Anticipating Our First Encounter with Advanced Extraterrestrial Life

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This blogger, Pericles21, let go of earth-focused restraints to muse on a recent web article on the subject of what we might expect when advanced extraterrestrial life is 'discovered': 'New Advances in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life --Will It Be Inconceivable to Us?, (DailyGalaxy, August 8, 2015).

First, 'when ET is discovered' is such an ego-centered frailty of humankind. For self-protection (i.e., to prevent arrogant, and dangerous, presumptions of our superiority), we should shift our frame from humans 'discovering' ET to a reality that, indeed, it is us humans that will be 'discovered'... by a far more advanced life-form. This reframing will be necessary since it is ET who will have the advanced technology to visit us while we will not have the technology to return the courtesy (as far as the public knows).

The Daily Galaxy begins by framing their article using earth as a reference point:

A thin layer near the surface of Earth is teeming with life of huge diversity: from micro-organisms to plants and animals, and even intelligent species. Up to now, this forms the only known sample of life in the Universe. We now readily accept that the laws and concepts of physics and chemistry apply throughout the cosmos. Is there a general biology as well: is there life beyond Earth?

With the Sun just about half-way through its life-time, humankind as we know it is likely to constitute a rather short transient episode, and advanced extra-terrestrial life might be inconceivable to us in its complexity, just as human life is to amoebae.

As the article points out, the wide range of biodiversity here on earth that produces new species 'discoveries' every year suggests we should be prepared for a surprise when we 'find' ET because ET will have had many-fold more time-cycles of their evolution to produce a hugely wider variation of ET life forms than we have on earth.

But to be balanced in perspective, there is the contra-diversity theory of "convergent evolution" championed by Simon Morris (The Runes Of Evolution)(2015) that posits ET will probably look like us at least in basic morphology (number of limbs, eyes, etc). Professor Morris makes the case for a:

ubiquitous "map of life" that governs the way in which all living things develop.
It builds on the established principle of convergent evolution, a widely-supported theory -- although one still disputed by some biologists -- that different species will independently evolve similar features.

Pericles21 partially, but significantly, disagrees with the 'convergent' view of evolution and posits an 'interpreted diversity of life' point of view that:

although advanced extraterrestrial life may evolve towards a similar morphology (shape), advanced ET life will likely show us an immense diversity of function and internal life-chemistry that will not necessarily be 'bio-organic' ... nor human in appearance.

This will be addressed later.

To help us prepare to meet diversity in ET life, we must adapt our understanding of what is life. This definition has to be 'Reductionist':

how do/can we identify the most simple, basic features that might describe what is 'life'.

Pericles21 posits that first, there should be 'containment', then 'form', an 'energy gathering-utilization mechanism' (e.g., bio-ingestion, radiation absorption, temperature/density gradient, etc), a charge transfer-based sensory network serving to operate a potential energy machine, an information/sentience system analogous in function to DNA, and a mechanism to assure longevity or survival of the sentient unit or community.

From these proposed principles of life, one hypothetical example of ET "life" might derive from the recently announced (DARPA project) nanoscale, Nernst-reversible, metallic-dendritic growth-retraction mechanism that looks to be a solid state analogy to bio-neuronic network components (axions). This suggests a model of low temperature, quasi-solid, metallic-based ET 'life' with cognitive reflexes thousands of times faster than the human brain.

Pericles21 champions a personal, entropic theory of shape that:

evolution is driven to minimize entropy, i.e., to take a shape that is the most streamlined (least entropy)

This least entropic state, this evolutionary 'end-point', may take the appearance of shapelessness, where the highest evolved morphology will appear to be a 'spherical or globular form. But so far, we can only muse about ET since we have only one publicly known data point of life in the universe, our own planet Earth. We will have to wait to expand on evolution until a second data point is discovered or revealed. Then our knowledge, and science, of life will take a 'quantum leap'.

Posted by: Resonanz | August 11, 2015 at 08:58 AM

Stephen Hawking to Collaborate in Private Funded Search for Extraterrestrial Life

[Pericles21 submitted this piece in response to a request for comment at 'quora.com', July 22, 2015]

First, I feel it is good that Private Money will back the project because I expect Private Money will (potentially?) protect the project from non-scientific interference (belief orthodoxy and political pressures). Second, I feel there isn't a better project principal (designer/partner/adviser) than Stephen Hawking. His overall contributions can be 'earth changing'. should he let loose all his inner genius, i.e., the knowledge and intuition that lies within himself still unformed, unuttered. I hope to see exotic new concepts in astrophysics and astrobiology from Hawking, especially in the development and application of new mathematics formalisms and applications.

