Hawking Warns Humanity to Avoid Dangerous Aliens

[Irridium]

The title of the story is a bit silly "Hawking Warns Humanity to Avoid Dangerous Aliens"

Well its not like we wouldnt avoid them anyway if they are dangerous, thanks for that insight stephen

OT: I agree with his views. Sending out signals is pretty silly id be glad if we werent found till we had the power to colonise other planets or interplanetary warships would be nice too

Indeed. Some type of planetary defense would be nice before we started broadcasting where we are.

we have them:

nukes
railguns
laser cannons
EMP waves

just to list a few of the amazing technoledgy america employs that takes up 40% of our annual tax revenue while other countries just use 5-10% leaving everything from education to infrastructure a joke.

Hey! Our edumication good! We smart! *grunts*

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

Hawking Warns Humanity to Avoid Dangerous Aliens

It's presumed he will determine once and for all if Hulk Hogan is really a galactic mercenary, or if Suburban Commando was all a big lie perpetrated by the world's shadowy puppet masters.

I WAS FROZEN TODAY!

OT: I agree with him. We're way too early down the line to be thinking about contacting life on other planets.

 

[GiantSpiderGoat]

If they do go to war with us. They better make sure that they are immune to nukes and we don't get any of their technology. Been that its a time of war we would reverse engineer it so fast that it would be in some soldiers hands a week later. All the while sending our countless amounts of nukes towards the mother ship.

If they are friendly this will happen to. What can I say, we are a race that likes to fight.

 

[Lucifron]

If alien life is beyond our ability to comprehend, how can we make assumptions about them based on human values and thought processes? I don't see why either destructive or benevolent behavior on the part of the aliens would be more likely than the other. Sure, it's still a 50% chance for a human failcascade, but I can't agree with any different numbers based on what I know.

 

[kickyourass]

Well he's not wrong, when ever any group of people in history encountered a less advanced culture, well, you know what happened, and they were the same species. I don't think it's too far fetched to think the same might happen with people from other worlds.

 

[ThisWasAWaste]

I'm with Dr. Hawking on this one.

I really don't get the people who think that just because we've constantly been finding better ways to kill our own kind, that this somehow means that we could even think of standing against a space-faring race. For fucks sake, we can barely visit the moon.

Also like his comparison to Columbus, because it would probably be similar... only much faster and with even less pity from the other side (seeming as we're not the same race).

I do believe that there could be peaceful races still, probably a small percentage of what's out there though.

 

[ThisWasAWaste]

If alien life is beyond our ability to comprehend, how can we make assumptions about them based on human values and thought processes?

Don't forget it was only a few hundred years ago we figured out the earth was not flat, and discovered gravity. I think he's referring to possible scientific forces, materials, laws, etc. that we do not even have the slightest clue about yet. There's still plenty out there for us to discover.

This means that the aliens could have technology that operates based on those principles we have yet to discover, or maybe even the species themselves operate in unknown ways (using telekinesis, telepathy, or things we can't imagine yet).

The fact that we can make assumptions about something has no bearing on whether it's true or not. As mentioned before, at one time we assumed the earth was flat and the center of everything - that didn't make it true.

 

[ZephrC]

Honestly, the whole thing is pretty dumb. Aliens are unlikely to have magic sci-fi force fields, and we have nuclear weapons and limited space flight already. Any interstellar scavengers will be looking for softer targets. Sure, they could probably beat us without much difficulty, but there's a good chance we could hurt them in the process, so why bother with us when there are obviously countless other planets that are far less likely to fight back?

Anyway, our radio signals have been traveling outward for decades already. It's not like we can go reel them back in. Any civilization looking for sentients to pick on certainly knows what it means when a yellow sun starts emitting radio waves in the bands that work best for atmospheric communication. They don't need us telling them we're here, they already know. Or at least they will. It'll take quite a few generations before our signals cover a significant percentage of the galaxy.

Also, SETI in particular is harmless, because it's not sending signals out. It's searching for signals coming in from other stars, and if they can see our signals, chances are we can see theirs. I don't see how it could hurt for us to be aware of them sooner.

