civilization at a nearby star, what should we do about it?
2006-12-27 07:06:16 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Nothing. For once we should leave well enough alone, stop messing with everything! It'll turn out badly, it always does when we can't stick to bettering our country, we have to butt our noses in to everyone elses business. Let space creatures be space creatures. They've left us alone this long.
2006-12-27 07:10:10 · answer #1 · answered by Jilli Bean 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Strictly speaking, there have been no "missions" to other stars to find life, intelligent or otherwise. The only substantive effort in that direction is the SETI program, that listens to interstellar radio emmissions in hopes of detecting signals from an intelligent species.
But to answer the main point of your question--for the forseable future, the only thing we can do is talk to them via radio transmissions. And it would be a very slow conversation--with years, decades, or even centuries between messages.
Could/should we try to visit them? At this stage, it's a moot point. Maybe in a century, if we develop fusion-powered spacecraft, we can start to think about interstellar travel (beyond what today amounts to no more than speculation). But in the unlikely event I'm still around at that point, and we have dectected another civilization, I'd certainly favor such a visit. The knowledge humanity would gain would be a prize worth almost any risk--and it would certainly be the grandest adventure one can conceive of!
2006-12-27 16:12:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. There is a HUGE gulf between life and intelligent life. In either case we should protect life. Since we don't do a good job of that on this planet, I would just be grateful that we can't do much harm at a distance.
2006-12-27 15:11:02 · answer #3 · answered by Cirric 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If they are significantly more technologically advanced than we are, we should pray that they don't act like us.
We may find ourselves stuck on a "reservation" on the moon with maybe a casino or two to keep us happy.
2006-12-27 15:12:54 · answer #4 · answered by Jay E. 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
We should leave that life alone.
2006-12-27 15:35:49 · answer #5 · answered by bldudas 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Learn to send LONG DISTANCE E-mails......:)
2006-12-27 15:16:13 · answer #6 · answered by mrfatbobs 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