Post by auntym on May 16, 2011 13:50:14 GMT -6
www.kansascity.com/2011/05/16/2879372/national-geographic-channel-show.html
National Geographic Channel show ponders the possibility of an alien attack
By LUAINE LEE
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Posted on Mon, May. 16, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. - What if there really ARE little green men out there in the vast universe who plan to plop their UFO in a cornfield in Nebraska? That's not just a question for science-fiction writers and 10-year-old boys, but for real scientists with alphabets after their names.
"It's my day job, of course, to look for them," says Dr. Seth Shostek, senior astronomer with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI.) "And I can assure you that I wouldn't do that if I didn't think that there was a good chance for success because it is not that lucrative," he says.
Shostek and several other scientists are taking the matter seriously when the National Geographic Channel presents "When Aliens Attack," premiering May 22.
"NASA has a Kepler satellite orbiting the Earth right now. Within 600 days you will know what fraction of stars have planets that are somewhat like the Earth. And the expectation is that the number will come out to between 10 and 50 billion in our galaxy," says Shostek.
"If you don't like our galaxy, there are 200 billion other galaxies we can see, and there's a vast amount of the universe we cannot see. So it comes down to this: if you say, 'No, I don't think that there are any aliens out there,' then you believe in miracles. Because that would be the miracle. The miracle is not that they would be there. The miracle is that they didn't exist. Whether they are here ... a third of the population believes they are here walking the streets abducting you for experiments your mom wouldn't approve of, very few scientists believe that."
So why are the aliens always on attack instead of being ambassadors of goodwill? Shostek says it stands to reason, as Homo sapiens has always reacted to strangers with aggression.
Read more: www.kansascity.com/2011/05/16/2879372/national-geographic-channel-show.html#ixzz1MXwFm9Ya
National Geographic Channel show ponders the possibility of an alien attack
By LUAINE LEE
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Posted on Mon, May. 16, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. - What if there really ARE little green men out there in the vast universe who plan to plop their UFO in a cornfield in Nebraska? That's not just a question for science-fiction writers and 10-year-old boys, but for real scientists with alphabets after their names.
"It's my day job, of course, to look for them," says Dr. Seth Shostek, senior astronomer with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI.) "And I can assure you that I wouldn't do that if I didn't think that there was a good chance for success because it is not that lucrative," he says.
Shostek and several other scientists are taking the matter seriously when the National Geographic Channel presents "When Aliens Attack," premiering May 22.
"NASA has a Kepler satellite orbiting the Earth right now. Within 600 days you will know what fraction of stars have planets that are somewhat like the Earth. And the expectation is that the number will come out to between 10 and 50 billion in our galaxy," says Shostek.
"If you don't like our galaxy, there are 200 billion other galaxies we can see, and there's a vast amount of the universe we cannot see. So it comes down to this: if you say, 'No, I don't think that there are any aliens out there,' then you believe in miracles. Because that would be the miracle. The miracle is not that they would be there. The miracle is that they didn't exist. Whether they are here ... a third of the population believes they are here walking the streets abducting you for experiments your mom wouldn't approve of, very few scientists believe that."
So why are the aliens always on attack instead of being ambassadors of goodwill? Shostek says it stands to reason, as Homo sapiens has always reacted to strangers with aggression.
Read more: www.kansascity.com/2011/05/16/2879372/national-geographic-channel-show.html#ixzz1MXwFm9Ya