Everything Interesting: July 2012

Galaxy of Babel

Last week, Science Channel kicked off Are We Alone? month with new episodes of existing series and special presentations exploring the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Anyone who knows me, knows this has been a lifelong obsession - something I think about almost constantly, and will likely write about frequently on this blog.

The event began with the season premiere of Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole asking the question what first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence might really be like. As I would expect from this excellent series, the episode approached the subject rationally and from a fresh perspective. For example, some scientists posited that any alien intelligence that made it to earth would likely be looking for resources, much like ourselves. Our brains require immense amounts of energy in the form of food consumption to survive and it can only be assumed that a space-faring race would at least match our needs, if not exceed them.

But what I found most fascinating was a way in which scientists have theorized that they can detect intelligent extraterrestrial communication amidst all the white noise that pummels the earth from outer space - even if it is in sounds and languages that we could not possibly comprehend. By mapping the frequency of words in human oral communication, scientists found that across all languages, the prevailing graphic representation is a 45 degree angle. A non-intelligent random sampling of words which would effectively communicate nothing would result in a straight line - equal distribution of all words.

This test was applied to the "language" of dolphins to determine whether, in fact, they are communicating in complex language as scientists have always suspected. By analyzing their set of sounds - which we have no context to translate into meaningful language - scientists found that again, the frequency of sounds maps to a 45 degree angle - thus concluding that dolphins do have complex language communication. The theory, when applied to extraterrestrial communication, theorizes that if frequency of patterns found in white noise from outer space maps to the 45 degree graph, we might actually have detected an extraterrestrial civilization.

Now, I am not a scientist, so are there holes in this theory? - perhaps. But, I am always amazed at the simple and ingenious theories that are applied to solving some of the most complex and timeless questions facing humanity.

http://crossroadsandportals.blogspot.ca/2012/03/galaxy-of-babel.html

Everything Interesting

Free Course on Neuroscience

Section 1: Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology

Section 2: Sensory Systems

Section 3: Motor Systems

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Dolphin Communication

Galaxy of Babel