From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Wed Jul 09 2003 - 12:56:45 MDT
On Wed, 9 Jul 2003, Extropian Agroforestry Ventures Inc. wrote:
> If there are many advanced ciizations out there and we don't "see" them
> maybe their communication means are just something we don't recognize.
> Lets assume also that the desire to network with others comes with a
> large numer of intelligent "long-lived" civilizations.
Sending the large quantities of information available to advanced
civilizations across interstellar distances is very hard (read "expensive").
The best way is probably highly parallel arrays of "lasers" transmitting
at as high a frequency as possible (UV perhaps) directly to arrays of
receivers across as short a distance (e.g. some small number of light
years) as possible. One probably can't easily get higher than UV
frequencies without risking destruction of either the transmitters
or receivers (UV photons have enough energy to break atomic bonds).
One might get around this if one had large arrays of nanobots around
to continually repair the equipment. The only other possibility I
can think of is using free electron lasers to push up into the
X-ray region -- but the reciever architecture is going to be a
dicey exercise (look at the problems we have with the Chandra
X-ray observatory in focusing X-ray energy level photons, or the
problems we are having with X-ray frequency lithography).
Interstellar communication of large amounts of data is going to
be a difficult problem to solve.
> What might be the best candidates for a means of inter-connectivity-
> excluding "wharping" about in "starships".?
No "wharping" unless you assume some fairly magic physics...
:-;
Information communication via interstellar probes is probably at
least 10x slower, perhaps much more, than high energy photons and
still suffers from limits on the quantity of information that can
be sent.
Robert
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