However, I am not wholly confident that Hawking personally is free from bias, i.e., I am made less confident of his objectivity by his openly (and frequently) stated warnings against naively reaching out and making contact with superior Aliens whose motives or psychology, in his words, 'might be harmful to humanity'.

(I don't fully share Hawking's apparent paranoia here.)

On the other hand, I hope the project will employ only passive detection methods and instruments, guided (and controlled) by a truly innovative search protocol with new design features for enhanced-performance detection instruments. In this context, I have full faith that Hawking's contribution to the project will be startling for the resulting protocol, improved instrumentation (in components and concept, i.e, #nano-scale-photometry) and results.

I pose the following topics for Mr Hawking to think on and develop or rule out:
- What kind of galaxy might have the greatest stability?
- How close to a central (massive) Black Hole might lie stable sol systems, dwarf galaxies and other space groups and bodies? How plentiful are Rogue Planets and rogue sol systems?
- What form(s) of energy (not currently conceived of on earth) might be used
by an advanced civilization? What might be the 'leakage' factor (radiation to space) for each? Would't an advanced civ develop 'non-leaking' energy?
- What other forms of detectable markers might there be other than energy and atmosphere? What markers miht not be detectable by current methods?
- Wouldn't a developed Alien disguise their civilization's location and state of advancement? How? Still, what markers might be leaked, detected and and deciphered?
- Wouldn't an advanced civ leave markers throughout it's home galaxy? What kind?
- What kind of 'code' might Aliens employ in their signals to 'externals'?
- Can 'entangled' communication be detected/hacked?
- What markers might hint at Alien tinkering with a Black Hole for energy tapping or signal modulation?
- Is it possible to develop (if not already) an advanced algorithm that might generate a matrix of possibilities, based on home planet astro-biological factors, for Alien features - language (yes!), mathematics, behavioral modes, ethics, cross-species prejudice and aggression, physical morphology, technology type...?
- What kinds of statistics might apply to this search? What new statistical tools or uses might be required?
- What kind of 'weaponry' might an Alien have? Personal? 'Battle craft'? Interstellar? Kinetic and/or energy?
- What form of energy intake might an advanced Alien require? Physical food? Abstracted energy (tablets, fluids devoid of origin identification)? Radiation?
- what morphology (or mix) might an Alien have? Physical? 'Gone cyber'?
- What might be Alien psychology types? What might be their significance to human safety?
- Overall, considering what we so far know about the distribution of 'habitable' planets, what radius segments might be best to search? I don't mean to seem uneducated about 'Habitable Zones' but what about non-water based life? Non-liquid based life (solid, gaseous, plasma, other states?)
- What innovative detection instruments might be developed? New wavelengths? New electronics? New modulation detection schemas - i.e., Alien Fourier signals, new algorithmic mixes, innovative exo-math series groupings, etc?
- How far might Alien employment of math series go? 5th or 6th order? 10th or above? What other radiative/dimensional relationships (ala Maxwell-Gauss) might Aliens have?
- How valid might be earth-based manifold theory applied to Alien technology? How might maths for 'extra-earth level' manifolds be formatted, codified and utilized?
- When in advanced tech might an Alien develop extra-Newtonian space propulsion? Beyond plasma? Space warping? Black Hole hopping? What signs might there be of Black Hole manipulation/control for inter-galaxy travel?

These are just some ideas.

How Would Humans Appear to an Alien Visitor: A Manual for Investigating the Human Species

this comment was posted in response to the above question, 'How Would Humans Appear to an Alien Visitor'.

"Biologically, humans are still in a primitive, furred stage with constant emission through their dermal encasement sac (aka 'skin') of gaseous and liquid wastes that are toxic to self and to other humans unless proper space is available - a very messy and unsanitary species to be around. Note: a significant human social effort and giving up of possessions is involved in the often intricate cultural ritual and apparatus of dermal cleansing humans call, 'bathing', which is essentially immersing themselves in a terrible hydride chemical fluid they call 'water' which however is the same fluid environment that nurtured them in their early biological history before they adopted their current shape. Also, though they describe themselves as 'civilized' and 'evolved', humans still give top priority to energy-draining designs for their space exploration by insisting on biological support systems primarily involved with provision and management of bio-input ('food) and output (waste treatment and recycling). Humans have not progressed to accepting the limits to bio-bodies and moving towards cyber existence.

