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This past Wednesday Col Maybury, host of the Australian radio show The Starlight Zone, interviewed Shawn and I about covering the far side of the Moon with mirrors as a remotely detectable technosignature.
Listen to the complete (~5 minute) interview at the Starlight Zone
This idea got far more press than either of us had anticipated, so we tried to use our air time to do some damage control and clarify the idea beyond the scope of a brief news write-up. We are currently in the process of drafting the manuscript for submission.
This work is unfunded: We came up with this idea following the Pale Blue Dot III meeting as a solution to particular problems with the SETI approach to finding intelligence; however, we are not funded to develop this idea nor do we have any intentions of proposing construction of mirrors on the Moon to any funding agency. (Our global society can’t even agree upon a consistent program to address climate change issues–I seriously doubt our ability to maintain a long-term signaling project.)
Our signal is omnidirectional: A targeted broadcast such as a radio signal or laser pulse is limited because of its directionality. Our scheme, though, covers the far side of the Moon with mirrors on pivots (with dark solar panels on the opposite side) so that the albedo of the Moon can be effectively changed from 0 to 1, resulting in a 20% change in luminosity for the Earth-Moon system. This change in luminosity will be observable from almost any direction at any time and will not require a targeted broadcast.
Our signal is broadband: Because the light reflected from the Moon’s mirrors comes from the Sun, the detected change in luminosity will span a large section of the electromagnetic spectrum (depending on the particular mirrors used). This further increases our chance of success because we make fewer assumptions about the preferred observational/communicative frequency of extraterrestrials (whereas conventional SETI presumes radio beacons or other narrow-band broadcasts).
This beacon requires current and near-future technology: The mirror/solar panel pivots can be constructed with current technology. Furthermore, we are detecting new extrasolar planets every day. In 2009, Kepler will launch in search of terrestrial planets around other stars, and in the next 10-20 years the Terrestrial Planet Finder will be able to observe these planets and take spectra of their atmospheres. In other words, within the century it will be within our technological grasp not only to build such a signal but also to detect a similar signal around a distant world.
ET’s may use a similar technique: Even if we never construct a technosignature using the Moon, it is conceivable that a technological extraterrestrial society may signal their presence using a similar method. If the Terrestrial Planet Finder were to detect an Earth-sized planet around another star blinking in the prime numbers, we would at least have a hypothesis to explain this seemingly deliberate signal.
Language is a construct, and because of this it is ultimately limited in its ability to express all ideas. Some ideas are well characterized linguistically, but this is not true of all ideas–in fact, many ideas and concepts cannot even be reasonably translated between languages! As a corollary to this, any derivative of a language system (such as logical manipulation of language symbols) is also a construct. Thus, if we limit our view of the world to only that which can be known through language (or logic, or mathematics) we risk minimizing our exposure to ideas that can only be expressed otherwise.
Fortunately, this type of worldview is almost impossible to maintain, at least for someone with even minimal exposure to the arts. In addition to music, visual art, and dance, poetry (including lyrics) provides an intermediary between the world of language and art. Poetic expression uses the same lexicon as spoken language, but the devices of metaphor and (somewhat) free reign on syntax and form create an art of language, in a sense. Powerful ideas captured in poetics have the ability to transcend the literality of words and convey an untranslatable message.
Musical and theatrical performances, then, strive to achieve this super-linguistic degree of communication (with varying degrees of success). But I think it is important to realize that a wordless song or dance can convey an idea just as real, true, and applicable as a book or speech. Ideas come from people, not from words.
David’s recent musings at The Edge of Grace got me thinking about the way we transmit and share information and experiences–as well as mystery. Language is a vehicle for communicating many ideas, ultimately language breaks down in its ability to share the experience of mystery.
This limitation of linguistic communication made me realize the importance of alternate communication modes, namely through various art forms. When I play music with others, there is a deep level of communication that is maintained through the sounds even though no words are spoken. The communication that develops over time among musical friends is without parallel in linguistics and cannot be sufficiently described in prose. Yet I am confident that any practitioner of an art form also finds expression and mystery that cannot translate into words.
And speaking of music, Cootie Brown albums are now available online! They are available directly from the Ekora webstore as well as on CD Baby.
My essay I wrote for the Pale Blue Dot III workshop was published in the August issue of the journal Astrobiology. The paper discusses the conflict that often occurs between the belief in intelligent design or creationism with the theory of evolution, particularly because the underlying story for describing both of these perspectives is sometimes similar.
For some reason, my friend Seth Schwartzhoff Boyd and I came up with this in middle school.
The perfect response to the question: Are you hungry?
Oh, I’m Chad. Why don’t you Russia on over to visit U.S. sometime. We’ll go in the Palestine, sit on the Afghanistan, and have Turkey dipped in Greece served on our best China, followed by a big Bolivia of Chile and Tunisia on the Sandwich Islands; but make sure you wash your Honduras before you eat or you’ll have Germanies all over them.
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