Extraterrestrial
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as a team, 151–52
waste produced by, 73–74, 122, 123
Humason, Milton, 104
humility
discovery of extraterrestrial life and, 7, 134, 146, 156, 158
in following the evidence, 5
lightsail hypothesis and, 177–78, 181
science and, 98, 99–100, 102, 103, 156–57
shortness of human lives and, 126, 189
space archaeology and, 134, 146, 147–48
of uncertainty, 11–12
viewing philosophy and the universe with, xiv, xvi, 189
A Hundred Authors Against Einstein, 185
hydrogen, 39–40, 48–49, 68, 70, 90, 105, 112–16
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), 116
I
IAS (Institute for Advanced Study), 19–21
India, 121
industrial pollution, 143
information paradox, 186
infrared array camera (IRAC), 38–39
Inquisition, 155
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), 19–21
Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, 4
Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard, 64
Intelligent Life in the Universe (Sagan and Shklovskii), 54
intelligent vs. primitive life, 132–34
International Astronomical Union, 3, 6
International Space Science Institute (ISSI) ‘Oumuamua Team, 69
International Space Station, 121
interstellar objects
abundance of, 44, 76–78, 120
man-made, 6, 120
origins of, 77, 82
‘Oumuamua as first observed in our solar system, 4, 27
probability of encountering, 75–76
rarity in our solar system, 4, 78
second discovered, 78–79, 176–77
technological equipment, search for, 140–41
interstellar probes, 55, 57, 60, 120, 124
ionizing radiation, 32
IRAC (infrared array camera), 38–39
Iridium 33 satellite, 121
Israel, 12–17, 19–20, 60, 125–26
ISSI (International Space Science Institute) ‘Oumuamua Team, 69
J
Jainism, 155
James Webb Space Telescope, 116, 133
Jewitt, David, 106
Jews, 13, 14–15, 125, 139
Jupiter, 141
Jupiter-like planets, 138
K
KBOs (Kuiper Belt objects), 106
Kelvin, Lord, 168
Kepler, Johannes, 56–57
Kepler satellite, 63
Kepler Space Telescope, 138
Knight, Matthew, 69
Kuiper Belt, 106
Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), 106
Kusch, Polykarp, 105
L
labeled release experiment, 195
Landa Calderón, Diego de, 155
Large Hadron Collider, 96, 97
Large Magellanic Clouds, 110
laser-propelled sail, 57–58. See also lightsails
lasers, 105, 120, 166
laws of motion, 34, 55
Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), 4, 159
Levin, Gilbert V., 195
Lexington, Massachusetts, 9, 22, 23
life. See also extraterrestrial life
conditions friendly to, 50, 135–39
creation of, 167–68
origins of, 134–35
panspermia theory and, 168–72
spreading seeds of, 163–67, 172
terrestrial, possibility of extinction, xiii
3D printing of, 163
light, artificial, 52, 142, 144
LightSail 2, 58
lightsail hypothesis, 63–71
artificial origin of ‘Oumuamua and, 65–66
humility and, 177–78, 181
media attention and, 67–69
size and composition of ‘Oumuamua and, 64–65
solar radiation and acceleration, 64–66, 86–87
space junk explanation for, 119–23
technological development and, 91
lightsails
dimensions of ‘Oumuamua compared to, 87
lasers used to propel, 57–58, 120, 166
launched by extraterrestrial civilizations, 178–81
multiverse thought experiment and, 130
Starshot Initiative and, 56–60, 64, 70–71, 120, 142, 144, 166
supernovas and travel of, 164–66
Lin, Henry, 143
Lingam, Manasvi, 133, 139, 143, 169, 198
liquid water, 137–39
Liviatan, Ofrit, 7, 22, 60, 197
local standard of rest (LSR), 79–86
Loeb family, 7, 12–16, 22, 60, 99, 124–26, 184, 197
long-wavelength radio telescopes, 48–49
low-density porous object hypothesis, 44
LSR (local standard of rest), 79–86
LSST (Legacy Survey of Space and Time), 4, 159
Lubin, Phil, 57
Luu, Jane, 106
M
M87 galaxy and black hole, 187, 188
Manhattan Project, 123
Marlborough, Duke of, 128
Mars, 141, 169–70, 171, 193, 195
masers, 105
Maui, Hawaii, 2, 7
Mauna Kea (volcano), 7, 106
Mayan manuscripts, 155
Mayor, Michel, 138
McMaster University, 44
media attention, 59, 67–69, 193
megastructures, 144, 145
meteorites and panspermia, 168–72
meteors, artificial, 141
