Neil degrasse Tyson Are We Alone

http://www.myspace.com/acorvettes
In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), researchers differentiate between advanced and non-advanced civilizations. An advanced civilization is defined as one with the ability to conduct interstellar communication — to send electromagnetic signals through space. Using this definition, human civilization only became advanced within the past century, when local communication such as radio and television broadcasts began to be transmitted to interstellar space.

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News & Politics

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• Neil
• degrasse
• Tyson
• Evolution
• SETI
• science
• biology
• creationism
• ID

[TwistedMind6969]

Neil is amazing! 

[FilipC124]

@kodiak1966

Stop with the conspiracy theories... Information like this is impossible to contain. Everyone who has it will try to share it, even if it means being prosecuted by the government. The people at SETI have dedicated their lives to finding extra terrestrials and even if the government tries to contain the information, they would still go against it and tell the media, regardless of what happens to them afterwards.

[Snakepliskinist]

@FilipC124 Nuh uh...the people who work at SETI are actually illuminati. Those radio telescopes are used to beam consumerism waves into the minds of Americans and keep track of 9/11 truthers. The only defense is your standard foil hat. Tin foil, not aluminum.

[JackKangaroo1]

Well if they are calculating billions of years on the basis of measurable radiation one second at a time they're dealing with some VERY BIG numbers. I figured that they had some method of calculation. I won't argue with whatever answers they come up with. I suspect there are many fundamental properties of the universe that are simply beyond human comprehension anyway. But thanks for the info about cesium-133 and the measurable radiation.

[csmith0191]

@JackKangaroo1 The natural periodicity of the radiation of a cesium-133 atom is defined as exactly one second, and it all goes from there. But you can argue that atomic properties took time to become what they are now after the big bang, so take it how you will.

Cosmic background radiation is used to measure the expansion of the universe, which physicists use to extrapolate back to the big bang with complex math that frankly goes over my head.

[JackKangaroo1]

One thing I always wonder about is how it can be determined that "the galaxy is ten billion years old" or what is the age of the universe. Our concept of a year is based upon one rotation of our planet around the sun. But our planet is estimated to be only four billion years old. What unit of measurement is being used to calculate the existence of other celestial objects that existed long before our earth and sun did? I'm guessing that such numbers are largely guesswork also.

[JackKangaroo1]

The sheer numbers of stars and planets offers a probability that out there somewhere are worlds conducive to life and that life exists on these other worlds. But the sheer vastness of the universe also makes it highly improbable that any contact between intelligent life forms will ever occur. If it does at all, it will be through an accidental convergence of worlds coming close enough for contact. But this also requires that such life forms exist simultaneously; another long shot in the Heavens.

[fourtrees44]

@BlackMetalWorld Just be yourself and you will be fine. Everyone goes through bouts of loneliness and depression. It will get better.

[itsMrBen94]

@benthemeister go watch Nial Degrasse Tyson on Intelligent Design theory, ge rips it to shreds and does so magnificantly, im sorry but the idea of all physicists agreeing with intelligent design is either bullshit or means we need new physicists.

[BlackMetalWorld]

@fourtrees44 over 400,000,000,000 and Im still a lonely nerd. Im kinda depressed right now

[fourtrees44]

If there is one technological organism per galaxy, then there are something like 400,000,000,000 civilizations in the universe.

[benthemiester]

@VaporGraph According to Paul Davies "There is now broad agreement among physicists & cosmologists that the universe is in several respects ‘fine-tuned' for life" Yet we only know of 1 type. Terrestrial life. Rodger Penrose has calculated the initial conditions of the universe as being so specialize as have a chance of 1 10^10^(123 of happening on its own. This is great observable evidence for a creator. SETI has nothing close to these exponential values which make the Drake equation look silly.