6. Sep, 2022
Why We Should Stop Funding Space Exploration Article by: Hussein Farhat
What is the Exoplanet Biosignature Concept?
The exoplanet biosignature - Biosignature - Wikipedia concept suggests investigating the potential signs of life on alien worlds by using cutting-edge detection technologies. If we discover that a planet has the right conditions for life to thrive, it would be a definitive sign that intelligent life exists on that world.
To detect these signatures, scientists will need to develop new techniques and explore ever more distant planets. Creating new technologies to detect exoplanet life could also lead to better development and understanding of potential alien civilisations.
The research behind the exoplanet biosignature concept was published in the journal Science on 14 January 2017, as part of a special issue focused on alien life.
Lead author Prof Sara Seager, an expert on planetary habitability and the Mars Institute at MEarth@Harvard, said: 'Only one planet has been found that is potentially habitable right now, so many of these questions are still unanswered.'
'Well-meaning [aspect] sketches sometimes made it look as if there were too many things that needed to go right to support life,' added co-author Prof Kevin Hand. 'But if we're less careful, it looks as though a million things must go wrong.
This idea was developed to make sure that we don't get too caught up in false hope.' According to the scientists in the reference, an exoplanet could conceivably be habitable if it is twice as close to its star than Neptune is about twice its known radius.
By this metric, a planet with a radius of 14 miles (22 km) could be almost 15 times closer-in than Earth.' Finding alien life out there is inspiring and useful, even if we find it fifty times less common than ubiquitous vegan restaurants in Boston,' commented Hand.
Earth and Other Planet Backgrounds
Considering Earth's increasingly rapid destruction, it is sobering to consider what would happen if humans ever found themselves on one of the many Earth-like planets that dot the Milky Way.
The first thing to consider is that we would not be able to survive on the planet without significant technological assistance. Even if we managed to find food and water, our extreme climate variability and harsh environment would quickly kill us.
The planet would also be incredibly hostile to human life, with temperatures reaching up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and a near-vacuum environment in which no living thing can survive.
Unless we were able to terraform the planet or build an artificial atmosphere, we would eventually die off. Considering how rapidly our own Earth is deteriorating, it's worth considering whether humanity should even try something like this in the first place.
If we could attain a phase transition that could allow humans to survive in such harsh conditions, we might be able to exist in space for billions of years.
But it's highly unlikely that humanity's future will play out like that. The most interesting conclusion comes from looking at the evidence and then asking ourselves what is probability, what is possibility and what is physically impossible.
Is it possible that we could obtain every part of one planet other than the surface, float around for what seems like an eternity, land on another planet and then replicate our own Earth? Well, yes it is. However, it's still highly unlikely that the entirety of life found on Earth will be duplicated.
I know the possibility exists and probability is the subjective perception which has no direct relationship to reality whatsoever, but what are the chances of us reproducing ourselves (purely physically) entirely in another location? I don't know how high.
Likewise, I suspect that if we do go into space and try to obtain Earths parts while growing our own new biosphere inside a space habitat to preserve humanity's survival options, we'll very likely discover that the conditions/environment will be horribly unsuitable for life forms.
Would humanity eradicate another planet like Earth?
In theory, if human beings ever ended up on another Earth-like planet, we would most definitely destroy it. We are incredibly destructive and selfish creatures, and as soon as we discovered the existence of this other world – filled with natural resources like oil or diamonds – we would try to take it all for ourselves.
We would devastate the environment, over hunt the wildlife, and undermine any chance of the planet sustaining life.
Furthermore, we’d probably find a magic energy source that we could use and automate our entire civilisation as well. A planet in this alternate universe might at first seem exactly like our own planet, but underneath the apparently idyllic surface would be a dark hell of violent conflict, desperate struggle, and suffering.
Humanity on this planet is in essence a seedling – very new, beautiful and obviously incredibly fragile — and it wouldn’t take much for us to drive it straight into extinction.
Why does Earth appear so peaceful when we look outwards? Why Must Heaven Be Paradise appear so serene for humans? Is seeing only part of the image any good? We all know Mankind lives in an age of growing darkness and spiritual hopelessness, and we must look forward to the day that there is a better way of living.
