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By looking at our own culture we can see that there's no correlation between technological advances and civilized behavior. This means that the aliens we're so eager to get in touch with might be just as predatory as we are - only better armed. We can't do much about the signals we've already sent
out. The best we can do is try to mask them with a different set of signals.
That's where the fake world comes in. The objective would be to create a stream of data from a satellite positioned somewhere else in the solar system that would look like the communications taking place on a regular world to any alien race that happened to pick it up. My first choice for the theme behind these communications would be to try to put on a convincing display of a world that's rapidly becoming uninhabitable due to the short-sightedness of its people (thereby making our world a less tempting target). My second choice would be to make the fake world seem more advanced than our own. At least that way we'd get a little bit of warning when the aliens came to investigate (since they'd be heading towards the satellite first, which we'd be watching, it would give us time to run for cover).
Template for a fake Neutrino Communication channel
http://www.scienced...03/050307215203.htm
Just some info [longshot9999, Mar 08 2005]
Voyager 3
Voyager_203
A somewhat connected idea [longshot9999, Mar 08 2005]
Fake Death Ray
fake_20death-ray
Another way to handle aliens [longshot9999, Mar 08 2005]
Signal to Noise - this idea in a book
http://print.google...tX_eTN3LUHnFoPCDo3w
Very baked in this book. It has a sequel, also, entitled, "A Signal Shattered" Earth is destroy by a malignant alien race who preys on weak civilizations, after a man from earth helps find a civilization that is doing exactly what this idea is about, which is then destroyed. [DesertFox, Mar 08 2005]
[link]
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I like this idea a bunch despite its shortcomings. Any alien race sophisticated enough to get here ought to be sophisticated enough to detect a decoy while it's still a good distance away. Pretending to be advanced while still using not-advanced radio communications technology ought to be considered a bit of a give-away. Also, there's the problem of the aliens interpreting our transmission content as being similar to real scientists laughing at the conceits of science-fiction science--the content of our 'futuristic' transmissions would be like present-day folks listening to old Flash Gordon serials. But, none-the-less, a fun idea. I also like the concept of us building our own to-be-discovered-again alien artifact. |
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Also, where exactly is this cover to which we're to run? |
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El Dorado - I used the word predatory, not evil, and there are plenty of examples of predatory species other than our own right outside the door. In fact, I was watching America's Funniest Videos the other night and one segment had a father filming his son as he took his pet mouse out of the cage and cuddled it in his hands. The father told him to put it on top of the cage to see what it would do. Seconds later a bird swooped down and swept the mouse away. It's a good thing mice are cheap pets. |
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Soterios - I usually try to hide behind fat people when the need arises. In this case 'fat people' would be cities, so I'd run to the wilderness. The Suwannee River's a pretty desolate place close by so that might be a good bet. As for using primitive radio communications, I'd suggest replacing them with neutrino beams pulsed from here to the satellite and then out to space, forming the pulses into intelligent formulae along the way. Just because we can only pick up a million to one neutrinos now doesn't mean the aliens wouldn't be able to pick up more (or know that we couldn't). |
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/Could you cite something evil besides human nature?/ |
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There is the Bollwe variety. |
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Zagbab437 to Space Command Central (excerpt of planetary survey report): |
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"...and we would have temporal-slipped right on by except the natives had the pantomime neutrino communications satellite ploy going. We orbited their homeworld and ran a tech projection, and realized we'd caught a galactic-cancerous pre-civ in the bud, and cauterized 'em right there before they could spread out-system. No other significant findings." |
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I could have sworn there was an idea around here for a formidable fake orbiting ray gun to dissuade would be invaders. I can't find it now. |
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Regarding the annos about having a piece of technology out there waiting for future generations to re-discover - that comes close to another idea I posted awhile back (see link). |
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bungston - I just found the idea you might have been thinking of. Added it as a link. |
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Maybe we could appeal to their sense of humor. The Fake world could be wearing a giant t-shirt that says 'I'm with stupid->' |
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Um, this is baked in many sci-fi books. I can't remember a specific title, but I have read more than a couple of books using this. One was entitles "Signals" and it had a sequal called "Shattered Signals" or something. |
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[m-f-d] baked. Or redundant. Previously thought of. |
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WIBNITTISIAB (Wouldn't it be nice, that thing I saw in a book?) |
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I'd have thought that our news broadcasts would be enough info for an advanced civilisation to realise that we'd be best to avoid. If we have so much fun beating the shit out of each other then what are we likely to do, united against a common foe? |
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Beaten to it, at least preheated, in John Varley's "Ophiuchi Hotline". |
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Any extraterrestrial intelligent species capable of detecting the signals we've sent out already, at light year distances, is so far in advance of us that they're probably already here if interstellar travel is physically possible at all. |
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