Posted in AI, Artificial Intelligence, Science Fiction

Alien Life, Alien Communication

After long thoughts about Alien Communication, SETI and movies like ‘Arrival‘. A brain fart happened when early morning I was awakened to birds outside my window. And the first thought was listening to Shortwave radio where I couldn’t quite make out the code. I could tell communications was in progress, I just wasn’t getting it.

This revelation was immediately, Oh birds, and then the inspiration that if we can’t understand Birds, or Whales or other species who communicate, how would we ever understand an alien communication, or even identify one, should we hear it. What if buried in the background noise of the universe, birds were chirping and singing away and we weren’t paying attention. Forget ‘radio’ transmission Signal/Noise rations what if the signal were the noise, the background ‘birdies’ we hear frequently on the Radio spectrum?

Posted in history, Mars, Science Fiction, Survival

Mars and the nature of Terminal Stupidity

One of my favorite Science Fiction writers Larry Niven put this into his notes in the back of a book a long time ago. And I paraphrase:

The two rules for survival are these:
1) Do not argue with a man holding a machine gun.
2) Do not stand next to a man arguing with a man holding a machine gun.

I have often applied these as “Don’t be terminally Stupid, and don’t be near anyone who is acting in a Terminally Stupid manner!

If anything could place Mars exploration in perspective it would be, Mars is mankind’s stepping away from someone who is acting in a Terminally stupid manner.

If mankind is in the midst of destroying the Earth, or making it uninhabitable, of if you have managed to observe an asteroid headed for Earth, don’t you think it might be time to stand in two places?

Time exercise plan 2; Step away from the guy arguing with the machine Gun, or climate change or asteroids?

We can do Mars!