Alien Definition and 94 Threads

Hey. I offer this idea in hopes that somebody with more knowhow can contribute. Basically the idea is this. Scan IR/Microwave/Radio wavelengths for recurring bits of information that can be sorted into a working language. If the language seems that it reveals information in some sort of...

Assume it could be from a world where the gravity is much higher or much lower than ours, it could be much hotter or colder than ours, it would have to have a method of manipulating tools.

On Wikipedia, I was reading the Stanisław Lem article and got linked to the Hypothetical types of biochemistry and Fermi paradox article, particularly the section on They are too alien, where it states "Another possibility is that human theoreticians have underestimated how much alien life might...

Yes, I know that it should be found and hunted (harvested?) first. ;) Let's take assumption that's a carbon based life form using water as solvent. Are the aminoacids that we use the only feasible and convergent evolution would cause that they would have the same? What would be a reaction...

The http://crysis.wikia.com/wiki/Weapons#Aliens" - are they theoretically possible? The weapon "Molecular Arrestor" is basically a freeze ray, is this thermodynamically possible? Freezing something would require removing energy - how something have its energy removed that rapidly makes it...

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/05/exclusive-nasa-scientists-claims-evidence-alien-life-meteorite/ When you consider the intergalactic scale and that there are something like 3x10^24 stars it seems so probable that life would exist--even in more complex forms. I heard that other labs...

I am working on a scifi series. This question crosses both Aerodynamics and Exobiology topics. I thought it would be interesting to have a genus of nonsentient birdlike creatures on an alien planet and they can fly at supersonic speeds. What would the physiology of these creatures be? They...

I figure that intelligent life couldn't have formed until, at the very least, the second generation stars that started birthing forth carbon (maybe 3 billion years after the Big Bang?). On Earth, it took something like 2.5 billion years until multicellular life formed, and so maybe we can...

Hello, I am interested to know how many readers think that we will find life in our solar system, if so when?. I am confident that we will find basic life forms in a human lifetime. also if anyone thinks that there is more that one intelligent civilisation in our galaxy other than our own...

By 1960, new radio telescopes were capable of detecting radio signals from at least the nearest stars and scientists began to consider what a message from outer space might look like. Dr. Frank Drake (the originator of the Drake Equation) came up with this first attempt at what a message from...

Homework Statement A spacecraft of mass m0 is descending with velocity v0 to land on an alien plant where the value of g is 1/6 of g on the earth. In order to land safely (meaning the final velocity upon landing is zero), fuel has to be burnt at a constant rate dm/dt=-k, where k is a...

Hello, a couple decades ago, an argument was introduced in a notable physics journal of some kind, but I cannot recall the name of this argument, or the journal. I believe it might have been associated with Cambridge, but can't remember. The argument is a logical theory as to why the...

Homework Statement An Astronaugt is doing an experiment on an alien planet. She fires a ball straight up towards a target ball that is dropped at the same time as the lower ball is launched. If air resistance is ignored, how long does it take for the two balls to collide? Homework...

Homework Statement On an alien planet you throw a stone upward and measure the times Ta and Tb. The difference in heights of point a and point b is h. Calculate the acceleration due to gravity. Ta = 7.1s; Tb= 4.4s; h = 15.1m Homework Equations a = dv/st v(t) = vo - gt The...

Cool. http://arxiv.org/abs/0905.3742 Abstract: To simulate the kinds of observations that will eventually be obtained for exoplanets, the Deep Impact spacecraft obtained light curves of Earth at seven wavebands spanning 300-1000 nm as part of the EPOXI mission of opportunity. In this...

Lets assume an Alien race that's 1.2 billion years ahead of human civilization in terms of technology. Do you think they'd be able to store the entire internet in one of their single device? If not, then how much storage do you think they'd have? Discuss..

Please give an honest, clear answer and leave a detailed comment unless the answer is none. Please make the comment inside the signature poll. I am using a different poll because my poll is active in other forums. Poll: Have you ever seen a UFO, alien or unusual cosmic object. · UFO · Alien...

voltage/charge problem Homework Statement Imagine a small metal sphere left by some alien civilization is floating in space. A probe is launched directly at the sphere in order to study it. When the probe is 1000 m from the sphere, it detects a voltage of 110.0 V; and when it’s at 100.0 m...

What do you guys reckon to the odds of us finding alien life? The fermi paradox: 'If there are all these billions of planets in the universe that are capable of supporting life, and millions of intelligent species out there, then how come none has visited earth?' I reckon there exists...

