"Colin Jones" <cjspambuffer@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1qhllu6s8m5it$.dlg@colin-jones.co.uk...

Hiya Seti Cruncher.

In <news:8khHc.6087$iw3.1811@clgrps13> you wrote:

New SETI Article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0708/p14s02-stss.html

  Of course, another reason we may not be picking up alien signals if the
RF era is relatively short lived before a far more reliable means of
communication is found. Even forgetting the possibility of FTL/exotic
communication I think such as Neutrino communication isn't beyond the
bounds of realism.

Neutrino's are notoriously hard to detect, but even if it were possible,
typically intelligent civilisations would not throw away something good,
until they find something better.

ElectroMagnetic (EM) transmissions, from microwave through visible light,
are quite adequate even for interstellar communications. Above visible
light,
quantum effects drive up the energy cost per bit, and below microwave
you need antenna's the size of planets. But in between (certainly
between 50 and 500 Ghz or so) cost/bit are quite low, and you need
only moderate size antenna's, and very reasonable energy costs.
Quite achievable with technology only moderately more advanced than ours.

The only problem with EM transmissions (and with any other communication
form that we know of) is that it limits communication to speed-of-light.

If there exists any form of tachion (faster-than-light) particle, with its
own physics, which can be used for faster than light communication,
then of course very advanced ET civilisations will use that.
But at this point in our development, we need to concentrate on
civilisations which have not discovered tachions yet (if they even exist).
And such civilisations will most certainly use EM transmissions for
their communications. Unless we have overlooked some very simple other
form of communication within the currently known laws of physics.

  It's not going to sop me participating though ;)

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