Humans suffer extreme protective anxiety over food and food symbols such as personally 'owned' trinkets (material objects of value), opposite sex (reward symbolism) or trinkets of others. Humans can ingest almost any other bio-species on their planet to obtain energy for movement and thought. Additionally, Humans are primitive to the point of even engaging in cannibalism when normative 'food' is scarce.

The minds and thinking of Humans are 'Unlinked' so they have, so far, had to rely on external devices to communicate with each other via various biological (facial expressions, sounds, pheronomes) and artificial (technical) contrivances such as books, electromagnetic radiative contraptions visual signaling. In the last respect, human technology has become more and more intricate for their species though they don't realize that their stubborn insistence on retaining their bio-shells is an obsession that leads to a dead-end and merely prolongs the inevitable progress to cyber-state existence. However, the tragic lack of a bio-interlink with other humans causes them great pain and tragedy as the result of individual isolation and the need to achieve 'certainty' and clarity about their world by employing consensus and trading back and forth vocal and non-vocal signals, aka spoken languages, writing, and body (facial mostly) exertions.

As a result of their being Unlinked', humans suffer from a constant sense of being isolated. Consequently, humans must be treated with caution as their lack of true connectedness coupled with their still-primitive reliance on fear-fight-or fight bio-coded instincts makes them dangerously suspicious, afraid and psychologically inconsistent (unstable). In fact, another intricate cultural pre-occupation has developed to try to bridge the communication gap - this is known as 'therapy'...and some 'therapies' are quite touching and inventive and are also known as 'philosophical systems'. Furthermore, humans have a special kind of need and brain structure that makes them search for true and pure communication which they feel must be possessed by a perfected breed of human they call, symbolically, 'gods'. Humans have created often elaborate and admittedly appealing mind structures to help them in the matter of 'religion' and their gods who they often attach with human weaknesses and personalities. Human religions should be regarded carefully and respected by the explorer and exo-scientist as much for care and respect for human subjects as much as for avoiding dangerous emotional collapse in humans by taking away the mental stability structure of the human subjects. Religions are for many humans, sometimes like a blind person finding his way with a special cane...take away the cane and the result is predictable, or not which is the danger with humans.

Special Note: human lack of bio-connectedness, creates constant opportunities for deception (facial 'lies' and spoken words) in pursuit of material trinkets and perceived 'gain'. 'Gain' is a human trait of desiring more than an individual's fair share of needed energy or even trinkets. Humans have an interesting way of treating their 'more than fair share' - they hide the excess share(s) away and protected from other humans. This trait has also led to the development of a significant human cultural phenomenon called 'banking systems and investments' - which are again often elaborate systems of lies, deceptions and visual tricks (misleading advertising) to persuade some humans to give up some of their excess in hopes (or false promises) of multiplying their 'investment'.

Humans have other undesirable traits and features. They are burdened by their need to manage personal bio-wastes or else suffer disease and death. They are ridden with bio-parasites that result in early demise. Again, significant cultural structures and time occupations have been developed to address the constancy of human disease - an activity-set humans call 'doctoring' with elabroarate infrastructures for training principals and support staff. Humans give up much of their surplus nation and individual wealth to the 'doctoring' sector of human social organization.

Lastly, but not least, humans recognize their great species 'lack' from not having #BioConnectedness creates both good and bad.

On the good side, humans acknowledge that being unlinked, along with a seemingly innate drive to trickery, can with practice (following prescribed cerebral formulae) lead to artful expressions known as 'comedy'. 'Comedy' is a human behavior with apparent rules that creates a sort of substance-free addiction marked by positive, elevated emotional states usually accompanied by uncontrollable throat expulsions humans call 'laughter'.

On the bad side, humans also acknowledge their non-connectedness has and will continue to offer opprotunities, or requirements, for deceptions and trickery to extort from others their possessions and rights. Humans allocate a significant portion of their waking lives to combat and control this human physiological loophole (regulate) and results by developing an elaborate systems of regulation and formalisms of communication among individuals and groups. The generic territory of these systems is 'Law'. The conducting and acting out of these systems and their rituals are done by individuals and groups specially trained - lawyers, juries and courts. All of currently encountered human study subjects involve some form of their 'Law' apparatus. It is wise for the exo-scientist to remember this feature of human behavior and social organization.

