08-11-2017, 01:57 AM
This is why I'm a proponent of METI - that is messaging extraterrestrial intelligences. Rather than passively scanning, we should be beaming greetings at nearby star systems with at least a decent chance of harboring life. Particularly stars like this where a long-distance conversation is more or less feasible, even if it would be time consuming.
Because, realistically, much more than 30-40LY away, it really doesn't matter since the send/response time for a single message would be as long as a human lifespan. There are only a few dozen stars where radio contact is even plausible, and we could work through them within a century or so.
Because, realistically, much more than 30-40LY away, it really doesn't matter since the send/response time for a single message would be as long as a human lifespan. There are only a few dozen stars where radio contact is even plausible, and we could work through them within a century or so.