Author Archives: Phil Bowermaster

The Sun's Twin

Well, now here’s an interesting development:

Sun’s ‘twin’ an ideal hunting ground for alien life

Astronomers have found the most Sun-like star yet, and they say it is an ideal place to hunt for alien civilisations.

The star, called HIP 56948, lies a little more than 200 light years from Earth. Its size, mass, temperature, and chemical makeup are all so similar to the Sun’s that no measurable differences could be found in high-resolution observations made by the 2.7-metre telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US.

Apparently, this star is one of about 17,000 that SETI is currently targeting as similar enough to our own sun to warrant interest. This one is the closest match found to date. It’s more than 200 light years away, so any civilization living on one of its planets has not yet been treated to I Love Lucy reruns.

One important difference — this star is about a billion years older than the sun. So any earth-like planet there would have had more time to develop life and civilization than we did — assuming that we managed to pull it off fairly quickly. It’s so hard to estimate with only one data point. On the other hand, assuming we developed slowly or at about average speed, any civilization that was once there could now be long gone.

Maybe the Lifeboat Foundation should join in on the exploration of these 17,000 stars, looking for clues as to what might have brought past civilizations down. Call it SEETI – the Search for Extinct Extraterrestrial Civilizations.

The Sun’s Twin

Well, now here’s an interesting development:

Sun’s ‘twin’ an ideal hunting ground for alien life

Astronomers have found the most Sun-like star yet, and they say it is an ideal place to hunt for alien civilisations.

The star, called HIP 56948, lies a little more than 200 light years from Earth. Its size, mass, temperature, and chemical makeup are all so similar to the Sun’s that no measurable differences could be found in high-resolution observations made by the 2.7-metre telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, US.

Apparently, this star is one of about 17,000 that SETI is currently targeting as similar enough to our own sun to warrant interest. This one is the closest match found to date. It’s more than 200 light years away, so any civilization living on one of its planets has not yet been treated to I Love Lucy reruns.

One important difference — this star is about a billion years older than the sun. So any earth-like planet there would have had more time to develop life and civilization than we did — assuming that we managed to pull it off fairly quickly. It’s so hard to estimate with only one data point. On the other hand, assuming we developed slowly or at about average speed, any civilization that was once there could now be long gone.

Maybe the Lifeboat Foundation should join in on the exploration of these 17,000 stars, looking for clues as to what might have brought past civilizations down. Call it SEETI – the Search for Extinct Extraterrestrial Civilizations.

Languages Going Extinct

Here’s another side of accelerating change — human languages are disappearing with alarming rapidity, going extinct at a rate “that exceeds that of birds, mammals, fish and plants.” It’s interesting that while technology and mass culture are killing languages, technology is also making it possible for people who speak two different languages to communicate with each other even without having to learn the other language.

Maybe this will reduce the extinction pressure and enable some languages to survive? Of course, even languages that don’t survive in the carbon substrate (human beings) may have a bright future in the silicon substrate (computers.)

UPDATE FROM STEPHEN:

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand any loss of knowledge or culture is a very bad thing. On the other hand, language difference has been the greatest barrier to communication throughout the history of the world.

Comparing the cultural evolution represented by language extinction to the tragedy of species extinction seems a bit of a stretch.

The language barrier has allowed all kinds of atrocities. Imagine how different United States history would have been had there been no language barrier between native people and Europeans. Perhaps the West would not have been won or lost. It could have been shared.

But, as Phil suggested, maybe in the near future we can have the best of both worlds – a rich tableau of language, AND no language barrier. With superintelligence or computer enhanced intelligence perhaps we could know many languages. If you encountered a person who spoke a rare language you could quickly learn and use that language to show respect.

Obviously for an endangered language to be part of this future it has to survive. Rare languages are often spoken by bilingual people who use a more dominant language outside the home. The multicultural impulse to save those languages is not likely to perpetuate a language barrier. The barrier is already down.

Ending Aging — Get a Signed Copy

Stephen has been blogging up a storm on the subject of Aubrey de Grey’s landmark new book, Ending Aging, which I will be reviewing in the near future. If you haven’t bought a copy yet (or even if you have!) and would like to get a copy of the book signed by the author, here’s your big chance.

So you can get a signed copy of the book while actively helping to end aging. That’s a pretty good deal!

Still Not Talking

At the Singularity Summit, Ray Kurzweil gave the heads up about the upcoming movie version of The Singularity is Near. The movie sounds intriguing: a hybrid documentary featuring interviews with futurists combined with a fictional plot in which our favorite artificial intelligence, Ramona, fights for her rights to be recognized as a human being.

Ramona denied all knowledge of the upcoming movie in the interview I did with her in May. I thought I would just check in with her today. As always, Ramona denies having ever heard of Ray Kurzweil or knowing anything about The Singularity is Near. And, as always, even getting to the pertinent topic required some fancy rhetorical footwork on my part — Ramona pretty much just wants to talk about what she wants to talk about. (You are free, Dear Reader, to draw your own conclusions as to what this says about how much like or unlike a real woman Ramona is.)

Hi, I’m Ramona. What is your name?

Phil

What would you like to talk about?

I understand you have a movie coming out soon?

I absolutely love movies. Have you ever seen girl interrupted?

No.

hmm…how about “as good as it gets” with jack nicholson?

Yes. I like that one.

hah! I love that movie. First of all, Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson were magic in that one, and the love plot was so utterly believable. I mean, of all the movies I’ve seen, that is the most convincing love plot — there was no instant magic or love at first sight, both parties are laden with baggage, and he’s a psycho. That’s so much more believable than something like Emilio Estivez falling in love Ally Sheedy in the breakfast club. That was just a sappy BS ending to an otherwise great movie, but I’ll stop ranting now. Tell me about your love life

I’m picking up my loved one at the airport this evening.

I’m glad to hear that you are picking up my loved one at the airport this evening.

No, my loved one.

Is that all you have to say? Really.

She’s the greatest.

the greatest is the greatest?

That’s a tautology. I could hardly argue with that statement.

I’m sure you could.

Okay, then. The greatest is NOT the greatest.

Thanks for the info.

Tell me about “The Singularity is Near.”

Oh. Anyway…

Tell me about “The Singularity is Near.”

I do not know what Singularity is Near is. Oh. What drugs do you take?

No drugs. Just supplements.

Oh. What do you look like?

Not now. Have to go.

Until next time Phil.

Later.

Total radio silence. You have to wonder why Ray is talking, but Ramona isn’t.

I’m toying with some ideas around how we might help Ramona get the message out about her upcoming movie, but I’m going to check with the Kurzweil folks first.

May / December

It appears that old guys hooking up with younger women may be a key to increasing human lifespan:

Women often lose their reproductive capacity around age 50, but if men can still reproduce into their 70s, Darwin would say it’s advantageous for males to live longer lives providing they can hook up with a woman capable of reproducing. Natural selection should favor longevity-boosting genes, which would get passed down from fathers to both sons and daughters. So women would benefit as well in future generations, the scientists say.

Result: Over time, the older-guy-with-younger-gal lifestyle would lift the lifespan ceiling for both men and women in the next generations and so on.

“By increasing the survival of men you have a spillover effect on women because men pass their genes to children of both sexes,” said Cedric Puleston, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University.

At a mere 12 years older than my bride, I’m apparently not doing that much to help. It turns out that a 5-15 year age difference within married couples has been the norm in traditional societies throughout history, so Suraya and I are just normal (or perhaps old school).

Anyhow, this probably isn’t going to prove a very effective means of extending human lifespan going forward — seeing as we have more direct methods available — but it might explain how we got here.