But, humans being what they are, even acting out the rituals of 'Law' some humans are not able to wean themselves completely away from their species inclination to indulge in trickery and deception.

Consequently, much of current human 'comedy' has to do with (to humans) the antics of those in the Law sector. The exo-scientist will constantly hear references to these tales ('lawyer-jokes'), accompanied by even more vigorous throat explosions. These recitations (jokes) are sometimes very elaborate in complexity or are so linked to basic human physiology and physiological activities as to be either difficult to interpret or difficult to witness in their mental imaging.

For a primitive and coarse species, humans can be unfathomable in their preoccupation with their base functions. And why humans so frequently associate in their 'comedy', practioners of 'Law' with human waste and acts of reproduction is a subject of serious study as it seems to represent the surfacing of as yet unknown human traits.

In summary, the exo-scientist is cautioned when investigating the human species. Humans are inherently inconsistent and lack the rationality of post-biological species. They tend to compensate for their Great Lacking (of wireless Bio-linkaging) with over-aggressiveness, suspicion and a knack to somewhat readily drift away on tangential courses to follow exceptionally 'de-ranged' human indivuals or individual interpretations of reality (supersitition). Humans show exceptional inventiveness concerning the imaging and implementing of these mental abberrations in the form of physical tools devoted to perpetrating physiological mayhem on other humans. These traits, along with being principally omnivorous, inquisitive, and focused on species reproduction, render humans often dangerous or at least embarrassing to be around. Treat humans with care for the sake of investigator safety and sanity.

More About NASA's Mono Lake Press Conference on Arsenic-containing DNA

The NASA Mono Lake press release conference has heated up to a higher intensity. Here is follow up post this blogger contributed to The Daily Galaxy web site on December 13, 2010, that updates this blog's post of December 2, 2010.

Although I also feel NASA's Mono Lake research, per se, might be flawed in design, I believe NASA had a larger purpose for the press release conference: through suggestion and implication, I feel NASA has begun to prep the public to accept expanded definitions of life so to eventually introduce the public to their reality.

Also, the Mono Lake release seems to send some signals about NASA's internal positions on the "life problem" [at this time]. First, that DNA itself is robust, hence adaptive to many environments. Second, that NASA favors the DNA morphology as a venue of bioinformation. And third, that DNA is probably to be found throughout this solar system and perhaps beyond, although perhaps restricted to the "Goldilocks" zones of far systems (?).

Personally, I find it difficult to accept that DNA, in all its complexity, is a commonly occurring, and preferred, chemical structure found throughout the planets and solar systems. Why? Because it is hard to imagine that jiggling a planet-or-moon-sized boxful of many-ported Lego chemical blocks, mainly from the first 3 rows of the periodic table with some transition and higher elements thrown in, will generally produce the DNA morphology more often than many, many other possible chemical assemblages. (But, since I am not a computer which can easily generate and compare thermodynamic advantages of different complex morphologies, maybe DNA is a preferred structure! Who knows, maybe NASA?)

So, I feel NASA's implied emphasis on DNA is either naive or founded on specific evidence. But, as I don't feel NASA is naive, it is my expectation there will be more "releases" building up to hard evidence for extra-earth life based on DNA. The corollary to this evidence is that earth life is not spontaneous in origin but might equally have been seeded, since one could expect DNA to be also transported by passenger microbes on asteroids, meteorites, etc.. In this last respect, NASA seems to have been excited about the piggy-back transport scenario for a long time - just a thought.

NASA's December 2, 2010, Web Conference on Astrobiology - Tantalizing, Wasn't It?

The December 2, 2010, NASA-TV streaming conference was for this blogger a kind of chilling experience in a Christmas morning sense ... but not for the science. I believe today's NASA panel, conducted in a familiar, entertaining, enthusiastic (and fetching) manner, was part of a public education seminar series that is designed to "prep" the general public for Disclosure -a Disclosure that "we" (NASA, global governments, leaders, military police at landing sites, ordinary citizens experiencing encounters, etc) have already experienced contact with ET and most probably that ET has been with us for a long time. This is a personal intuitive sense that the blogger does not equate to belief in, or declaring obeisance to, the popularized web and TV-based sensationalist (some say also "paranoid") voices. This blogger's personal belief is that ET is a real phenomenon and when publically "exposed" will very likely prove to be "mundane" (non-superpowered) in purpose, intelligence and general capabilities.

