XPost: sci.skeptic, alt.atheism, alt.alien.research   
   XPost: alt.paranormal   
   From: jtem01@gmail.com   
      
   Repeating myself here but, then asking the question...   
      
   Personally I believe that alien life -- genuine alien life,   
   not something that stuck to a NASA lander during launch --   
   would be the single biggest scientific discovery thus far.   
      
   The only thing bigger would be the discovery of an alien   
   civilization...   
      
   COULD THERE BE ANYTHING BIGGER, MORE IMPORTANT?   
      
   For the moment I am excluding Time Travel & Faster Than   
   Light drives from the realm of possibilities.   
      
   Or, "Probabilities" if you prefer.   
      
   Alien life is a matter of science, not the paranormal.   
      
   WE CAN DETECT ALIEN LIFE ON FAR AWAY WORLDS!   
      
   We can even detect an alien civilization.   
      
   They'd have to be close enough though. Because the way   
   we can find them is by analyzing the light from other   
   words.   
      
   Different substances -- elements, molecules -- absorb light   
   at different wavelengths. And we can analyze the light   
   coming off of a distant world and work out the composition   
   of their atmosphere.   
      
   We can detect Biosignatures:  The biproducts of life.   
      
   (Oxygen, methane, CO2, etc)   
      
   We can detect Technosignatures:  The biproducts of   
   industrialization i.e. POLLUTION!   
      
   Now almost none of these things all by themselves mean anything.   
   It's the quantities, the combinations... lots of factors, even   
   the planet's position in the solar system. They look at all of   
   these, searching for the finger prints of life.   
      
   And we will one day confirm it. Probably sooner rather than   
   later, assuming they already haven't already & just not told us.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   --   
   https://jtem.tumblr.com/tagged/The%20Book%20of%20JTEM/page/5   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)