Advanced Civilization Research Articles

POWER BEAMING LEAKAGE RADIATION AS A SETI OBSERVABLE

ABSTRACT The most observable leakage radiation from an advanced civilization may well be from the use of power beaming to transfer energy and accelerate spacecraft. Applications suggested for power beaming involve launching spacecraft to orbit, raising satellites to a higher orbit, and interplanetary concepts involving space-to-space transfers of cargo or passengers. We also quantify beam-driven launch to the outer solar system, interstellar precursors, and ultimately starships. We estimate the principal observable parameters of power beaming leakage. Extraterrestrial civilizations would know their power beams could be observed, and so could put a message on the power beam and broadcast it for our receipt at little additional energy or cost. By observing leakage from power beams we may find a message embedded on the beam. Recent observations of the anomalous star KIC 8462852 by the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) set some limits on extraterrestrial power beaming in that system. We show that most power beaming applications commensurate with those suggested for our solar system would be detectable if using the frequency range monitored by the ATA, and so the lack of detection is a meaningful, if modest, constraint on extraterrestrial power beaming in that system. Until more extensive observations are made, the limited observation time and frequency coverage are not sufficiently broad in frequency and duration to produce firm conclusions. Such beams would be visible over large interstellar distances. This implies a new approach to the SETI search: instead of focusing on narrowband beacon transmissions generated by another civilization, look for more powerful beams with much wider bandwidth. This requires a new approach for their discovery by telescopes on Earth. Further studies of power beaming applications should be performed, potentially broadening the parameter space of the observable features that we have discussed here.

Thinking about the geosciences in their religious/philosophical context

Abstract At some stage in their past, all advanced civilizations have developed some sort of mining industry and a mythical approach to the explanation of various geological phenomena. Nevertheless, the geosciences per se developed in Europe, as part of natural philosophy and from there spread throughout the globe. Why Europe was the cradle of this type of natural philosophy, which led to modern science, can only be understood if we take into account not only the history of science, but a more general history of human intellectual accomplishments, including a history of theology and philosophy. This paper endeavours to trace the philosophical/religious settings that either furthered or hampered science. Historically, geology and palaeontology have been fashionable sciences from their first tentative beginnings in Renaissance times to the late nineteenth century. They were popular and of public interest as long as they bore not only scientific fruits, but also had a certain feedback on the contemporary world view. This paper outlines these interdependencies between the two magisteria of science and religion and gives an insight into the contemporary relationship between geology and religion.

Bernoulli, Darwin, and Sagan: the probability of life on other planets

AbstractThe recent discovery that billions of planets in the Milky Way Galaxy may be in circumstellar habitable zones has renewed speculation over the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The Drake equation is a probabilistic framework for estimating the number of technological advanced civilizations in our Galaxy; however, many of the equation's component probabilities are either unknown or have large error intervals. In this paper, a different method of examining this question is explored, one that replaces the various Drake factors with the single estimate for the probability of life existing on Earth. This relationship can be described by the binomial distribution if the presence of life on a given number of planets is equated to successes in a Bernoulli trial. The question of exoplanet life may then be reformulated as follows – given the probability of one or more independent successes for a given number of trials, what is the probability of two or more successes? Some of the implications of this approach for finding life on exoplanets are discussed.

Estimates for the number of visible galaxy-spanning civilizations and the cosmological expansion of life

AbstractIf advanced civilizations appear in the universe with an ability and desire to expand, the entire universe can become saturated with life on a short timescale, even if such expanders appear rarely. Our presence in an apparently untouched Milky Way thus constrains the appearance rate of galaxy-spanning Kardashev type III (K3) civilizations, if it is assumed that some fraction of K3 civilizations will continue their expansion at intergalactic distances. We use this constraint to estimate the appearance rate of K3 civilizations for 81 cosmological scenarios by specifying the extent to which humanity is a statistical outlier. We find that in nearly all plausible scenarios, the distance to the nearest visible K3 is cosmological. In searches for K3 galaxies where the observable range is limited, we also find that the most likely detections tend to be expanding civilizations who have entered the observable range from farther away. An observation of K3 clusters is thus more likely than isolated K3 galaxies.

On the visible size and geometry of aggressively expanding civilizations at cosmological distances

If a subset of advanced civilizations in the universe choose to rapidly expand into unoccupied space, these civilizations would have the opportunity to grow to a cosmological scale over the course of billions of years. If such life also makes observable changes to the galaxies they inhabit, then it is possible that vast domains of life-saturated galaxies could be visible from the Earth. Here, we describe the shape and angular size of these domains as viewed from the Earth, and calculate median visible sizes for a variety of scenarios. We also calculate the total fraction of the sky that should be covered by at least one domain. In each of the 27 scenarios we examine, the median angular size of the nearest domain is within an order of magnitude of a percent of the whole celestial sphere. Observing such a domain would likely require an analysis of galaxies on the order of a Gly from the Earth.

