[extropy-chat] Dark matter and ET

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2005 at 08:22:48PM -0400, Dan Clemmensen wrote:
> There are many fundamental questions to which we currently have no 
> scientific answers.
> 
> Two of the biggies:
> 1)  Dark matter: We have not been able to detect by other means enough 
> matter
>     to account for all of the gravitational effect we see in the cosmos.
> 2)  The Fermi Paradox: Why have we not detected signs of other 
> intelligent life in
>      the cosmos?

The simplest explanation for Fermi's paradox, as ever, that it isn't.
We aren't in anyone smart's light cone.

> Perhaps these questions answer each other. Dyson spheres have been 
> considered and rejected,

Not really, unless you're talking about solid spheres, and not circumstellar
habitat/node clouds.

> but Dyson spheres are not the only (or even most likely) end result of 
> the evolution of
> intelligence. For example, most SI might evolve to efficient 
> computronium. What is
> efficient computronium, and what is its emission signature? If it is 

You don't see the inner shells, which might or might not be hot enough to
emit visible blackbody. You see reradiated long-wavelength EM radiation on
the outer nodes.

> difficult to detect, it may
> comprise the missing mass.

Objects lighthours across radiating largely in FIR *are* difficult to detect.
Especially, if you're not looking for them.

> def: computronium: matter organized to optimize computing capacity.
> def: efficient computronium: computronium organized to optimize 
> computations per Joule.
> 
> Does anyone have references to prior speculation on this topic?

http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/

I don't seem to be able to find the old list archives, which went back to
1996, or so.

I continue to be surprised that so many people who where there continue to
suffer from collective amnesia. 

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.leitl.org
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