Not sure if this has been asked here (searched but couldn't find anything), but I thought this was an awesome question (heard in a feynman lecture) If you were communicating with an alien race, with no visual lines of communication (only audio) how would you explain left and right, so that it...

Hello everyone :) There is an alien that just came to Earth and is having trouble recognizing peoples faces. We also have trouble recognizing his face; where his eye is on one hand and a mouth on the other. Luckily for us the alien understands our language and simple colours. The task is...

History channel: "Alien engineering" show I'm curious if anyone saw this show, or part of it. (I only watched part, it was rather long). For a rather ga-ga premise, the show seemed to be fairly serious. A friend of mine commented that it might attract kids to science. I know I don't want...

Here's a problem which I encountered a while ago: "There is an alien on the surface of a spherical planet. The alien can run at a top speed of u. An alien hunter is hunting the alien in his spaceship which can fly at a top speed of v. Once the hunter sees the alien, he fires, and the alien...

Suppose you are going to meet an alien from another planet. How can you make sure that the alien is not build of antimatter without touching it? My teacher told me that I have to compare the rate of the C-P violated processes. I didn't understand this point.

To be given in a few minutes, he will offically announce the call for National Guard troops to be sent to the border for support roles with the border patrol, but with no law enforcement directly. Now, in principle I might agree with the effort. Something has to be done. But at the same time, we...

A very partial transcript of the BBC interview is on this link and you can watch the whole interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4977134.stm" I spotted this on my way round the web it's about a guys hacking into top secret computers involved with the DoD and NASA...

I once watched a tv program on the possibility of alien life. The program intrigued me in the possibility that life as we know it might not be as limited. Some possibilities that entertained me are: 1) alien life might not need DNA to transfer traits to the next generations. 2) They might be...

Many here may have heard of Alien Hand Syndrome http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12655 Could this be an example of Alien Paw Syndrome? :biggrin: [edit by Ivan: link deleted. See post #16]

If an alien species produced memories using process involving an overall negative entropy change, would it have memories from our future? It would appear to us as though these alien memories were being destroyed with an overall positive entropy change (since in our perception every reaction...

How come on whatever Sci-fi show/movie e.g. Startrek, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1, star.*, etc. you never see people struggling to pick up their feet or bouncing around freely on whatever random planet they visit, as though whatever planet happens to have exactly the same as Earth's mass, isn't...

Here is a poll...how many alien civilizations do you think are existing in the Milky Way at this moment. - 1 - 10 - 50 - 100 - 1000 - 10 000 or more I would vote for 50

Both our kind of intelligence (a civilization) and superior physical abilities (like superhuman strength, speed, agility, etc).

Ignoring the if, when, and how of contact with an alien race, what would the social stigmata be of this event? Suppose that we receive radio signals from Race B (roughly equivalent in technological development) that originate several light years away in 2010. How would our society be forced to...

In defining consciousness as it relates to humans, is it reasonable to assume that extra terrestrial life having evolved to an equivalent or higher state will interact with the physical universe in the same way, put simply do you think aliens think/experience like us on a deeper level ?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/03/23/craigslist.space/index.html i.e., number of star systems reached = zero! I think I’d prefer first contact to be an “elite” message rather than random babbling. :rolleyes:

Speculation On Extra Solar Biology I think this could be an interesting thing to talk about, what could alien life really be like? Of course nothing like the stupidity shown in movies and on TV. To get this thread going I've provided a link to an unfinished world building project...

Check this out: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/02/et.send/index.html This article got me thinking. On an alien planet, on which life forms have developed in a completely different way to us; how would they think (presuming they were more intelligent than us) what would their...

This was posted in another forum and I was just wondering what the Physics Forum thinks should be chosen. ----------------------------- Alien trade Imagine if you will. An alien spacecraft the size of London appears suddenly over New York. After the inevitable panic, mayhem, calls...

Once in awhile i'll be walking down the street, and for a brief second, my perspective shifts. Everything around me (the pavement, the houses, the cars) seem extremely surreal and ficticious. I feel like I'm walking in that model town from the movie "Beetlejuice". I get a flashback of this...

Have anyone read my thread about toys and gadgets? Anyway, it leads here... An energy ball is simply a ball that whenever one touches it, it glows and hums. (electric circuit ball) Does anyone know its schematic diagram (interior of alien ball)? How do I make my own? =) I...

IIn the event of a fullscale alien invasion, how prepared would youre planetary defences be? Tell Me!...

http://users.bigpond.net.au/wanglese/Alien_recipes.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3109910.stm

http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=570