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Blueprint for a battlestar revision

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With expertly written text by NASA insider Rod Pyle, each concept is explained and dissected to reveal the real science behind it. Some are temptingly within our reach—such as cyborgs and artificial intelligence—others are further off, but fast approaching reality (think bio-ports or cloaking devices). All are fascinating and make wonderful explorations into the science of the future as we understand it today. Rod Pyle is a NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) insider, as well as being a writer and documentary filmmaker. He has written for numerous science and science fiction publications, including Astronautics Notebook, Foundation Journal, Starlog, and DreamWatch. He has written several books, including Destination Moon (Smithsonian Books), Innovation the NASA Way (McGraw-Hill), Missions to the Moon (Sterling), and Curiosity: An Inside Look at the Mars Rover Mission and the People Who Made it Happen (Prometheus Books).
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BATTLESTAR Rod Pyle Serious scientific explanations behind sci-fi's greatest inventions BLUEPRINT for a
Transcript
Page 1: Blueprint for a battlestar revision

BATTLESTAR

Rod Pyle

Serious scientific

explanations behind

sci-fi's greatest inventions

BLUEPRINTfor a

BLUEPRINT FOR A BATTLESTAR

ROD PYLE

Rod Pyle

A NASA and JPL insider, Rod worked

for the Griffith Observatory in

California for ten years and also

served as the Vice President of

Communications for the World Space

Foundation. Rod spent two years

as a visual effects consultant on

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

He has written numerous books,

including Innovation the NASA

Way, Curiosity: An Inside Look

at the Mars Rover Mission,

and the bestselling Destination

Moon. Rod frequently writes

for Space.com, LiveScience, NBC

News, WIRED, The Huffington

Post, the Daily Telegraph,

and the Daily Mail.

Blueprint for a Battlestar answers the enduring questions raised by science fiction, such as ‘How do you fly a jet pack?’, ‘When will we conquer Mars?’ and ‘How can I live forever?’

Through stunning images, including 75 illustrations created exclusively for this book, 25 remarkable and memorable technologies from the world of sci-fi, from are explored. With expertly written text by NASA insider Rod Pyle, each concept is explained and dissected to reveal the real science behind it. Some are temptingly within our reach—such as cyborgs and artificial intelligence—others are further off, but fast approaching reality (think bio-ports or cloaking devices.) All are fascinating and make wonderful explorations into the science of the future as we understand it today.

$24.95 Can. $27.95

SCIENCE/Space Science

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Blueprint for a battlestar

Designing the future

The cool thing about the future is that it always gives you something to look forward to.

It’s uncouth to quote yourself, so we’ll just leave the above comment uncredited…but it’s true. Writing this book has been by turns great fun and vastly challenging, but the overall picture—though not what was foreseen in my childhood at all—is one of a potentially bright and shining tomorrow.

Teasing cool and interesting topics out of contemporary science and tech journalism, as well as seeking themes in quality sci-fi, is tricky at the best of times. Movie directors often miss the mark, science fiction writers can have agendas of their own, and every creator is subject to market forces that tend to proclaim the importance of whatever boosts the bottom line. One must paw through vast amounts of material for the best and most common

themes—the cream of future visions—in order to rise to the top.

In the past decade of writing books and science journalism, I’ve been exposed to a lot of great thinkers—some rightfully famous, others less so but equally deserving of it. The process has been inspiring, engaging, and humbling. Working at Caltech and various NASA centers, I would find myself in rooms full of hyper-intelligent (and mostly young) minds, and wonder how these young people became so brilliant in such a short period of time. Interviewing grad students at Caltech, Stanford, UCLA, and MIT left a similar impression—these are the much maligned Millennials, the cannon-fodder for so much pop-journalism. My overriding impression was of bright, energetic, and impassioned youth who are excited to be dreaming

INTRODUCTION

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Blueprint for a battlestar

Designing the future

The cool thing about the future is that it always gives you something to look forward to.

It’s uncouth to quote yourself, so we’ll just leave the above comment uncredited…but it’s true. Writing this book has been by turns great fun and vastly challenging, but the overall picture—though not what was foreseen in my childhood at all—is one of a potentially bright and shining tomorrow.

