Tiny robotic, highly intelligent cyborgs could study the earth far and wide.
Biophysicist Silvano Colombano has been working at the Ames Research Center for many years as a specialist in artificial intelligence and robotics. The Ames Center is one of the main scientific divisions of NASA. And Silvano himself is known in the scientific world as the author of serious publications. He recently published a paper in which he urges scientists to reconsider their views on the search and contacts of extraterrestrial intelligence.
In his opinion, the main problem is that we imagine alien life as a kind of version of our earthly life. Therefore, the visit of representatives of extraterrestrial intelligence in our imagination looks like a phenomenon on the concert stage of Philip Kirkorov - in feathers, rhinestones and accompanied by a corps de ballet. But in reality, most likely, aliens will appear on Earth (if not already) in the form of tiny robotic highly intelligent cyborgs that are least interested in being discovered.
Biophysicist Silvano Colombano.
“The technological development of our civilization began 10 thousand years ago,” writes Silvano Colombano. “And only in the last 500 years have we begun to apply scientific methodology to research. Considering all this, we can safely say that we are unlikely to be able to make at least the least accurate forecast about the development paths of the technological revolution even for the next thousand years. Therefore, it is worth revising our most fundamental postulates regarding contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.
Silvano believes that there are four fundamental milestones to be revised.
1. Belief: Interstellar travel is impossible or unrealistic
Disclaimer: This is true only from the point of view of today's level of development of knowledge and technology. Let us assume that the speed of light remains an insurmountable barrier. And to fly out of our Milky Way galaxy we will need 100 thousand years. But this is an obstacle only for representatives of the terrestrial form of life, whose life cycle is limited to a hundred years. Non-carbonaceous life forms can last much longer.
Promotional video:
2. Belief: We view radio waves as the primary indicator of intelligent life
Rebuttal: However, advanced civilizations are likely to choose a different, more hidden way of communication, which is more consistent with the degree of their technological equipment. Therefore, it is natural that our radio telescopes record only natural noise. Aliens exchange signals in a different way.
3. Belief: Intelligent civilizations can be based on carbon life
Rebuttal: We know of no other life than our own. Therefore, "carbon chauvinism" arose, based on the belief that the molecules responsible for life's chemical processes must be built from carbon. However, it is naive to think that this is the only option for intelligent life. Indeed, according to forecasts, even humanity in the near future will develop along the path of symbiosis between a computer and a living organism. This means that even a terrestrial explorer of other planets in the future may have an appearance that is completely different from a modern person. It would be more logical to send a miniature nano-cyborg with super-intelligence on an interstellar journey lasting thousands of years.
4. Conviction: UFO research is a waste of time
Rebuttal: There are several reasons for the disdain for UFO research. First, it is the belief in the impossibility of interstellar travel. Secondly, people claiming contacts with UFOs very often turn out to be hoaxers, or mentally unstable citizens. In addition, it is customary in the scientific community to avoid discussing this "frivolous" topic. However, it is necessary to systematize and analyze all these messages. Surely 99 percent of such phenomena will find a banal and simple explanation. But among this noise and debris, there are probably several signals that will tell us: the aliens are already here!
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV