Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Nothing personal, it's strictly business

It's too late about being quiet
TheSheepLookUp — (archived)

We've been letting the galaxy know that somebody with at least a little
brain and a few tools is at home on Earth for about a century now. Yes,
the signals are mostly weak (except for those military radars and a few
deliberate messages like the one from Arecibo in 1974 and the Russian
ones in 1999 and 2003), and the galactic sphere they inhabit is no more
than 200 light years across, if that (ironically the minimum distance that
Carl Sagan speculated a Milky Way with one million technological civilizations
would be our nearest celestial neighbor).

But the signals are out there and someone with enough technology could
detect them. Heck, they don't even need that: Just search for systems
that could have habitable planets then zoom in on them. We're already
talking about telescopes that could detect continents and oceans within
the next century, so imagine what an advanced species could do.

Again, the point is: We've already let the galaxy know we are here, and
there will be groups who will one way or another make their ways to the
stars. Other species may also be doing the same now. It is not only
pointless to try and hide, in the end it will hurt us worse as a species
and culture than if we met aliens who were less than friendly.

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