Teasing cool and interesting topics out of contemporary science and tech journalism, as well as seeking themes in quality sci-fi, is tricky at the best of times. Movie directors often miss the mark, science fiction writers can have agendas of their own, and every creator is subject to market forces that tend to proclaim the importance of whatever boosts the bottom line. One must paw through vast amounts of material for the best and most common

themes—the cream of future visions—in order to rise to the top.

In the past decade of writing books and science journalism, I’ve been exposed to a lot of great thinkers—some rightfully famous, others less so but equally deserving of it. The process has been inspiring, engaging, and humbling. Working at Caltech and various NASA centers, I would find myself in rooms full of hyper-intelligent (and mostly young) minds, and wonder how these young people became so brilliant in such a short period of time. Interviewing grad students at Caltech, Stanford, UCLA, and MIT left a similar impression—these are the much maligned Millennials, the cannon-fodder for so much pop-journalism. My overriding impression was of bright, energetic, and impassioned youth who are excited to be dreaming

INTRODUCTION

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of, and designing, the future. There will be bumps and challenges for them, as both legal and ethical boundaries lag far behind invention, but I’m convinced they will figure it out.

A lot of research, some sleuthing, and a good bit of intuiting goes into a book such as this. I’m fortunate to have spent two decades writing about science, technology, and spaceflight—current and future trends, as well as copious amounts of history. An awareness of history helps to inform one’s thoughts about the future, so it’s important. Add to this some great input from smart science and technology practitioners, vast amounts of wonderful resources (all of us should have ready access to the fee-based archives that universities and government do) and a healthy blend of cautious optimism, and you’ve got Blueprint for a Battlestar.

All that said, there will be both errors in reporting and prediction (the former is unfortunate, the latter inevitable). My crystal ball is cloudy. My Magic 8-Ball said ‘Reply hazy, try again’ more than once. More to the point, even primary references occasionally disagree. Nonetheless, any mistakes are mine, so feel free to email with observations of factual errors. But with regard to mistaken predictions, likewise feel free enjoy a quiet, warm inner glow of being right. If anything, I hope that I have underestimated humanity’s genius and intrinsic goodness.

I hope you enjoy the book and these visions of where we are and what’s next. Read on.

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Blueprint for a battlestar

invasion scares

Invasions from outer space have been part of the collective conscious at least since Voltaire wrote of giants visiting Earth from Saturn and Sirius in 1752. But it was H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, published in 1897, that aroused deep-rooted fears of alien invasion. Not coincidentally, the idea of benign

extraterrestrials was contemporary to Wells’ martian tale. In that same decade, Percival Lowell wrote of an advanced and peaceful Martian civilization, capable of a global world government, which was working furiously against the ravages of nature to save their dying world.

>For decades now we have been searching the

skies for signals from another star. To some, this

is an exercise in scientific faith—someone must be

out there. To others, the search for extraterrestrial

intelligence (or SETI) is an almost religious pursuit.

For still others, it seems like a waste of resources.

And, for a well-informed and slightly paranoid few,

it’s a dangerous exercise in the interstellar

equivalent of ringing the dinner bell.

WHO’S OUT THERE?: FINDING EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE

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invasion scares

Invasions from outer space have been part of the collective conscious at least since Voltaire wrote of giants visiting Earth from Saturn and Sirius in 1752. But it was H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, published in 1897, that aroused deep-rooted fears of alien invasion. Not coincidentally, the idea of benign

extraterrestrials was contemporary to Wells’ martian tale. In that same decade, Percival Lowell wrote of an advanced and peaceful Martian civilization, capable of a global world government, which was working furiously against the ravages of nature to save their dying world.

>For decades now we have been searching the

skies for signals from another star. To some, this

is an exercise in scientific faith—someone must be

out there. To others, the search for extraterrestrial

intelligence (or SETI) is an almost religious pursuit.

For still others, it seems like a waste of resources.

And, for a well-informed and slightly paranoid few,

it’s a dangerous exercise in the interstellar

equivalent of ringing the dinner bell.