Michelangelo, 192
Michelson, Albert, 103
microbial life, 132–34, 170–72
microwave beams, 59
Milkomeda galaxy, 111
Milky Way galaxy
Andromeda collision with, 110–11
broadcasting our existence to, 146
habitable planets in, 50, 63
panspermia and, 169, 171
space-junk idea and, 119–20
Vera C. Rubin Observatory and mapping of, 142
view of stars in, 110, 111
Milner, Yuri, 53–55, 59–60, 108, 120, 183
modesty, 128, 147, 152, 157, 192
molecules, artificial, 143
moon, search for technological debris on, 141
Moro-Martin, Amaya, 76, 77
Morrison, Philip, 90–91
moshavs, 12
motion, first law of, 34
motion, second law of, 55
Mount Palomar Observatory, 104
Mount Wilson Observatory, 104
multiverse, 49–50, 51, 95, 96, 97, 130
Munoz, Julian, 68
Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), 48–49
The Myth of Sisyphus (Camus), 158
N
Nachman of Breslov, Rebbe, 127
NASA, 93, 138, 193, 195
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 43
National Churchill Museum, 128
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 91
natural laws, ubiquity of, 6
Nature, 68, 90
Nazi Germany and Nazi Party, 14, 22, 125, 127, 155
Ne’eman, Yuval, 20
neutrinos, 20
New Horizons, 6
Newton, Isaac, x, 34, 55
New Yorker interview, 154
nonlocality, 100
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), 84
nuclear weapons and nuclear war, xiii, 18, 123–24
O
Occam’s razor, 5, 181
Oort clouds, 32, 56, 77–78, 82–83
origins-of-life research, 134–35
‘Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1). See also anomalies of ‘Oumuamua
brief visit by, and discovery of, 1–8, 61
debate over, 26–27
extraterrestrial equipment hypothesis, 65–66, 175, 177
scientific commun
ity’s conclusion about, 176–77, 192–93
sky path of, 80
summary of data collected about, 61, 176
trajectory of, 1, 4, 29–30
‘Oumuamua’s wager, 152–54, 159–60, 161–67, 172–73
outgassing-comet hypothesis, 37–41
P
pandemics, xiii, 124
Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), 2, 7–8, 61, 76, 142
panspermia, 168–72
Paracoccus denitrificans, 171
Parker Solar Probe, 164
Pascal, Blaise, 152–53
Payne, Cecilia, 105
philosophy, xiv, 15–17, 19, 21, 22–23, 186. See also existentialism
phosphine, discovery on Venus, 197–98
Pickering, Edward Charles, 103–5
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, 6
Planck, Max, 100
Planetary Society, 58
planet formation, 77–78
plasma physics, 18–19, 20–21
plastic bottles, 73–74, 120, 141
Pluto, 52, 106
Popular Science Monthly, 103–4
primitive vs. intelligent life, 132–34
propellants, 18
protocells, 167–68
Proxima b, 54, 55, 99, 136, 142–43
Proxima Centauri, 54–56, 60, 99, 110–11, 113, 130, 142
PS1 and PS2, 7–8
Ptolemy, 181
public, communicating with, 106–7, 188–89, 191–93
Q
quantum mechanics, 100, 103, 186, 190
quantum nonlocality, 100
quasars, 104
Queloz, Didier, 138
R
Rabi, Isidor Isaac, 105
racism, 155
radio astronomy, 91, 93, 114
radio galaxies, 104
radio signal eavesdropping, 47–49, 51, 90, 178
Reagan, Ronald, 18
religion, 8, 21–22, 151, 153–57, 158
rocket effect, 36–37, 42
Roddenberry, Gene, 91–92
Rosenbluth, Marshall, 19
roundworms, 171, 172
Russell, Henry Norris, 105
S
Sagan, Carl, 54
Sage, Michelle, 19
Sagittarius A*, 187
satellites, 7, 63, 84, 121, 144, 145
Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC), 195
Schwarzschild, Karl, 183–84
science
arrogance and, 103–6, 156–57
childlike approach to, 24, 149
Churchill and, 128
conservatism in, xi, 50–51, 101–2, 127, 149
diversification of investments in, 101
fashionable trends in, xi, 95, 98–99
humility and, 98, 99–100, 103, 156–57, 192
interdisciplinary approach to, 184, 185–86
philosophy compared to, 22–23
public communication and, 106–7, 188–89, 191–93
susceptibilities of, 155–56
understanding of extraterrestrial life and, 116–17
science fiction, xi–xii, 47, 97
Scientific American, 63, 187, 195
SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative), 18
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
beginning of rigorous approach to, 90
Black Hole Initiative and, 188–89