 

[Raesvelg]

That's assuming there's only one way to accomplish everything. This was somewhat addressed in Mass Effect

And thus we enter with the problem of using a piece of fiction to define a real-world problem.

Assuming that the same rules apply to everyone, then there really is only one "best" way to do anything. And chances are, we'll find it, given enough time and the necessary resources, and that we will find it in all likelihood BEFORE we start putting serious effort into exploring things beyond our own star system, given the incredible costs involved in interstellar travel that takes place within a reasonably prompt time scale.

The energy investment inherent in accelerating something to a high fraction of light speed is immense, and again, assuming we're all working by the same rules, and there are no loopholes to get around that fact, deep-space exploration is going to be a far-off concern.

 

[Canid117]

If they are as advanced as Hawking hints then why would they give a shit about us? There is a reason Italy doesn't invade San Marino. At a certain point we are just so small that we aren't worth the time.

The same reason why colonial empires like Rome and Britain have historically conquered what they considered "savage" nations.

Raw resources, and a good environment, not to mention potential "lesser" sentient beings for use as slaves, technological alliances, trade, commerce, and the military advantage of a self-preserving outpost.

If a hyper advanced people can't find an uninhabited planet to mine those resources from without having to deal with invading a planet full of sapient beings then they probably aren't advanced enough to escape their own solar system. It might not take them forever to get rid of us pesky humans but it would still be cheaper and easier and faster to just ignore us and move on.

No, that would depend on whether there is such an uninhabited planet as rich in resources and life as ours nearby enough to warrant being chosen over us. So far we haven't found anything very close by us that even really carries much potential for life, at least not using present imagery or technology. They may be more successful, but uninhabited planets don't scream "we're rich, healthy and vulnerable" quite like our media signals do. In fact, it could save them time to just come here, wipe us from the system in whatever fancy way they've figured out, then take over the newly harmless planet.

The only real resources that a giant space faring civilization could possibly need from our planet is food and minerals. Minerals are a dime a dozen on any solid body in the universe and to say they wanted food would be assuming that said species even required carbon based oxygen breathing animals or carbon based plants to eat. Hell, it is entirely possible that there is only one space faring civilization within a hundred thousand light years of us survive in a similar manner to some ultra deep sea creatures. By absorbing and filtering nutrients out of volcanic reactions. What makes you think our planet is so attractive? The only rare resource our planet has is life and that isn't any really very useful when you are advanced enough to grow corn from a bio engineered ooze. I never understood why anyone would consider earth a serious interest to other intelligent life. The only thing we could provide that they don't have would be the fascination and insight gained from studying humanity's sapience. Which is warranting of scientific and cultural study but not any form of invasion. The most attention we would ever get is analogous to one of our universities taking a research expedition to study ants.

We don't have any elements or minerals that you couldn't find in almost any other star system.

What is special about Earth is not what can be taken away, but WHERE it is.

Earth is just the right size and distance from the Sun for vast quantities of liquid water to accumulate, and in the grand scheme of things water is even more important than a breathable atmosphere.

I'm telling you, if aliens come here, they are going to be here to STAY.

You almost had it in that our most valuable resource is life, but not our life, but the potential for our planet's perfect position to be a new home for an alien life form, an entire alien eco system.

Likely driven from their own home system by competition over dwindling resources and growing population, it is manifest destiny that they will want a comfortable planet with a steady temperature, variety and water. Even if they don't breath oxygen, that can be sorted out in time.

The moon has water. As does Mars, and many other bodies in our solar system. Hell, comets are mostly ice. Water is not as rare as you seem to think. Our proximity to our sun is also not incredibly rare. Scientists have discovered several planets of similar size to earth which are a similar distance from their own suns. All of this is assuming that the aliens eat drink and breathe the same things we do. Do you have any idea how huge the galaxy is? Millions upon millions of solar systems each one of them with the potential to support life and with all the different ways that life can exist you are still assuming that we are going to run into something like Klingons? Humans with slightly different facial structure and green blood? We don't have shit that aliens want so why worry?

