Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:00:42.100Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New SETI prospects opened up by current information networking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2013

Elisabeth Piotelat  and
Florence Raulin Cerceau
Elisabeth Piotelat
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Informatique pour la Mécanique et les Sciences de l'Ingénieur, (LIMSI-CNRS), Orsay, France e-mail: elisabeth.piotelat@limsi.fr
Florence Raulin Cerceau
Affiliation:
Centre Alexandre Koyré (UMR 8560 EHESS/CNRS/MNHN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper discusses ideas that impact the fc factor as defined by Frank Drake in 1961, i.e. the fraction of planets with intelligent creatures capable of interstellar communication. This factor remains one of the most speculative terms of the equation. We suggest that the ability of sharing information is an important parameter to take into account in evaluating the tendency of a civilization to make contact (or share data) with other civilizations. Thus, we give special consideration to the fraction of planets with intelligent creatures capable of producing and sharing large amount of data. First, we determine the level of our own civilization in the framework of Sagan's energy- and information-based classification, by taking into account the recent improvements in computing and networking technologies. Second, we distinguish two types of organization, hierarchical and heterarchical, with respect to information sharing. We illustrate this distinction in the case of SETI and we show that the probability to detect a civilization would be greater if it is heterarchical than if it is hierarchical and if we utilize heterarchical principles for SETI.

Keywords

civilizationcomputing technologydrake equationheterarchySETI
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 12 , Special Issue 3: The Drake Equation , July 2013 , pp. 208 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Billingham, J. (2002). Pesek lecture: SETI and society-decision tree. Acta Astronaut. 51(10), 667–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crumley, C.L. (1995). In Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex Societies, ed. Ehrenreich, R. M., Crumley, C.L. & Levy, J.E.Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, Arlington, VA.Google Scholar
Denning, K. (2010). Unpacking the great transmission debate. Acta Astronaut. 67, 1399–1405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, F.D. (1961). Project Ozma. Phys. Today 14, 140.Google Scholar
Drake, F. & Sobel, D. (1994). Is Anyone Out There? The Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. A Delta Book, New York.Google Scholar
Guardian (2011). Occupy protests around the world: full list visualized.Google Scholar
Kardashev, N.S. (1964). Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations. Soviet Astronomy: Astronomical Journal 8(2), 217–221.Google Scholar
Koomey, J.G. (2007). Estimating total power consumption by servers in the US and in the world. http://sites.amd.com/de/Documents/svrpwrusecompletefinal.pdfGoogle Scholar
Maccone, C. (2010). The statistical Drake Equation. Acta Astronaut. 67(11), 1366–1383.Google Scholar
Sagan, C. (1973). The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective. Anchor Press, New York.Google Scholar
Shklovskii, I.S. & Sagan, C. (1966). Intelligent Life in the Universe. A Delta Book, New York.Google Scholar
Tough, A. (1998). Small smart interstellar probes. J. Br. Interplanet. Soc. 51, 167–174.Google Scholar
Vakoch, D.A. (2010). A taxonomic approach to communicating maxims in interstellar messages. Acta Astronaut. 68, 500–511.Google Scholar
Zaitsev, A. (2005). The Drake Equation: Adding a METI Factor, SearchLites, 11, No. 2, p. 5. http://www.cplire.ru/html/ra&sr/irm/Drake_equation.htmlGoogle Scholar
Zaitsev, A. (2006). Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610031Google Scholar