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WallStreetDoesntBet OP t1_iteynku wrote

If an alien were to look at Earth, many human technologies, from cell towers to fluorescent light bulbs, could be a beacon signifying the presence of life.

A technosignature (technomarker) is any measurable property or effect that provides scientific evidence of past or present technology. Technosignatures are analogous to biosignatures, which signal the presence of life, whether intelligent or not.

While scanning the sky for a TV broadcast of some extraterrestrial Olympics may sound straightforward, searching for signs of distant, advanced civilisations is a much more nuanced and difficult task than it might seem.

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TheGreatArseholio t1_itf3rfr wrote

That depends on how far away they are. They could be looking at cave men, right now.

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CSEnzley t1_itfnycy wrote

I like to imagine them getting all excited because of the Dinosaurs and being extremely underwhelmed when they arrived...

Like taking a cross country trip to Wally World only to find out it's closed when you get there.

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TheGreatArseholio t1_itge8k8 wrote

Sorry folks, Earth’s closed… Dinosaur out front should’ve told you.

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Plumbedbum t1_itgudeh wrote

Or they have a super advanced telescope that negates all time and space. Like a portal of some kind.

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jesjimher t1_ithazbf wrote

We've been dark for thousands of years, and we've been emitting waves for just a few centuries. Who knows if we will switch to optical/quantum communications in a century or two, and we'll completely stop emitting radio waves, and then our "wave emitting" period will be just a blip in history.

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lucidrage t1_itixn7z wrote

> our "wave emitting" period will be just a blip in history.

especially since the waves travel at lightspeed so the first wave should be at a distance of 200 lightyear at most

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Glum-Gap3316 t1_ithxt8k wrote

Scanning the sky for alien olympic tv signals sounds anything but straightforward...

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