WHO’S OUT THERE?: FINDING EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE

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159

A RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY SEARCHES FOR ALIEN LIFE IN NEW MEXICO

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CLUSTERS OF IDENTICAL NANOPROBES FLY IN ROUGH

FORMATION TO REACH DISTANT STARS. SOME WILL MALFUNCTION AND OTHERS WILL LIKELY BE DAMAGED, BUT ENOUGH WILL REACH THEIR DESTINATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME.

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CLUSTERS OF IDENTICAL NANOPROBES FLY IN ROUGH

FORMATION TO REACH DISTANT STARS. SOME WILL MALFUNCTION AND OTHERS WILL LIKELY BE DAMAGED, BUT ENOUGH WILL REACH THEIR DESTINATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME.

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161

First Contact

There are, of course, those who believe that we were contacted by extraterrestrials thousands of years ago. For decades, people have proposed that ‘Arcturans’ may have shown the ancient Egyptians how to build the pyramids using long-lost levitating machines. Andromedans are said to have drawn the Nazca lines in Peru and Aldeberaneans are claimed to have visited the prophet Ezekiel (as some people seem to interpret his Biblical writings.)

Little of this bears scientific scrutiny, and we have probably been alone since amphibians first crawled out of the primordial sea. But if they’ve never visited us, where are the extraterrestrials?

This is not a new question. Enrico Fermi, who helped build the first atom bomb, pondered it. His thinking was formalized in 1950 when, over a luncheon with his colleagues, he posited the Fermi Paradox. This states that the reason we haven’t been visited might be that interstellar flight is impossible; or, if it is possible, has been judged to be not worth the effort; or that technological civilization does not last long enough for it to happen. To be fair, the Paradox was passed on by another diner at that lunch, and we cannot be sure if Fermi was questioning the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations (as is widely believed,) or simply the ability (or interest) of those civilizations to reach us.

But the question remains: our solar system is comparatively young, about 4.6 billion years, or just under one-third the age of the universe. So, given that there are billions of other galaxies of all ages, and stars with planets within them, and assuming first that there possibly intelligent life on some of these with the ability to develop interstellar or even intergalactic travel technologies, and second that some have started doing so—as they developed technologically long before us—why haven’t we seen them?

Even if these aliens have been unable (or, perhaps wisely, unwilling) to pay us a visit, why haven’t we detected them via other means? Humanity has been blasting TV show into the cosmos for decades. Early radio would be detectable well over 100 light years away by now. So assuming that other technological civilizations use electromagnetic transmissions (a fair assumption,

CONTACT

The first human ambassadors to other

stars may take the form of swarms of

nanoprobes. The can range from DVD-

sized down to the size of a postage

stamp. They will have transmitters to

send data back to Earth, and will be

powered by giant lasers on or in orbit

around Earth. Using this method of

propulsion, which negates the need to

carry fuel on-board, these small

“sails” can reach incredible speeds

in short order.

LASERS FROM EARTH REACH OUT TO PROVIDE

CONSTANT PROPULSION TO THE NANOPROBE SWARM.

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though still just that—an assumption,) why haven’t we detected them?

Not long after Fermi first posed his paradox, an American astrophysicist named Frank Drake turned up the heat. In 1961, prompted by some other scientists thinking over the problem, he prepared a compelling argument for a conference on pursuing SETI via radio telescopes, a relatively new concept at the time. He devised an equation based on a number of broad assumptions, which was really intended as an exercise to provoke thought on the subject, not to provide the final word.

In very general terms, it includes: • The number of civilizations in our

galaxy which should be emitting electromagnetic emissions that we can measure (N)

• The rate of star formation friendly to intelligent life (R*)

• The fraction of those stars (the above) with planets (fp)

• Number of the above planets that support that life (ne)

• The fraction of the above planets on which life appears (fl)

• The fraction of the above planets on which intelligent life emerges (fi)

• The fraction of the above civilizations that develop suitable communication technology (fc)

• The length of time those signals are detectable (L)

So, N= R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc • LThe calculation depends on a number of variables

for which it is necessary to make big suppositions. As a result, different attempts to calculate N have come up with findings ranging from optimistic to outright hostile. Drake’s own original calculations yielded an estimate of ten civilizations in our galaxy that we should be hearing from. As we learn more about exoplanets and the adaptable nature of life to extreme environments on Earth, some of these values should become more valid and the results therefore somewhat more trustworthy. But even if the answer is ten (or five, or 30,) where should we be looking and for what do we listen? For those

involved in SETI, that has been the big question for years.