A cloaking device for transiting planets

The transit method is presently the most successful planet discovery and characterization tool at our disposal. Other advanced civilizations would surely be aware of this technique and appreciate that their home planet's existence and habitability is essentially broadcast to all stars lying along their ecliptic plane. We suggest that advanced civilizations could cloak their presence, or deliberately broadcast it, through controlled laser emission. Such emission could distort the apparent shape of their transit light curves with relatively little energy, due to the collimated beam and relatively infrequent nature of transits. We estimate that humanity could cloak the Earth from Kepler-like broadband surveys using an optical monochromatic laser array emitting a peak power of about 30 MW for roughly 10 hours per year. A chromatic cloak, effective at all wavelengths, is more challenging requiring a large array of tunable lasers with a total power of approximately 250 MW. Alternatively, a civilization could cloak only the atmospheric signatures associated with biological activity on their world, such as oxygen, which is achievable with a peak laser power of just around 160 kW per transit. Finally, we suggest that the time of transit for optical SETI is analogous to the water-hole in radio SETI, providing a clear window in which observers may expect to communicate. Accordingly, we propose that a civilization may deliberately broadcast their technological capabilities by distorting their transit to an artificial shape, which serves as both a SETI beacon and a medium for data transmission. Such signatures could be readily searched in the archival data of transit surveys.

Why Doomsday Arguments are Better than Simulation Arguments

AbstractInspired by anthropic reasoning behind Doomsday arguments, Nick Bostrom's Simulation Argument says: people who think advanced civilisations would run many fully‐conscious simulated minds should also think they're probably simulated minds themselves. However, Bostrom's conclusions can (and should) be resisted, especially by sympathisers with Doomsday or anthropic reasoning. This paper initially offers a posterior‐probabilistic ‘Doomsday lottery’ argument against Bostrom's conclusions. Suggestions are then offered for deriving anti‐simulation conclusions using weaker assumptions. Anti‐simulation arguments herein use more (epistemically and metaphysically) robust reference classes than Bostrom's argument, require no Principles of Indifference, abide better by the total evidence requirement, and yet use empirically plausible priors and likelihoods. However, while Doomsday arguments are probabilistically, epistemically and metaphysically stronger than the Simulation Argument, anthropic reasoning can (and should) refrain from embracing either.

Dialogues: QUANT Researchers on QUAL Methods

Qualitative researchers commonly perceive that positivist hard-science researchers and policies of governments deprecate qualitative methods and approaches. Curiously though, we could not see anyone asking quantitative researchers ‘What do you think about qualitative approaches and methods?’ We did this in interviews with 17 assumed quantitative researchers in the fields of advanced materials construction, civil engineering, transport modelling, computer science, and geotechnics. Surprisingly, these researchers rarely described themselves as purely quantitative, and were rarely against the five qualitative methods discussed. Moreover, many actually used qualitative methods, often in ways we had not anticipated. Drawing on a Bakhtinian grounded framework, we present our analysis as a performed ethnographic dialogue between data extracts and research literature. We present evidence that the alleged qualitative-quantitative divide does not apply here, and suggest dialogic ways to see teach "qualitative" and "quantitative" and some associated terms.

“A Convenient Seat in God's Temple”: The Massachusetts General Colored Association and the Park Street Church Pew Controversy of 1830

The Massachusetts General Colored Association was the most advanced black civil rights organization of its day. In 1830, the MGCA backed a protest against segregated pews in Boston s Park Street Church, an event that provided a crucial opening for the alliance between black abolitionists and William Lloyd Garrison s New England Anti Slavery Society.

THE STUDY OF THE SOURCES OF MODERNITY IN IRANIAN CONTEMPORARY POETRY

The historical background of the emergence of the sources of new Persian poetry currents, as a nascent phenomenon goes back to the time of the constitutional revolution .the age of relationship with the western governments and awareness of evolved and advanced European civilization, Of course, returns to tens and even hundreds of years before the constitutional revolution. But none of those martial and political relationships have influenced the modernization of literature and poetry in Iran and its little influence on a few poets does not make the real beginning of modernization history. It was Abbas Mirza who officially as the first person founded the basic political and thinking currents of poetry modernization in its European form. Since then, literary critics and social theorists with their insightful criticism and comments paved the way for the realization of different emerging currents during the constitutional era. Of course, the sources of globalization of poetry are beyond this. The fundamental question in this regard is: What are the most important factors in the emergence of modern Iranian poetry and which historical era does the globalization of Iranian poetry goes back to? In this paper, we briefly discuss the most important of these factors.

