My friend Michelle has offered some points of view of hers regarding alien civilization especially on energy requirement (for space faring) and alien mindset. She also warns of the risk of anthropomorphism and having assumed too much on how (intelligent) aliens would think.
I have to admit that these are indeed very tricky topics and at first look, it may seem that anything is possible. But with the help of some scientific facts and theories, we could rule out quite a number of possibilities.
First of all, on space crafts which can be refueled midway. This is possible, given that the aliens know for sure they could find fuel for their space crafts in another star system. For example, if they are using fusion energy to power their ships, then they could probably harvest hydrogen from any star they come across.
On the compositions of planets. True enough, life supporting planets in other star system would not be exactly the same as planet earth. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that the probability of coming across a planet in other star system which has exactly the same size and same composition as the earth is practically zero. At the same time, it’s also pretty safe to say that the chances of finding a planet abound with elements that couldn’t be found in our solar system is next to zero, if not zero at all. To see this point, one has to understand how all the elements (hydrogen, oxygen, iron, uranium, you name it) in the universe are created. Simply put, the universe only has hydrogen in the beginning, then burning stars fuse the nuclei of hydrogen into heavier elements, the energy released through fusion will support a star from collapsing under its own weight. But not all fusions release energy, when a massive star starts making iron in its core, energy is drawn from the star because making any element heavier than iron requires energy. Subsequently, the star no longer has the energy to support its weight and it will undergo gravitational collapse, the result is one huge spectacular supernova explosion which releases more than 10^40 Joule---about the same amount of energy released by all the stars combined in one single galaxy. During the explosion, heavier- than-iron elements (like gold, silver, iridium, uranium etc) are created, but compared to lighter-than-iron elements, they are rare. Later, all the elements will spread across the galaxy and become the ingredients of new star systems and their planets. That is why every star system will have more or less the same composition, hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, silicon, nitrogen and their compounds. So, even though I am certain there are yet more (heavy) elements to be added to our periodic table, but they could only be synthesized in labs. No natural process known could produce them, even one as intense as supernova.
On the efficiency of fuels. Einstein’s famous equation E= mc^2 asserts that there is a limit to the amount of energy released per unit mass. For 1 Kg of fuel, the limit would be about 9 x 10^16 Joule. But of course from the second law of thermodynamics, we know that we can not transform heat into work with 100% efficiency. On the other hand, just like anyone with some knowledge in chemistry wouldn’t believe that one could simply turn water into petroleum, anyone with some knowledge in physics wouldn’t believe that there’s a chemical process which releases more heat per unit mass than nuclear fusion. Chemical processes only involve sharing of electron between ionized atoms, whereas nuclear fusions involve the union of nuclei to form new elements. You couldn’t even put them on the same scale.
On alien society. This is perhaps the trickiest part. Like what Michelle said, anyone who’s trying make a guess on alien mindsets is subject to the risk of anthropomorphisms. But thinking that intelligent aliens would form tribes and nation states isn’t anthropomorphism, it’s natural selection. We see animals which hunt in groups or packs, occupy territories, chasing away intruders. The purpose of all these is to secure resources. Hence forming tribes and nation states isn't really something unique to human. On the other hand, aliens need energy as well, just like any other living thing in the universe, so it’s prudent to assume that they too need to secure resources, hence they will need to form tribes or nation states as well. Of course, my arguments are based on the assumption that they face intense competition, but without intense competition for resources, I wonder if any species would eventually develop the brain power needed to propel them into the age of civilizations.
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4 comments:
Haha, well, my very limited knowledge of physics surely beats me there, isn't it? ;)
So, what else would be the boundary or limitations of physics for this universe? I imagine it in a simple way again: I have a car and it uses petrol. If fuel's efficiency is limited by E=mc^2, does how efficient the engine or my car is limited by the same boundary too? For example, vehicle A could travel 100km with 1L petrol, but with the help of technoly, can vehicle B travel 10^6 km per 1L petrol? What could be the limitation to that? Is there any physics law for that?
Well, I do not worry so much for the exact composition of a planet would be, because basically we are not dealing with the homo sapiens adaptation to the new planet.
Natural selection. Very interesting part. As much as the inorganic part of universe is governed by the law of physics, organic lifeform is governed by natural selections. Indeed I overlooked that part when mentioning about anthropomorphism, but natural selection is much a delicate dynamics or interaction between inorganic beings and organic lifeforms. After that being said, is what resources to us (homo sapiens) would be the resources for alien? Not all animals hunt because some of it is herbivor, not all of them group, as much as we saw in a very solitary animal like Orang Utan. Intra- and inter-species competition is another delicate field to play with. It might work as head-on collision (zero sum game), or it could work in neutralism way, or game theory way.
Indeed, it will be interesting to read what actually makes us homo sapiens unique compared to other animals, to be able to form civilizations. As my vague impression told me that it was (some said) due to man stand upstraight, some said we develop the language skill, some said we used tool. But intense competition? Does human evolved to become what he is today because he has tougher competition in the past? Hmm, another point to ponder upon...
While the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that no heat engine could acquire 100% efficiency, but it doesn't put any limit on how much efficiency we could achive, so, I guess we could have more and more efficient heat engine in the future. Nevertheless, the work done by any heat engine would be limited to energy per unit mass generated by it's fuel.So, can we make an engine which could travel 1 million KM with only 1L of petrol? Honestly, I don't know, I ain't no big fan of automobiles and I don't have a single idea of how efficient our current combustion engines are.
As for section on natural selection, this could prove to be the Archilles heel of my arguments. Like you said, natural selection works in a more subtle and random way. I got the idea that primitive humans developed their brain power through intense competition from the BBC Walking With Cavemen series. There was a time so harsh that human were on the verge of extinction, but then our ancestors devoloped the brain power needed for survival.
Nevertheless, we cannot rule out any possibility. But I am pretty sure that any civilization in the universe must be built by aliens living in groups, in a society. Just like no single human could have built stonehenge, pyramids and Great Wall of China alone, no single alien could have created a civilization alone.
hey, Kok Theng, may be you should read this: "The poll also found that 40 percent of young Swedes believed that communism contributed to increased prosperity in the world; 22 percent considered communism a democratic form of government". Guess where do this poll comes from? Read the article here: http://www.thelocal.se/7248/
Thanks Mic for the article. What can I say? Ignorance pervades humanity.
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