Nikola Tesla suggested in the late 1890s that a powerful version of radio, which he had invented (though the credit usually goes to Marconi,) might be able to establish contact with intelligent beings on Mars. Marconi and other radio pioneers picked up on this, but little was actually done toward the goal.

Then, in 1924 there was a close approach of Mars (it edges closer to Earth every two years, but some of these approaches are closer than others; this one was the closest for almost a century.) The US government called for a ‘National Radio Silence Day.’ All radio stations would go silent for five minutes every hour for three days. A radio antenna was lofted in a dirigible (a rigid blimp,) but after 36 hours nothing special had been detected.

Mars stepped out of the limelight shortly thereafter, and by 1959 scientists were thinking in larger terms. Why limit yourself to Mars? Frank Drake started a project in 1960 called ‘Ozma’ (after the princess in the Wizard of Oz books.) He pointed a radio telescope located in Green Bank, West Virginia, at the star systems of Tau Ceti (which as you will recall, is only about 12 light years away) and Epsilon Eridani (around 11 light years away,) but found little other than the usual background noise. The Soviet Union took an interest and conducted their own experiments, which resulted in the same outcome.

Some universities tinkered with the idea, but it was in 1971 that SETI got serious. NASA finally devoted funds to commission a study that resulted in an ambitious design for a program called ‘Project Cyclops,’ which would have built radio telescope arrays with multiple smaller dishes instead of vastly more expensive large dishes. But as with so many NASA studies, it was a project built only on paper; SETI would have to wait another decade.

Ohio State University had been quietly conducting its own SETI search in the same time period, but jumped into the media fray in 1977 when a bizarre signal was received by its radio dish. A SETI researcher had steered the university’s radio dish toward a deep-space object called M55, an object known as a globular cluster—a closely packed spherical grouping of stars inside our galaxy. On

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though still just that—an assumption,) why haven’t we detected them?

Not long after Fermi first posed his paradox, an American astrophysicist named Frank Drake turned up the heat. In 1961, prompted by some other scientists thinking over the problem, he prepared a compelling argument for a conference on pursuing SETI via radio telescopes, a relatively new concept at the time. He devised an equation based on a number of broad assumptions, which was really intended as an exercise to provoke thought on the subject, not to provide the final word.

In very general terms, it includes: • The number of civilizations in our

galaxy which should be emitting electromagnetic emissions that we can measure (N)

• The rate of star formation friendly to intelligent life (R*)

• The fraction of those stars (the above) with planets (fp)

• Number of the above planets that support that life (ne)

• The fraction of the above planets on which life appears (fl)

• The fraction of the above planets on which intelligent life emerges (fi)

• The fraction of the above civilizations that develop suitable communication technology (fc)

• The length of time those signals are detectable (L)

So, N= R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc • LThe calculation depends on a number of variables

for which it is necessary to make big suppositions. As a result, different attempts to calculate N have come up with findings ranging from optimistic to outright hostile. Drake’s own original calculations yielded an estimate of ten civilizations in our galaxy that we should be hearing from. As we learn more about exoplanets and the adaptable nature of life to extreme environments on Earth, some of these values should become more valid and the results therefore somewhat more trustworthy. But even if the answer is ten (or five, or 30,) where should we be looking and for what do we listen? For those

involved in SETI, that has been the big question for years.

Nikola Tesla suggested in the late 1890s that a powerful version of radio, which he had invented (though the credit usually goes to Marconi,) might be able to establish contact with intelligent beings on Mars. Marconi and other radio pioneers picked up on this, but little was actually done toward the goal.

Then, in 1924 there was a close approach of Mars (it edges closer to Earth every two years, but some of these approaches are closer than others; this one was the closest for almost a century.) The US government called for a ‘National Radio Silence Day.’ All radio stations would go silent for five minutes every hour for three days. A radio antenna was lofted in a dirigible (a rigid blimp,) but after 36 hours nothing special had been detected.

