On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:16:27 -0500, Charlie Siegrist
<none.active@this.time.check.back.later> wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:31:07 +0000, Paul J Gans wrote:

Because the radio age *here* will last only about 200 years, if that.

I don't see why.  As fiber-optic communication spreads, microwave point-
to-point is tending to decrease, but cell phone and other personal radio 
communication devices are proliferating at a strong rate.

Certainly, there is no reason to think we'll stop using radio. As you
note, its use will increase. But the sort of radio we use will not make
us radio bright. It is reasonable to think that technological
civilizations would only be detectable by their waste radio emission for
a short time. Radio remains an obvious candidate for any civilization
that deliberately wants to make itself known, however.
_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com