But what can we do. In an age like this, doing nothing at all will no doubt cause more trouble than any amount of action (pious or otherwise). Is taking part in any manner at all appropriate for believers as chosen ones? Let’s be realistic – people want change — direction, movement, and energy… so what can be done about this?
The foundation of our entire civilisation rests on the materialism and selfishness of human beings… a fundamentally unjustifiable approach to existence. This unrest eventually manifests in an awful lot of troubling things: ecology problems, pollution, global conflicts over various resources, world hunger issues among others.
We sometimes operate based on nearly blind emotionalism, lack of deliberation — occasionally directing where we want to go from behind closed doors! All in all, it’s a dangerous predicament that undermines our presence in the physical world.
In such circumstances, it is relatively easy for us to adopt humanitarian attitudes (even if those attitudes are largely meaningless). However, this loophole presents another question that merits more consideration. Is there any necessity for God to grant up resources and supplies into an unjustifiable system? This whole thing just spins out of control when you start looking at the issues a bit deeper.
The power-hungry shall have none but their own interests at heart when they turn and finally lean toward cruelty towards others… acting as if the whole world were an endless “free” supermarket. Wouldn't such cruelty and mistreatment be logically consistent? Quite often today, people work harder to get something they want that they thought they lost than they do to defend their own lives.
In stark contrast, God is telling us: “Surely what you are doing to me becomes cruel, O my chosen ones! How much more bitter it will be on them!” Yet should we really expect the light side of life (the tree) to take root out of choice in a corrupt world?
If a city was protected from the hazards of fire within its walls by a labyrinth of unhealthy choices and thoughts, would you let it burn? Many people today react to the light side of life by pulling the stem that has indicated its hidden core. In Old Testament times, they would wilfully commit suicide or look for ways to bring disgrace on what was protected.
Strategies to Prevent Destruction of Another Earth like Planet
If humanity ends up on another Earth-like planet, there are a variety of strategies we would use to prevent destruction of the planet. Some potential strategies include:
-Preventing over development and the accumulation of greenhouse gases on the planet.
-Avoiding pollution and deforestation, which can contribute to climate change.
-Encouraging natural growth patterns, such as Renewable Energy, which can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
-Promoting conservation measures, such as reducing energy use or recycling material. On Earth-like planets, human life might begin as a thin trickle of microorganisms that invade early in the planet’s history. Eventually, these organisms may evolve into more complex animals and plants.
Since these planets are like Earth in size, chemistry and gravity, scientists believe it is unlikely some form of intelligent life will evolve on such a world unless humans made an unprecedented contribution to their evolution through sheer population growth or technology.
However, given the billions-of-years it would take for technology evolved on other worlds in our universe to ever reach us — if it has — this possibility does exist.
For example, hypothetical technological civilisations at levels above us could acquire the ability or opportunity to travel between stars through naturally occurring wormholes (that were themselves likely constructed by advanced technology) or through naturally occurring black holes, enabling them to travel freely between our universe and others like it.
Thus, it is possible that intelligent alien civilisations may at some point see fit to examine one of these other universes to ensure that their own destiny remains the same (or changes in an either positive or negative way). Over time, worlds of progressively greater size would increase their odds of exploration and communication with humans out there.
If a civilisation did this repeatedly over time (as we have done), a highly sophisticated technological civilisation could conceivably emerge from interacting with alien worlds over thousands or millions of years.
In fact, interstellar super-travelers would themselves draw attention toward Earth if they existed regularly. The probability of such a civilisation reaching the point of SETI Search for extraterrestrial intelligence - Wikipedia detection and beginning to respond would certainly rise with time, since Earth would repeatedly become “closer” in the cosmos while they were out there.
In any event, this book confirms that some beings are indeed out there: an undeniable reality awaiting explanation.
Conclusion
If we end up on another Earth-like planet, there's a good chance that we would destroy it in the process. This is something that scientists have been debating for years, and it isn't clear whether we can do so or not. H
owever, even if we only had a 50/50 shot of destroying another planet like ours, I think it's worth taking that chance because it would be far better than creating a world where human beings are unable to survive.