 

[bjj hero]

Honestly, if aliens did come to earth starting trouble, they will have picked the wrong race. We've been coming up with better and more inventive ways of killing stuff ever since we realised that rocks and sticks hurt.

Thats a lot of R&D on how to send aliens away crying to momma.

Don't you think that aliens would have figured all of that shit out before they managed to invent space travel?
We had the Atomic Bomb completed, tested, and USED before Russia launched Sputnik to start the Space Race, so it seems to me that the aliens would have WAY more dangerous weapons than that if they are able to travel light years through space to get to earth.

This guy hit the nail on the head.

However, its a bit diffcult to avoid dangerous aliens when we have been sending so much shit up into space.

Wow, I went to bed woke up and I'd been quoted 9 times on what I thought was a none offensive comment. Firstly, as my compatriot above said, there is no point in stopping trying to contact aliens. We will probably do it by accident, we have been sending out signals for decades and decades. Unless we stop all modern communications there is no point.

Now, a few counter points to my rant from earlier. Orbital bombardment? Only if they don't want the resources on our planet. If thats the case then why are they bothering? Also, as the Americans found out, you cannot win a war by air power alone. You need troops on the ground.

Tech differences. Yes they could have better weapons but high velocity rounds still hurt and kill. The Russians couldn't win in Afghanistan despite their gunships and tanks, even though the natives were running around on horses and living in caves. In history occupations never end well, they will likely need to occupy to take resources.

Also think; we have home advantage, know the terrain, will likely have numerical advantage and I doubt intergalactic reinforcements would arrive next day via UPS. It would be nasty but any war where you live always will.

Any aliens would have their hands full, so come get some squid face...

 

[bjj hero]

Honestly, the whole thing is pretty dumb. Aliens are unlikely to have magic sci-fi force fields, and we have nuclear weapons and limited space flight already. Any interstellar scavengers will be looking for softer targets. Sure, they could probably beat us without much difficulty, but there's a good chance we could hurt them in the process, so why bother with us when there are obviously countless other planets that are far less likely to fight back?

Anyway, our radio signals have been traveling outward for decades already. It's not like we can go reel them back in. Any civilization looking for sentients to pick on certainly knows what it means when a yellow sun starts emitting radio waves in the bands that work best for atmospheric communication. They don't need us telling them we're here, they already know. Or at least they will. It'll take quite a few generations before our signals cover a significant percentage of the galaxy.

Also, SETI in particular is harmless, because it's not sending signals out. It's searching for signals coming in from other stars, and if they can see our signals, chances are we can see theirs. I don't see how it could hurt for us to be aware of them sooner.

Amen. i'm sick of all of these alien sympathisers going "aliens would pwn earth, I don't wanna get butthurt, better find a cave to squat in..."

Does anyone have any idea how long it takes for radio waves to reach any possibly inhabitable planet? They would get our signal, thing we are running around with M1's and Thompson machine guns and arrive to find Grav tanks and orbital Ion cannons.

 

[Treblaine]

The moon has water. As does Mars, and many other bodies in our solar system. Hell, comets are mostly ice. Water is not as rare as you seem to think. Our proximity to our sun is also not incredibly rare. Scientists have discovered several planets of similar size to earth which are a similar distance from their own suns. All of this is assuming that the aliens eat drink and breathe the same things we do. Do you have any idea how huge the galaxy is? Millions upon millions of solar systems each one of them with the potential to support life and with all the different ways that life can exist you are still assuming that we are going to run into something like Klingons? Humans with slightly different facial structure and green blood? We don't have shit that aliens want so why worry?

Water, but not LIQUID water, not GIGANTIC OCEANS, lakes and swamps of water, not a Water cycle of evaporation, rain and ice and so on. Those planets, moons and comets cannot in and of themselves easily support life of a wayward alien race.

I really can't even begin to fully explain how vital water is for life, all life, even alien life. Scientist have gone as far as to say complex life cannot develop on a planet WITHOUT large quantities of liquid water. Aliens may not breathe oxygen, they may not be able to eat the hydrocarbon chains we consider food, but almost certainly they will be hugely dependant on not just water to drink occasionally, but as a key part of their environment.