Drake’s equation and, 92–93
hostility toward, 49–51, 68, 107
media attention to, 193
planning for response to conclusive evidence, 162
U.S. government funding ended for, 93–94
young scientist interest in, 107–8
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, 49, 90
“Searching for Interstellar Communications” (Cocconi and Morrison), 90–91
seashell analogy, 73–75, 77
second law of motion, 55
SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), 195
Shklovskii, Iosif, 54
Sidereus Nuncius (Galileo), 33
simplicity vs. complexity, 181–83
Sinai War (1956), 13
singularity, 186, 189–90
Siraj, Amir, 170–71, 198
Sisyphus, 158
Six-Day War (1967), 13
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), 39
solar radiation pressure, 42–43, 45, 64–66, 86–87, 164
solar sails. See lightsails
solar system, 140–41. See also heliocentric theory of the solar system
Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), 39
solid waste, 122, 123
Soviet Union, 15, 18, 155–56
space archaeology, 131–49
abiogenesis and, 134–35
beyond our solar system, 142–43
biosignatures and, 132–34
dwarf stars and, 139–40
exoplanets and, 137–39
humility and, 134, 146, 147–48
need for, 131–32
‘Oumuamua’s wager and, 162
within our solar system, 140–41
outside of planets, 144–45
recognition of advanced technological equipment, 147
Sun-Earth system characteristics and, 135–37
technosignatures and, 133, 142–43
space junk, 63–64, 85, 119–23
Space Surveillance Network, U.S., 121
Space Telescope Science Institute, 43–44
Spanish invasion of Central and South America, 155
special relativity, theory of, 22, 23, 103
Spitzer Space Telescope, 29–30, 38, 61
StarChips, 57–58, 99, 120, 180
Starr, Michelle, 69
stars, 48, 110–13, 115–16, 135–40, 164–66. See also Proxima Centauri; sunlight
Starshot Initiative
Hawking’s words about, 184–85
launching of, 53
lightsail concept and, 56–60, 64, 70–71, 120, 142, 144, 166
Proxima Centauri as target for, 55–56, 59–60, 142
similar efforts imagined for other civilizations, 179–81
Star Trek, 91–92
STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory), 39
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), 18
string theory, 51, 95, 96
Struve, Otto, 138
Sun and life on Earth, 135–37
sunlight, 28–29, 31–32, 38, 140. See also solar radiation pressure
supernovas, 164–66
supersymmetry, 95, 96, 97
Szostak, Jack, and Szostak Laboratory, 167–68
T
Talpiot, 16–17
Tasmania, 110–11
Tau Ceti, 91
technosignatures, 93–94, 133, 142–43
telescopes, 48–49, 101, 103–5, 116, 121, 133, 187–88. See also Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS); Vera C. Rubin Observatory; specific telescope names
terrestrial abiogenesis, 134
terrestrial life, possibility of extinction, xiii
theoretical physics, 49–50, 95, 97
theory bubbles, 94–95
Thirty Meter Telescope, 116
Thoul, Anne, 112
3D printing of life, 163
tidally locked planets, 54, 99, 142–43. See also Proxima b
time, looking back in, 113–16
Tokyo, Japan, 52, 178
Tombaugh, Clyde, 106
Townes, Charles, 105
truth vs. consensus, 101
Turner, Ed, 52, 76, 142, 178
twenty-one-centimeter cosmology, 114–16
2I/Borisov, 78–79, 176–77
U
ultraviolet radiation, 115, 170
uncertainty, 6, 11–12
unique vs. extraordinary, 177–78
United Kingdom, 127–28
/>
United Nations, 122, 162
United States, 18, 19, 93, 122, 155
United States Space Surveillance Network, 121
universe
ancientness and vastness of, 109–14
early, 21–22, 48–49, 111–16, 182
expansion of, 25–26, 48, 110, 112, 114, 190
extraterrestrial life in (See extraterrestrial life)
humility in viewing of, xiv, xvi, 189
impermanence of, 110
timeline of the history of, 112
view of, ix–x
Universe, Life, Intelligence (Shklovskii), 54
V
Venus, and discovery of phosphine, 197–98
Vera C. Rubin Observatory, 4, 69, 142, 159
Viking landers, 195
viruses, 171–72
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, 6, 140
W
waste produced by humans, 73–74, 122, 123. See also space junk
water, liquid, 137–39
Weryk, Robert, 2
“What a Waste 2.0” report, 122
Wojcicki, Anne, 53
Worden, Pete, 53, 59–60