Mars stepped out of the limelight shortly thereafter, and by 1959 scientists were thinking in larger terms. Why limit yourself to Mars? Frank Drake started a project in 1960 called ‘Ozma’ (after the princess in the Wizard of Oz books.) He pointed a radio telescope located in Green Bank, West Virginia, at the star systems of Tau Ceti (which as you will recall, is only about 12 light years away) and Epsilon Eridani (around 11 light years away,) but found little other than the usual background noise. The Soviet Union took an interest and conducted their own experiments, which resulted in the same outcome.

Some universities tinkered with the idea, but it was in 1971 that SETI got serious. NASA finally devoted funds to commission a study that resulted in an ambitious design for a program called ‘Project Cyclops,’ which would have built radio telescope arrays with multiple smaller dishes instead of vastly more expensive large dishes. But as with so many NASA studies, it was a project built only on paper; SETI would have to wait another decade.

Ohio State University had been quietly conducting its own SETI search in the same time period, but jumped into the media fray in 1977 when a bizarre signal was received by its radio dish. A SETI researcher had steered the university’s radio dish toward a deep-space object called M55, an object known as a globular cluster—a closely packed spherical grouping of stars inside our galaxy. On

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First Contact

MR. DYSON, I PRESUME

In 1960, famed physicist Freeman Dyson

postulated advanced civilizations might meet

their ever-increasing energy needs by directly

collecting the energy coming from their star.

A Dyson sphere, or shell, would be a solid

globe surrounding the star, and a Dyson Swarm,

seen here, would be an open-lattice or freely

orbiting collective of energy collection units.

INDIVIDUAL POWER COLLECTION SATELLITES

WOULD REMAIN IN POSITION AND UTILIZE COLLISION-AVOIDANCE TECHNIQUES TO MAINTAIN A STABLE NETWORK FOR POWER COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION.

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August 15, 1977, an unusually strong signal was received in the hydrogen band of radio frequencies, which was deemed to be ideal for long-range radio transmissions. For just over a minute, the signal continued, until the part of the sky M55 moved out of range due to Earth’s rotation.

The Ohio radio telescope measured radio signals in ten-second intervals and assigned a numeric code. Suddenly, out of the hash of normal background noise, a sharp spike in signal intensity occurred, smoothly ascending and then descending in value as the dish swept past whatever was emitting the signal. The researcher was startled, and excitedly (and famously, in SETI circles) drew a red oval over the paper printout, and wrote a big red ‘WOW!’ next to it. It has been known since then as the ‘WOW Signal.’

Despite returning to that region of the sky more

than 50 times since, scientists were unable to find it again. It was apparently a one-time burst of energy. Theories on its origins ranged from a classified military satellite to Earth-based transmissions bouncing off space debris. Or some kind of bizarre star-emission. Or, of course, aliens. But the signal has never been detected again.

In 2016, another alternative suggestion was put forth by a professor at a Florida college. He noted that there were two comets in the right place to have crossed the aperture of the radio telescope on the date the ‘WOW Signal’ was intercepted—and comets travel with large hydrogen clouds that could have been a signal source.

Modern SETI took root when the Planetary Society was formed in 1980 by Carl Sagan and a group of other space scientists from NASA and JPL. Using more advanced digital signal processors, they

BattleStar[ch22-contact]interiorsREPROnew_illo.indd 164 1/06/2016 12:42 pm

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First Contact

designed a new SETI system that would search far more broadly, and also be able to sort nearby signals from more distant ones. This project has continued in one form or another since, but with no confirmed results to show for their trouble. It was begun with NASA funding, but over time the US Congress carved away the funding until most large-scale SETI work in the US died of economic starvation.

But an offshoot of Sagan’s efforts, the SETI Institute, was founded in 1984. With an impressive roster of luminary minds at the helm, and some private funding, the non-profit has been operating continuously since then. NASA and the National Science Foundation have kicked in funds as well—it’s easier for the government agencies to add to an existing pot of cash. When we see news about SETI today, it is usually associated with the institute. Using a variety of both radio and optical telescopes,

the SETI Institute conducts organized, regular searches of the sky for new signals.