Water is a substance that is perfect for maintaining equilibrium, it is a massive heat store, it soaks up the suns energy preventing overheating on the sunny side, and on the dark side it acts like a giant hot-water bottle, preventing everything freezing. That's why deserts get so incredibly hot during the day and frostbite inducing cold at night, no water to act as a heat trap.

You know water has a heat capacity 8 times as high as steel? That means 1 kilo of water at 100-deg C has Eight times the energy of a 1 kilo block of steel at the same temperature.

The fact that most living creatures have a large proportion of their body mass as water is to aid in thermo-regulation, enzymes for maximum efficiency are only stable within a very narrow temperature range. Then of course sweating can quickly cool off.

Evaporation and precipitation acts as effectively a chemical scrubber for the atmosphere, it is the reason why Venus is choked in clouds of sulphuric acid, it had no water and rain cycle to scrub the volcanic gases that built up over billions of years. Rainfall keeps our atmosphere stable and regular, and to spite our best efforts also regulates the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The ice water on the Moon, Mars and in other parts of the solar system will be vital for any space operations either by us in the future or any "visiting" aliens but it is not sustainable, it can only be used when processed by large machinery for artificial environments.

This is why scientist are so keen to find anywhere else in the Solar system or known universe that has liquid water. It really is a totally unique compound, as it makes a planet either a dead-bare planet or hellish acidic planet. In fact I have heard that it is so important it is not only considered practically a requirement for complex life but even a GUARANTEE, that if liquid water has existed on a planet for long enough (few billion years) then spontaneous life of some sort is inevitable.

there is also a pretty good chance any alien species will breathe oxygen at least in part, what is the worrying thing is what they exhale, they could easily breath in nitrogen gas and exhale hydrogen cyanide (which is not inherently dangerous to all life). There is also a chance a gas we consider inert and harmless to us and breath in all the time may be toxic to them, like Argon which makes up almost 1% of our atmosphere (doesn't have to be reactive, just block some of their biological chemical-receptors).

Most likely any difference will be in the detail, such as they are comfortable with a very different partial pressure of oxygen, and a different secondary gas, perhaps even helium.

The idea is Alien spaceships could simply enter our earth's atmosphere, land and get about colonising, mining and stripping resources not to leave but to stay. They wouldn't need space suits to work in the open, likely only a gas mask, though they may even resort to genetic modification of their own bodies or some other adaptation to breathe our unique atmosphere and likely the UV radiation from the sun will be either too high or too low for their liking. But genetic modification for dealing with a dry, or frozen planet, nuh uh, ain't gonna happen, if it can't be done in 3 billions yeas it likely can't be synthesised by science in any decent time.

One distinct possibility is they will attempt geo-modding, or should I say "Xeno-forming", transforming our planet to more suit their own adaptations. That's the way we humans do it, we change our environment to suit ourselves.

 

[Canid117]

The moon has water. As does Mars, and many other bodies in our solar system. Hell, comets are mostly ice. Water is not as rare as you seem to think. Our proximity to our sun is also not incredibly rare. Scientists have discovered several planets of similar size to earth which are a similar distance from their own suns. All of this is assuming that the aliens eat drink and breathe the same things we do. Do you have any idea how huge the galaxy is? Millions upon millions of solar systems each one of them with the potential to support life and with all the different ways that life can exist you are still assuming that we are going to run into something like Klingons? Humans with slightly different facial structure and green blood? We don't have shit that aliens want so why worry?

Water, but not LIQUID water, not GIGANTIC OCEANS, lakes and swamps of water, not a Water cycle of evaporation, rain and ice and so on. Those planets, moons and comets cannot in and of themselves easily support life of a wayward alien race.

I really can't even begin to fully explain how vital water is for life, all life, even alien life. Scientist have gone as far as to say complex life cannot develop on a planet WITHOUT large quantities of liquid water. Aliens may not breathe oxygen, they may not be able to eat the hydrocarbon chains we consider food, but almost certainly they will be hugely dependant on not just water to drink occasionally, but as a key part of their environment.