Scientifically, this blogger heard little news from what physical inorganic and organic chemists, and forward looking biologists and research physicians (and general forward-thinking citizens who are carpenters, plumbers, bookkeepers, etc) haven't already predicted or suspected for decades - the polling indicates that well over 50% of Americans believe in or accept the possibility of ET. Certainly, there have been many less mind-chained technologists, and lay persons, writing science fiction over the last century who have been visualizing life formsw based on non-water and non-phosphorous homologs. Michael Crichton's books are notable examples.

Almost 40 years ago, ths blogger personally developed and taught an advanced course in non-water based chemistry and electrochemistry, with biological implications and applications such as biosensors and replacement of carbon with other, homologous, elements. The most popular near-water model for HOMOLOGOUS chemical systems was even then believed to be based on Arsenic and its close neighbors in the periodic table (e.g., Germanium, Silicon, etc). The point being made is there are a host of elements just as likely as Arsenic to show up in exotic life systems.

So what else sent shivers thru this brain? It was the coincidence-that-is-non-coincidental timing of a clean and simple, public panel being held on this particular subject, exotic life chemistry, at this time of near-critical-mass-point of ufo sightings along with an increasing rate of "disclosures" by military guards, government officials, statesmen, nurses, and just ordinary citizens from all parts of the globe who are now telling, near the end of their time on this orb their stories about past and current ET encounters. These encounters number in the thousands - and even tens of thousands if one also includes alleged events in the abduction arena.(And notice how presentable, entertaining and down-to-earth the panelists conducted themselves while disclosing some striking implications.)

I expect there will be one or two more publically televised "education" events before the "good" news is let out that ET, our bio-chemical brothers, exist. Even the Vatican has moved to anticipate that eventuality with its announcement in 2008 that the good Patria feel it is "OK" for Catholics to believe in ET because they are our "brothers" though perhaps being different in their lack of original sin (a stateement with profound implications and whose exact meaning is still to be explained). But how our new family thinks, spiritualizes, behaves,now it's ethos is structured, etc. is another question. However, one imagines that if ET has revealed themselves, and we are still alive and the globe is not in ashes, then ET is not a threat from the perspective of our programmed, instinctive, naked-ape attack-or-flee reaction base. There might of course be bio-hazard dangers (and we have also heard in the more expansive (speculative?)ufo-ET network about quarantine sites for ET's in various areas of the US and elsewhere (Dulce, New Mexico, etc).

How ET might smell to us, how and what ET eats for energy (certainly not eating us, but think of ET as terrifically strong radishes, hmm), eliminates as waste (our earth's deep ocean, super hot thermal vents have led to the evolution/adaptation, of life to live on a sulfur-based biochemistry where thir waste products are allomorphs of pure sulfur), and what ET drinks are questions whose answers are delightfully up for grabs and yet to be answered. However, these points bring up articles in the speculative UFO web world that have presented alleged personal accounts of ET encounters and "weird" or unsettling smells and "awareness" that evince sometimes severe psychological stress - which are expected reactions from our human biology base.

For instance, Arsenic-based chemistry, though perhaps "operating" along similar (homologous) chemical paths as phosphate systems, most likely leads to metabolic wastes that incorporates Arsenic hydrides which tend to smell strongly of a garlic essence instead of the familiar rotten egg smell of human waste. Or think of Arseno-proteinaceous breakdown sludge instead of human-like coproplytes, or and think of really bad breath, perspiration, etc.

The ufo-ET web network has long reported first hand witness "accounts" (claims?) of the very terrifying effect of just the smell of ET - an immediate recognition by the human brain smell centers that the wafting odors don't fit into our 3-D stereo-configured smell receptacles which are evolved to accept and recognize not only differently shaped molecules but those within specific ranges of elecro-charge-density, etc. (Human sensing organs are very comprehensive and sensitive instrument arrays especially when combined with such our complex, "intuitive" central computing center, the human brain.)

The Nasa panel today, also very nicely explained, in an easily understood show and tell manner, that we humans are not biologically unique. Further, the NASA panelists implied that in the vast, chemically complex universe we should not be surpised to meet "life forms" (at least chemical-based life) that are sentient and perhaps more advanced than us: this technically trained blogger believes Life is a term that deserves deeper analyses than has been done at present and has broader meaning than our usually understood bio-organic definition ... and conceivably might occur as non-physical formats.

I believe, further, that NASA has more cards hidden in their hand but are waiting for the right near-time to show them ... now that the public, through the mainstream media (CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc) is being educated to wider and higher expectations.