Laser cloaking device could help us hide from aliens

[Aed]

what i meant was the discovered bacteria in asteroids and meteorites that fallen to earth

No, there is no proof that those nodules in the Allan Hills meteorite were actually fossiled bacteria. They were lumps that looked like they could be, but that is not enough to say they are for definite.

 

[Beric]

Even if Earth is an improbable fluke the sheer size of the know universe makes the chance that life exists elsewhere highly probable.

Why? What if the chances of life forming on a planet are are very small? The only thing we DO know is that so far we've only discovered one planet with life.

And the fact that even with the rudimentary methods available we're finding that most stars have planets, or that the building blocks of life as we know it are increasingly being found to form quite readily in many environments, anyone with a decent grasp of biochemistry an interest in astronomy would see that alien life is highly likely to exist. And thats just considering earth-like life, let alone forms of life based on other chemistries.

Again, this is making a ton of assumptions. You can't extrapolate with only one data point. I'd suggest reading about the Rare Earth hypothesis. Just because we want other life to be out there doesn't mean there is (and frankly, I'm not sure I do want other life to be out there).

EDIT: and another possibility is just that we're the first. The point is that we know nothing for sure. I just think that the Rare Earth hypothesis is the Occam's Razor to the Fermi Paradox.

 

[Onirim]

You do realize that the article presumes to hide from one specific planet. If we were to try to hide from all the known exoplanets then it would not be a short burst of laser that we would require once a year. Also it said that we would be able to hide from the visible light spectrum meaning that if the aliens are looking at infrared or ultraviolet then it is useless. To make the assumption that the aliens would have the same eyes as us and that they would not look at more spectrum than visible light is VERY far-fetched, especially when there are animals here on Earth that can see UV lights(like bees) and we humans also have telescopes looking at a much wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum than visible light. The anomaly would be that up until that moment they saw every year a planet which had a shadow on our sun, all of a sudden that shadow would be gone and you don't think that they would see that as an anomaly? Kind of big project which is based on so many unstable foundations that I begin to think that it is an april fools joke.

They say more laser power is needed to cover the full spectrum. But I agree if aliens already know about us it's too late to cloak the earth. And it's been published on Thursday, 31 March 2016 so I don't think they're joking.

 

[Onirim]

For some reason i don't think that an alien race which might be a possible threat to us is being tricked that easily. This whole "laser cloaking device" would be good enough regarding our current tech level - but probably not if there's a race capable to travel to distant stars. Any other race isn't a threat in the first place.


Btw: imo it's quite interesting that the aspect, that we are able to identify possible planets isn't acknowledged in (most?) 4X games.

I am displeased. Aliens would not invade earth for resources alone and the logistics of space travel make it very unlikely they would seek Earth as a colony to be conquered. Our value to other species is the same value we would have from them, biological, technological, and cultural uniqueness. Hiding ourselves will just make first contact awkward.

Slave shield style techniques are a real possibility, though. Or hucking an asteroid at us on principle.

We better hope that an alien civilization capable of reaching us comes to be advanced enough to not need slaves or food or minerals or simply our planet to have somewhere to stay after their trip so they don't become a threat.

 

[Aed]

Why? What if the chances of life forming on a planet are are very small? The only thing we DO know is that so far we've only discovered one planet with life.

Because advances in biochemistry over the last few decades has shown that the chemical pathways that lead to life forming are a lot less extraordinary that we once thought, this has loosen many of the requirements we supposed were needed for life to arise. And the discovery of complex organic molecules on comets and even in interstellar space has only strengthens that case.

Again, this is making a ton of assumptions. You can't extrapolate with only one data point. I'd suggest reading about the Rare Earth hypothesis. Just because we want other life to be out there doesn't mean there is (and frankly, I'm not sure I do want other life to be out there).

EDIT: and another possibility is just that we're the first. The point is that we know nothing for sure. I just think that the Rare Earth hypothesis is the Occam's Razor to the Fermi Paradox.

Funny you should raise the Rare Earth Hypothesis, it is a classic example of extrapolating from one data point as it assumes because life arose on Earth that life needs Earth like conditions. Even its proponents generally conceed that basic life is likely out there, just not complex life.

Also i think you mistook my arguement a little, I was talking about life in general, not complex or intelligent life. I'd agree that the latter could very well be extremely rare, not so much that i think we are the only example, but i could imagine us being the only active intelligent life in our galaxy at this time.