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NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

news.yahoo.com

1–10 of 42 posts

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#3
>“Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis ... No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting, and never before in the history of science has the scientific community been given the opportunity to critically analyze an important research paper before it is published.”

Seriously? That seems... sad. Borderline pathetic, that they're apparently that insular.

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#5
post #3

> “Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis ... No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting, and never before in the history of science has the scientific community been given the opportunity to criti…

This isn't true. Claims about something never occurring in the history of XYZ incredibly basic human endeavor should be taken with a tbsp of salt.

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#7

this is bad. If we're the only life in neighborhood it is evidence that life is rare and we might already be past the great filter. If life is relatively common it makes the fact that the sky is silent fucking terrifying.

elaborate please, I'm not following entirely

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#8

this is bad. If we're the only life in neighborhood it is evidence that life is rare and we might already be past the great filter. If life is relatively common it makes the fact that the sky is silent fucking terrifying.

elaborate please, I'm not following entirely

you'd be better served looking at Hanson's posts on the subject.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/11/at-least-two-filters.h...

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/03/very-bad-news.html

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/11/beware-future-filters....

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/11/brain-size-is-not-filt...

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/12/berserker-breakout.htm...

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#9

this is bad. If we're the only life in neighborhood it is evidence that life is rare and we might already be past the great filter. If life is relatively common it makes the fact that the sky is silent fucking terrifying.

elaborate please, I'm not following entirely

it is possible that the consequences of the competitive tendencies implicit in natural selection, notably conflict and resource exhaustion, often destroy civilizations before they transmit a lot of radio. if this is very likely then it is likely true of us.

Re: NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life

#10
post #3

> “Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis ... No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting, and never before in the history of science has the scientific community been given the opportunity to criti…

It does say "before it is published". Presumably you would want to vet a paper with trusted colleagues before releasing it even semi-publicly.
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