Exoplanets
Richard Lukens
In my 2006 talk to the Lyncean Group (see summary on the Lyncean Group web site), astronomical data (including exoplanet data) and developments in prebiotic chemistry and evolution were used to estimate that the existence of another advanced technical civilization (ATC) in our galactic neighborhood is likely, and that the technology of such a civilization is probably much more advanced than our own. Indeed, such an ATC coould have become an interstellar civilization. This talk will update the 2006 talk in two ways: 1) in 3 years the number of known exoplanets has nearly doubled, and the new exoplanet data will be incorporated in a quick update of the estimate regarding another ATC’s existence; and 2) a description will be given of a few important advances made by the quantum computer research community that suggest a possible faster than light communication (FTLC) technology of an interstellar civilization.
FTLC has been a topic of interest for decades, and has repeatedly shown to be impossible. Quantum entanglement might be a contender technology for FTLC, because it involves instant correlation of phenomena across any distance; but appears impossible to use because any attempt to “read” the state of an entangled particle is both of uncertain outcome and breaks (decoheres) the entanglement. Significant progress toward development of the quantum computer suggests this situation might fit M. Kaku’s Class I impossibility category.
The following is a link to an extended summary of the presentation.
The following is a link to the full PowerPoint presentation.