Application of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves to the Cataclysmic Event of Our First Encounter with Intelligent Extraterrestrial Beings

Three advances are proposed as a pathway to the cataclysmic event of our first encounter with intelligent extraterrestrial beings. First, discovery of very large numbers of extraterrestrial planets, “exoplanets” (possibly as many as1023 in our Universe); second, introduction of electronic components into the human body evolving into a cybernetic and biological “cyborg,” a model for an extraterrestrial being Cyborgs might allow advanced civilizations to endure hundreds of thousands of years. Third, the recent development of high-frequency gravitational wave (HFGW) detectors, the communication means of choice for an advanced cyborg civilization since they are not easily absorbed like electromagnetic radiation. Six HFGW detectors are presented for application to our first encounter with intelligent extraterrestrial beings. Numerical estimates are made for the failure of extraterrestrial civilizations such that no two exist at the same time (Fermi’s Paradox). It is concluded that there might remain at least ≈1.48 × 108 Worlds intercommunicating with HFGWs at any one time in any one region of our Universe. The predicted form of extraterrestrial beings is by means of animaginary, but based upon comprehensively documented and detailed projection of the evolution of “Earthling” homosapiens, to become “cyborgs.” It is proposed that such long-living cyborg forms of intelligent beings would be encountered by us. The first cataclysmic encounter with them is expected to be interception of their interstellar communications. The predicted frequency of intercepted messages under one set of assumptions is at least 1500 per day. After decoding the intercepted messages, keys may be found to improve vastly the present and future quality of life for us earthlings. Advanced beings might utilize direct brain-to-brain communication and it is concluded that research into brain-to-brain communication and HFGW detection are encouraged.

$100 million seti initiative starts listening for E.T.

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence— SETI—has a checkered history, and even its most ardent proponents accept that positive results are unlikely anytime soon. So it’s no wonder that SETI researchers often struggle to find funding. But last year the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner offered to support SETI efforts over the next 10 years with US $100 million. The first radio observations, through a program called Breakthrough Listen, will be made sometime in the next few months. And one of the early targets may be a star system that has already shown suggestions of possibly being the home of a technologically advanced alien civilization. While the chances for actually picking up signals from an E.T. remain slim, the adventure will surely be fun to watch as it unfolds this year.

Español

The tropical region comprises the area between Cancer and Capricorn tropics where countries with large natural resources and low or lower-middleincome economies are located. Moreover, the region climatic characteristics are conducive to the development of pathogens causing serious diseases on the human population. In the American tropics the term tropical disease is the result of a socialhistorical process observed by Europeans during the conquest and colony periods. Tropical diseases did not exist before the Spaniards arrival. When conquerors arrived they brought pathogens, which caused almost 90 % of the population’s death, being the most devastating epidemics: smallpox, measles and flu. The continent conquest was largely made possible by the biological exchange between conquerors and conquered, along with the destruction of two of the most advanced American civilizations: the Aztec in Mexico and the Inca in Peru. During the following centuries, the biological exchange has been extended; tropical diseases are now present throughout the world and must be attended regardless of the world region in which they manifest.

Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations.

The Armenians are a culturally isolated population who historically inhabited a region in the Near East bounded by the Mediterranean and Black seas and the Caucasus, but remain under-represented in genetic studies and have a complex history including a major geographic displacement during World War I. Here, we analyse genome-wide variation in 173 Armenians and compare them with 78 other worldwide populations. We find that Armenians form a distinctive cluster linking the Near East, Europe, and the Caucasus. We show that Armenian diversity can be explained by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3000 and ~2000 bce, a period characterized by major population migrations after the domestication of the horse, appearance of chariots, and the rise of advanced civilizations in the Near East. However, genetic signals of population mixture cease after ~1200 bce when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed. Armenians have since remained isolated and genetic structure within the population developed ~500 years ago when Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Safavid Empire in Iran. Finally, we show that Armenians have higher genetic affinity to Neolithic Europeans than other present-day Near Easterners, and that 29% of Armenian ancestry may originate from an ancestral population that is best represented by Neolithic Europeans.