One more major SETI effort has joined the hunt for cosmic intelligences. Called Breakthrough Listen, funded by a Russian billionaire, it is a ten-year, $100 million effort that will survey the skies with radio telescopes around the world, using newer tools and at a still broader array of frequencies. The survey will operate for thousands of hours per year as opposed to the dozens that other efforts have had the funding to accomplish, and cover ten times as much extraterrestrial real estate. The combined effort is said to be sensitive enough to pick up a signal equivalent to commercial aircraft radar from the 1,000 nearest stars.

After all these decades of listening, an obvious thought is to send a message to be received by others. This has been attempted on various occasions, but SETI is considering a larger, orchestrated effort. Called ‘Active SETI,’ the idea seems like a winner…

But not so fast, say some, including no less a thinker than Stephen Hawking. For some years, the famed physicist has warned that we need to think long and hard before reaching across the void to our galactic neighbors. He, and others of a similar mind, feel that there are very real risks associated with bringing ourselves to the attention of aliens, who may have technology far superior to our own and might not be friendly. They could invade for reasons of need, economic gain, or simply for the perverse pleasure of watching us burn.

SETI continues in passive mode, sneaking radio peeks at thousands of likely targets throughout the galaxy. Soon, we may send out our own interstellar hello. By the time it’s likely to be intercepted, we should have galactic battle cruisers of our own, and any trouble can hopefully be averted.

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence continues. Some astronomers feel strongly that the evidence, scant though it is, indicates that we should hear something within a decade or two…assuming, that is, there is anyone to hear from. The universe is a very large, and very old, place and it’s rather difficult to believe that there are no other intelligent species out there.

THE SEARCH CONTINUES: SETI EFFORTS ARE USUALLY CONDUCTED USING RADIO TELESCOPES. THE SETI INSTITUTE HAS THE ALLEN ARRAY,

CONSISTING OF 42 DISHES. NEW EFFORTS, SUCH AS STEPHEN HAWKING’S BREAKTHROUGH

LISTEN, WILL UTILIZE LARGER, SINGLE DISHES IN THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIA FOR THOUSANDS OF

HOURS OVER A DECADE.

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August 15, 1977, an unusually strong signal was received in the hydrogen band of radio frequencies, which was deemed to be ideal for long-range radio transmissions. For just over a minute, the signal continued, until the part of the sky M55 moved out of range due to Earth’s rotation.

The Ohio radio telescope measured radio signals in ten-second intervals and assigned a numeric code. Suddenly, out of the hash of normal background noise, a sharp spike in signal intensity occurred, smoothly ascending and then descending in value as the dish swept past whatever was emitting the signal. The researcher was startled, and excitedly (and famously, in SETI circles) drew a red oval over the paper printout, and wrote a big red ‘WOW!’ next to it. It has been known since then as the ‘WOW Signal.’

Despite returning to that region of the sky more

than 50 times since, scientists were unable to find it again. It was apparently a one-time burst of energy. Theories on its origins ranged from a classified military satellite to Earth-based transmissions bouncing off space debris. Or some kind of bizarre star-emission. Or, of course, aliens. But the signal has never been detected again.

In 2016, another alternative suggestion was put forth by a professor at a Florida college. He noted that there were two comets in the right place to have crossed the aperture of the radio telescope on the date the ‘WOW Signal’ was intercepted—and comets travel with large hydrogen clouds that could have been a signal source.

Modern SETI took root when the Planetary Society was formed in 1980 by Carl Sagan and a group of other space scientists from NASA and JPL. Using more advanced digital signal processors, they

BattleStar[ch22-contact]interiorsREPROnew_illo.indd 164 1/06/2016 12:42 pm

165

First Contact

designed a new SETI system that would search far more broadly, and also be able to sort nearby signals from more distant ones. This project has continued in one form or another since, but with no confirmed results to show for their trouble. It was begun with NASA funding, but over time the US Congress carved away the funding until most large-scale SETI work in the US died of economic starvation.

