Astronomer Jason Wright wrote a review article reflecting on the search for traces of potential intelligent life within the solar system.
Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is currently a priority candidate for the search for traces of organic life within the solar system. It is believed that the warm subsoil ocean, which heats the moon's core through geothermal mines, contains all the necessary ingredients for the preservation and even life of alien microorganisms. If successful, their discovery will become one of the largest scientific discoveries in the history of mankind.
A new article by astronomer Jason Wright, entitled Prior Indigenous Technological Species, asks the question: Have we exhausted all possibilities in the search for intelligent, not just microscopic life? Contrary to expectations, Wright does not offer evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, but speculates that humanity may have overlooked some critical "evidence."
Wright proposes the idea of looking for "technosignals" in the solar system. These signals are nothing more than traces of the activity of that life, which, hypothetically, could exist millions, and even billions of years ago on other planets. It is known that Mars, and behind it Venus, according to astronomers, could once be suitable for the forms of life we are used to. But how do technosignals differ from biosignals, which NASA intends to search for in the coming years?
The biosignal, according to Wright, is a sign of the simple existence of life, while the technosignal is evidence of its technological activity. An example of a techno signal is, for example, an artificial radio signal or an architectural building. The astronomer believes that if where and one should look for traces of alien civilizations, then primarily in underground caverns of natural or artificial origin. Such isolation could allow traces of man-made alien activity to survive even after huge (by earthly standards) periods of time. “When we say“ancient”in relation to earthly culture, we mean that the phenomenon is a thousand or several thousand years old. But on a cosmic scale, civilizations are "ancient"whose age can be millions and even billions of years - in this case, they could have ceased to exist long before life appeared on Earth,”the scientist explains.
So why have we still not found traces of artificial activity on other planets? According to Wright, even earthlings perfectly "mask" the traces of their activities: despite the vigorous activity over tens of thousands of years, ridiculously little is known about some cultures - all thanks to an accidental find of an archaeologist or paleontologist. Imagine how much the traces of even a highly developed civilization will be erased in millions of years!
In his work, Wright encourages not to lose hope and proposes to study first of all the oldest rocks on Earth, in which unnatural isotope ratios can be found, which will give at least a hint of the potential activities of life that existed before humans. Unlike the Earth, the age of the surface of Mars and Venus is enormous, and therefore the study of their composition is much more promising: if no isotopic traces are found on their surface and under it, it means that the solar system was in fact uninhabited.
Vasily Makarov
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