Application of the mid-IR radio correlation to the Ĝ sample and the search for advanced extraterrestrial civilisations

Wright et al. 2014 have embarked on a search for advanced Karadashev Type III civilisations via the compilation of a sample of sources with extreme mid-IR emission and colours. In this scenario, the mid-IR emission is then primarily associated with waste heat energy by-products. I apply the Mid-IR radio correlation to this $\hat{G}$ sample (Griffith et al. 2015). I demonstrate that the mid-IR and radio luminosities are correlated for the sample with $q_{22}=1.35\pm0.42 $. By comparison, the First Look Survey (FLS) has $q_{22}=0.87\pm0.27$. The fact that the G-HAT sample largely follows the Mid-IR radio correlation, strongly suggests the vast majority of these sources are associated with galaxies in which natural astrophysical processes are dominant. This simple application of the mid-IR radio correlation can substantially reduce the number of false positives in the $\hat{G}$ catalogue, since galaxies occupied by advanced Kardashev Type III civilisations would be expected to exhibit very high values of $q$. Indeed I identify 9 outliers in the sample with $q_{22} > 2$ of which at least 3 have properties that are relatively well explained via standard astrophysical interpretations e.g. dust emission associated with nascent star formation and/or nuclear activity from a heavily obscured AGN. I also note that the comparison of resolved Mid-IR and radio images of galaxies on sub-galactic (kpc) scales can also be useful in identifying and recognising artificial mid-IR emission from less advanced intermediate Type II/III civilisations. Nevertheless, from the bulk properties of the $\hat{G}$ sample, I conclude that Kardashev Type-III civilisations are either very rare or do not exist in the local Universe.

Completion of the experimental data by mathematical simulation of a flow around the structural elements of a supersonic passenger aircraft

The main methods for investigating the aerodynamic characteristics of an advanced civil supersonic aircraft are surveyed. A detailed description of the procedures for obtaining the experimental and calculated data is given. A technique is considered which makes it possible to draw a valid comparison of the results for a model with a flow through a wind tunnel duct and perform calculations of an aircraft with a running engine in a free flow. Conclusions are formulated about the possibility of completing the missing experimental data by numerical simulation.

Significance and Impact of Ancient Rome and Its Relevance in the Current Global Order

Michel Foucault one of the most influential authorities on power politics contemplates that power has the character of a network and that its threads extend everywhere. The Ancient Rome was one of the most advanced civilizations armed with military and diplomatic muscle combined with rich cultural and engineering marvels. Rome became the supreme Mediterranean power around 242 BC with the defeat of the Carthage in the First Punic War (264 – 241 BC). The role of Italy in The European Union (EU), NATO and the World at large has had its similar roots manifested through alliances thousands of years ago. Developed nations like Italy are defined by both its Hard and Soft powers. The dire need to study this power projection stem from the various aspects that defined ancient Rome as one of the most developed civilizations. Her tentacles of power need to be analyzed and be compared with respect to the modern day governance. The paper also traces the origin and history of the projection of ancient Roman power both on hard and soft connotations and attempts to parley on its significance and relevance in today’s global world order. The methodology pursued in the paper involves unraveling the special features and characteristics of ancient Rome and the modern day Italy from Military, Trade, Economy and Architectural stand point and attempts to strike a chord between its similarities and differences. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s2p51

EXTRAGALACTIC SETI: THE TULLY–FISHER RELATION AS A PROBE OF DYSONIAN ASTROENGINEERING IN DISK GALAXIES

If advanced extraterrestrial civilizations choose to construct vast numbers of Dyson spheres to harvest radiation energy, this could affect the characteristics of their host galaxies. Potential signatures of such astroengineering projects include reduced optical luminosity, boosted infrared luminosity and morphological anomalies. Here, we apply a technique pioneered by Annis (1999) to search for Kardashev type III civilizations in disk galaxies, based on the predicted offset of these galaxies from the optical Tully-Fisher relation. By analyzing a sample of 1359 disk galaxies, we are able to set a conservative upper limit at 3% on the fraction of local disks subject to Dysonian astroengineering on galaxy-wide scales. However, the available data suggests that a small subset of disk galaxies actually may be underluminous with respect to the Tully-Fisher relation in the way expected for Kardashev type III objects. Based on the optical morphologies and infrared-to-optical luminosity ratios of such galaxies in our sample, we conclude that none of them stand out as strong Kardashev type III candidates and that their inferred properties likely have mundane explanations. This allows us to set a tentative upper limit at 0.3% on the fraction of Karashev type III disk galaxies in the local Universe.

