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[likethebeer]

"Will We Really Find Alien Life Within 20 Years?"
Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer

For Finkelstein's striking prediction to come true, certain conditions must be met: There must be a planet with an alien civilization that is capable of transmitting high-power radio or optical signals our way. That civilization needs to exist within 20 light-years of Earth and have been broadcasting those signals starting today, or earlier, in order to reach Earth within 20 light-years of today.

Actually, that's not true: we can find out if there's life by detecting certain elements in the atmosphere. Oxygen is one of them - it binds so easily with other elements that to find it alone in an atmosphere means that something else is releasing it (like plants, as on earth).

Comments

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

Oxygen isn't required for life, just life that wouldn't crash and burn when visiting our planet. Sulfur works for some extremophilic microbes living near volcanic vents in the sea...

oxygen

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah - sulfur could work, too. Carbon. Anything that binds easily w/other elements, but that's running around free could be an indicator that something's cracking those bonds (although sulfur could indicate just volcanoes, am I correct?).

[brianlee.livejournal.com]

I'd nuke us from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Or we could throw down winged unicorns. That would be another way.

Or Swedish fish - everybody loves Swedish fish. We'd throw them down and watch the lifeforms grab for them. Then we could nuke them.