But an offshoot of Sagan’s efforts, the SETI Institute, was founded in 1984. With an impressive roster of luminary minds at the helm, and some private funding, the non-profit has been operating continuously since then. NASA and the National Science Foundation have kicked in funds as well—it’s easier for the government agencies to add to an existing pot of cash. When we see news about SETI today, it is usually associated with the institute. Using a variety of both radio and optical telescopes,

the SETI Institute conducts organized, regular searches of the sky for new signals.

One more major SETI effort has joined the hunt for cosmic intelligences. Called Breakthrough Listen, funded by a Russian billionaire, it is a ten-year, $100 million effort that will survey the skies with radio telescopes around the world, using newer tools and at a still broader array of frequencies. The survey will operate for thousands of hours per year as opposed to the dozens that other efforts have had the funding to accomplish, and cover ten times as much extraterrestrial real estate. The combined effort is said to be sensitive enough to pick up a signal equivalent to commercial aircraft radar from the 1,000 nearest stars.

After all these decades of listening, an obvious thought is to send a message to be received by others. This has been attempted on various occasions, but SETI is considering a larger, orchestrated effort. Called ‘Active SETI,’ the idea seems like a winner…

But not so fast, say some, including no less a thinker than Stephen Hawking. For some years, the famed physicist has warned that we need to think long and hard before reaching across the void to our galactic neighbors. He, and others of a similar mind, feel that there are very real risks associated with bringing ourselves to the attention of aliens, who may have technology far superior to our own and might not be friendly. They could invade for reasons of need, economic gain, or simply for the perverse pleasure of watching us burn.

SETI continues in passive mode, sneaking radio peeks at thousands of likely targets throughout the galaxy. Soon, we may send out our own interstellar hello. By the time it’s likely to be intercepted, we should have galactic battle cruisers of our own, and any trouble can hopefully be averted.

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence continues. Some astronomers feel strongly that the evidence, scant though it is, indicates that we should hear something within a decade or two…assuming, that is, there is anyone to hear from. The universe is a very large, and very old, place and it’s rather difficult to believe that there are no other intelligent species out there.

THE SEARCH CONTINUES: SETI EFFORTS ARE USUALLY CONDUCTED USING RADIO TELESCOPES. THE SETI INSTITUTE HAS THE ALLEN ARRAY,

CONSISTING OF 42 DISHES. NEW EFFORTS, SUCH AS STEPHEN HAWKING’S BREAKTHROUGH

LISTEN, WILL UTILIZE LARGER, SINGLE DISHES IN THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIA FOR THOUSANDS OF

HOURS OVER A DECADE.

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Through stunning images, including 75 illustrations created exclusively for this book, 25 remarkable and memorable technologies from the world of sci-fi are explored.

With expertly written text by NASA insider Rod Pyle, each concept is explained and dissected to reveal the real science behind it. Some are temptingly within our reach—such as cyborgs and artificial intelligence—others are further off, but fast approaching reality (think bio-ports or cloaking devices). All are fascinating and make wonderful explorations into the science of the future as we understand it today.

september 2016

National print and online publicity campaign

Digital focus on science fiction/fantasy, pop culture, and science blogs, websites, and podcasts

Big Mouth mailing to author's high-profile contacts

Giveaway, excerpts, and guest essays on high-traffic blogs and websites

DISCLAIMER Reviewers are reminded that changes may be made in this uncorrected proof before books are printed. If any material from the book is to be quoted in a review, the quotation should be checked against the final bound book. Dates, prices, and manufacturing details are subject to change or cancellation without notice.

SEPTEMBER 2016Science & Nature / Science & Technology $24.95 ($27.95 Canada)Hardcover7 ½" x 9 ½" • 192 pagesISBN 9781454921349

Rod Pyle is a NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) insider, as well as being a writer and documentary filmmaker. He has written for numerous science and science fiction publications, including Astronautics Notebook, Foundation Journal, Starlog, and DreamWatch. He has written several books, including Destination Moon (Smithsonian Books), Innovation the NASA Way (McGraw-Hill), Missions to the Moon (Sterling), and Curiosity: An Inside Look at the Mars Rover Mission and the People Who Made it Happen (Prometheus Books). He has also worked as a visual effects coordinator for Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

For publicity inquiries, contact Ardi Alspach at (646) 688-2450 or [email protected].


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