Water is a substance that is perfect for maintaining equilibrium, it is a massive heat store, it soaks up the suns energy preventing overheating on the sunny side, and on the dark side it acts like a giant hot-water bottle, preventing everything freezing. That's why deserts get so incredibly hot during the day and frostbite inducing cold at night, no water to act as a heat trap.

You know water has a heat capacity 8 times as high as steel? That means 1 kilo of water at 100-deg C has Eight times the energy of a 1 kilo block of steel at the same temperature.

The fact that most living creatures have a large proportion of their body mass as water is to aid in thermo-regulation, enzymes for maximum efficiency are only stable within a very narrow temperature range. Then of course sweating can quickly cool off.

Evaporation and precipitation acts as effectively a chemical scrubber for the atmosphere, it is the reason why Venus is choked in clouds of sulphuric acid, it had no water and rain cycle to scrub the volcanic gases that built up over billions of years. Rainfall keeps our atmosphere stable and regular, and to spite our best efforts also regulates the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The ice water on the Moon, Mars and in other parts of the solar system will be vital for any space operations either by us in the future or any "visiting" aliens but it is not sustainable, it can only be used when processed by large machinery for artificial environments.

This is why scientist are so keen to find anywhere else in the Solar system or known universe that has liquid water. It really is a totally unique compound, as it makes a planet either a dead-bare planet or hellish acidic planet. In fact I have heard that it is so important it is not only considered practically a requirement for complex life but even a GUARANTEE, that if liquid water has existed on a planet for long enough (few billion years) then spontaneous life of some sort is inevitable.

there is also a pretty good chance any alien species will breathe oxygen at least in part, what is the worrying thing is what they exhale, they could easily breath in nitrogen gas and exhale hydrogen cyanide (which is not inherently dangerous to all life). There is also a chance a gas we consider inert and harmless to us and breath in all the time may be toxic to them, like Argon which makes up almost 1% of our atmosphere (doesn't have to be reactive, just block some of their biological chemical-receptors).

Most likely any difference will be in the detail, such as they are comfortable with a very different partial pressure of oxygen, and a different secondary gas, perhaps even helium.

The idea is Alien spaceships could simply enter our earth's atmosphere, land and get about colonising, mining and stripping resources not to leave but to stay. They wouldn't need space suits to work in the open, likely only a gas mask, though they may even resort to genetic modification of their own bodies or some other adaptation to breathe our unique atmosphere and likely the UV radiation from the sun will be either too high or too low for their liking. But genetic modification for dealing with a dry, or frozen planet, nuh uh, ain't gonna happen, if it can't be done in 3 billions yeas it likely can't be synthesised by science in any decent time.

One distinct possibility is they will attempt geo-modding, or should I say "Xeno-forming", transforming our planet to more suit their own adaptations. That's the way we humans do it, we change our environment to suit ourselves.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100106093642.htm

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/super-earth/

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/alpha-centauri-earth-like-planets-100201.html

http://io9.com/5446748/we-found-another-earthlike-planet-+-too-bad-it-was-destroyed-millennia-ago

Doesn't look like earth type planets are too rare

 

[Grimlock Fett]

We don't as a species have much to offer any ETs that visit us! Its probably more like SIGNS! They've been watching us and know that If they came at us full pelt we'd nuke ourselves before giving them the planet! Years of abducting fat toothless rednecks to learn our weakness!! ANAL PROBES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Koganesaga]

Eh screw it, keep sending signals. There's a good chance someone has heard them by now, and even if they haven't why delay our doom? After all if there is intelligent life, it's going to find us sooner or later, so why live happily for a few hundred more years?

 

[GrinningManiac]

HAWKING HAS SPOKEN

LET US HUNT THE EVIL XENOS

FOR THE EMPERO-wait

A guy who is mostly machine (no offense, Mr. Hawkings) who has a legendary status and has achieved huge amounts...warning us about aliens?

All this is missing is religious orders and bolters

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

Isnt this guy suppose to be one ofthe most brilliant men on the planet

 

[z3rostr1fe]

I have this feeling that we are already being studied from afar by these aliens...