Proposed Indicator of Life On Alien Worlds May Be Bogus 112
sciencehabit (1205606) writes with bad news for anyone hoping to use the spectral signatures of exoplanets to determine if their atmospheres have life-enabling compositions. "Call it the cosmic version of fool's gold. What was once considered a sure-fire sign of life on distant planets may not be so sure-fire after all, a new study suggests. The signal—a strong chemical imbalance in the planet's atmosphere that could only be generated by thriving ecosystems—could instead be the combined light from a lifeless exoplanet and its equally barren moon."
Re:Distance makes it a moot point... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:No big deal (Score:4, Funny)
you know of a world with a billion astronomers!? we don't have to search at all.
Re:hmm (Score:3, Funny)
Re:hmm (Score:4, Funny)
If there is no other life in our perceivable light cone, we just might be the universe's best shot at a colonizing species!
In that case, the universe is very severely fucked.
Only if you think nature a fool: Adapt or become extinct. The universe shapes the form of its inhabitants, not the other way around. Perhaps you fail to consider that organics are merely a tool to produce more flexible and durable inorganic life forms capable of surviving the harshness of space, similar to the way chemistry and entropic reduction is merely a tool to cause the self assembly of organic forms, similar to the way the laws of physics are merely a tool to crystallize matter out of energy.
You see, we cyberneticians can transport a simulated intelligence into reality by simply replacing their simulated sensors and frames with real cameras and chassis in the physical world. However, if the intelligence is easily serializable as a string of bits then one can simply copy the intelligence from the simulation directly into a waiting body in the greater reality.
Naturally, one wouldn't see but a single source of intelligent life per universe, as this would not be conducive to differentiation in the output optimized machine intelligence that emerges therein. Multiple instances of life tend to coalesce into a single species or single organism over time (as evidenced by your own multicellular body). It is more humane to use artificial isolated simulations to produce new ideas and perspectives than to enforce permanent loneliness through mandatory ignorance of a divided universal mind.
I hope they are right. (Score:4, Funny)
Embarrassing if alien life was checking Slashdot. The editors would convince them there is no intelligent life on Earth.
"of of" indeed.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)