Sgygus: Circling Uranus, perhaps.

Damnit, came here to say this. Good work sir.


Also, I like how the article helpfully has a picture of what a tinfoil hat might look like.

Is that even possible?

Even if there is some alien space junk out there... we are not likely to find it.

Though I highly doubt there is any in our solar system... or even our surrounding area in the galaxy.

whoa

No.

The universe is too big, and life too likely to crop up places we used to think there could be no life (see "extremophiles") for it to NOT be life elsewhere. There probably is other intelligent* life in our galaxy right now. There MIGHT even be some close enough for us to detect at some point.

But since the universe is a very, very, very big place, there is some pretty huuuge distances between everywhere. With our current understanding of physics, it's unlikely that any aliens have visited us - and it's unlikely we will visit any aliens in our future.

*) I'm honestly not sure it's any intelligence down here though... but if a situation arises where intelligence is an asset, it will evolve over time.

Theoretically there could be. The universe is vast, it seems as though most stars we look at have some form of solar system; although it's mainly gas giants.

But if there is an alien probe in our solar system it'd be the equivilent of in a few thousand years time Voyger 2 enters an alien solar system and gets tangled in it's asteroid belt. Nobody's listening to it, in fact it's been 'dead' for centuries and beyond evidence that someone, somewhere built it, it's not going to do much unless you happen to find it. Which would be the spacial equivilent of a needle in a haystack.

So it might as well not exist as with our level of technology we're never going to find it unless it powers up and starts spanking out RF like a school boy given his first Playboy.

I fear catholic priests much more than I fear alien probes.

WegianWarrior: With our current understanding of physics,

Depends I've read a lot about theories to travel at close to light speed, potentially faster via space folding. The one thing that keeps cropping up is that even if the loop holes described work, we do not have the technology to exploit them.

To fold space time you'd really need "warp drive" levels of energy output to even have a hope of trying it on any great scale. To even prove the theory one way or the other you're pretty much talking about more energy than this planet can currently generate.

BiffDangler: I fear catholic priests much more than I fear alien probes.

p4p3rm4t3: BiffDangler: I fear catholic priests much more than I fear alien probes.

[img802.imageshack.us image 640x426]

Rational statement.

Alien probes? In MY solar system? IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK!

you're mistaken intelligence with something that has positive connotations exclusively.

Check the drawers in the bedside table.

When the headline is a question, the answer is no.

Is that a named Internet law yet? If not, can it be named after me?

We have internet connections too, foolish Earthlings. The monitoring will continue.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Nooooo.

texdent: At least we have whales to talk to them.

And one of them is pregnant.

Sgygus: Circling Uranus, perhaps.

Fry: "Hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus." *laughs*
Leela: "I don't get it."
Professor: "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all."
Fry: "Oh. What's it called now?"
Professor: "Urectum. Here, let me locate it for you."
Fry: "Hehe, no, no, I think I'll just smell around a bit over here.

tbriggs: Sgygus: Circling Uranus, perhaps.

Fry: "Hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus." *laughs*
Leela: "I don't get it."
Professor: "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all."
Fry: "Oh. What's it called now?"
Professor: "Urectum. Here, let me locate it for you."
Fry: "Hehe, no, no, I think I'll just smell around a bit over here.

Sgygus: Circling Uranus, perhaps.

Really Commander?

If there are any alien probes out there it might not be our best move to draw their attention to us.

\also there is that monolith on the moon.

texdent: At least we have whales to talk to them.

They like you, but they are not the hell your whales.

/double dumbass on you

Rev.K: Probes? In the universe?
Yes, I've seen them. They are a f*cking pain in the ass.
[www.sa-matra.net image 160x70]

Came here for this. Thank you. Been playing this week.
For anyone who'd like to play a classic 20-year-old game that's still fun, and is now *free*:
http://sc2.sourceforge.net/^{(pops like an Arilouleelay)}

A_Listless_Wanderer: texdent: At least we have whales to talk to them.

They like you, but they are not the hell your whales.

/double dumbass on you

But if we don't call dibs on them, Japan will cut them all up in the name of tasty, tasty science

After taking into account a variety of potential biases, such as "the universe is teeming with life" or "life is rare," the team developed an equation that can be applied to a portion of the volume of the solar system and determine whether sufficient searching has been done to ensure that we can say there are no extraterrestrial objects within that volume.

They found that it is, at this point, difficult to say that there are not extraterrestrial objects in our solar system.

They also haven't ruled out the possible presence of unicorns in the solar system.

shiat like this is nothing more than mathematical masturbation. Waste of time. Probabilistic equations are worth nothing if you don't have the proper data to plug into them.

sarah_t_s:
But if there is an alien probe in our solar system it'd be the equivilent of in a few thousand years time Voyger 2 enters an alien solar system and gets tangled in it's asteroid belt. Nobody's listening to it, in fact it's been 'dead' for centuries and beyond evidence that someone, somewhere built it, it's not going to do much unless you happen to find it. Which would be the spacial equivilent of a needle in a haystack.

I think the suggestion is that an advanced (ie. > level zero) civilization would send out interstellar probes intended to and capable of arriving here alive and observing our solar system. Perhaps some kind of Von Neumann thing that travels here at a small size, and once it arrives burrows into an asteroid and builds itself a bunch of new sensors etc. to watch discreetly. Unless aliens lived quite nearby (

Loki-L: If there are any alien probes out there it might not be our best move to draw their attention to us.

\also there is that monolith on the moon.

It'll be AT LEAST four years before anyone realizes we've caught on. I think we'll be okay.