Reconsidering macro-artefacts in SETI searches

The observation of macro-artefacts at interstellar distances offers an alternative search paradigm to SETI programs such as radio astronomy and laser detection. Potential artefacts range from space infrastructure deployed by advanced technological civilizations to deliberate attempts to use artefacts as signals and biomarkers of intelligent life. Passive observations of macro-artefacts could overcome problems with active transmission messaging such as temporal and spatial constraints.Artefacts could be detected without being spatially resolved by telescopes. Spectral analyses could yield evidence of disruption of the natural electromagnetic spectra of stars by artefacts. Some artefacts could generate diffraction and interference patterns uncharacteristic of natural phenomena. Thus, detecting macro-artefacts is potentially feasible with current astronomical infrastructure.The construction of large macro-artefacts could be achieved with technological and industrial capabilities that are roughly equivalent to present-day Earth. Thus, the accessibility of macro-artefacts for both transmission and reception can be reconsidered as potentially equivalent to conventional SETI strategies.

Leibniz, China, and the Problem of Pagan Wisdom

Leibniz, China, and the Problem of Pagan Wisdom Daniel J. Cook (bio) Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’ mature years coincided with the first major European encounter with the thought and civilization of China. From the 1660s onward, many European thinkers and theologians were especially fascinated with this pagan culture. Although Christendom had previously encountered the pagan traditions of Greece and Rome, they had been incorporated into European thought since the origins of Christianity. From the time of the Church fathers, Christendom had developed various strategies to appropriate and reform classical philosophical thought for its own purposes. Leibniz echoes this Christianizing attitude when he says that “the doctrine of Plato concerning metaphysics and morality is holy and just. . . .”1 China represented a challenge to Christendom in that it was seen as an advanced civilization with its own highly developed belief system, which differed markedly from any of the Abrahamic religions. Whereas the ancient Greeks were long gone, Chinese wisdom threatened the monopoly of religious truth that the Christian West believed it possessed.2 “Freethinkers” would argue—as indeed they already had—that one could be ethical and civilized without believing in a Christian God. Joachim Bouvet—a French Jesuit serving in the court in Beijing and Leibniz’ main correspondent on matters Chinese—warns him that if their venerated texts are not somehow “sanctified,” there will be a living example of a highly civilized country being completely atheistic.3 Various solutions were offered to explain how pagans gained the wisdom thought to have been revealed exclusively to the Jews and Christians.4 Leibniz is the only major Western philosopher who attempted in various ways to accommodate the pagan wisdom of the Chinese to prevailing European philosophical and theological beliefs. His goal was to demonstrate that, when properly interpreted and reformed on the basis of reason, their relevant pagan texts were compatible with his own philosophy, that is, a natural theology that was in turn compatible with a Christian belief system. The implications for his lifelong ecumenical and irenic goals are clear. In his treatment of pagan wisdom, we see strong testimony to Leibniz’ belief in humankind’s intellectual ability to arrive at the basic truths of monotheism without compromising the singular truth and location of the Judeo-Christian revelation. Leibniz held to the literal biblical view that all of humanity originated with Adam. This monogenetic view of all humankind contributed to his basic belief in the natural ability of certain individuals of all eras to arrive at the same natural theology, that is, [End Page 936] those rational truths concerning the nature of God and the human soul. Justin Smith has argued that this contributed to Leibniz’ belief in the intrinsic equality of all peoples, though there may be great cultural and intellectual differences among them.5 Leibniz sought a path that could recognize the equality (let alone the superior mores that he thought Chinese society embodied) of pagan wisdom but at the same time support the unique and supreme nature of Christianity’s doctrines and mysteries. He believed that the superior scholarship and methodology developed by the Christian tradition to convert Jews could be used to this end. His European and Christian hubris on this point is apparent: It is not absurd for discerning Europeans . . . to see something today which is not adequately known by the Chinese erudites, and to be able to interpret their ancient books better than the erudites themselves. Who does not know in our own day that Christian scholars are much better interpreters of the most ancient books of the Hebrews than the Jews themselves? . . . This is even more likely concerning doctrines more than twenty centuries removed from the Chinese, who are quite possibly not as equipped with the interpretive aids as we, informed about Chinese literature, and especially aided by European methods.”6 I Unlike many of his contemporaries, who spurned classical learning, Leibniz, both temperamentally and philosophically, never ceased stressing the importance of classical texts. Arguments that appealed to ancient learning and wisdom should be attractive to Leibniz not only on purely intellectual grounds, but for polemical reasons as well. For example, he suggested to Bishop Huét that deepening our study of ancient pagan sources (especially...