[ExI] Wrong frequency? Astronomers rethink where to hunt for alien signals

[spike at rainier66.com]

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From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat
Sent: Friday, 24 July, 2026 3:15 AM
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Subject: [ExI] Wrong frequency? Astronomers rethink where to hunt for alien signals

Wrong frequency? Astronomers rethink where to hunt for alien signals Humanity’s search for alien life has long been fixated on a single, cozy corner of the radio spectrum.
By Mrigakshi Dixit    Jul 23, 2026

<https://interestingengineering.com/space/wrong-frequency-astronomers-rethink-where-to-hunt-for-alien-signals>


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>...Reminds me of the Streetlight Effect.  :) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetlight_effect>
BillK

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BillK, I wrote about this back in the 1990s.  What if... Alien life communicates on frequencies far lower than we are accustomed?  We want to send a lot of signal in a short time.  What if they don't send a lot of information, for there is no need to do that?  The super low frequency signals would be appropriate for beings that don't move on our scale, but way slower, more like intelligent trees than our warm blooded scurrying about with our paltry century lifespans.

What kind of receiver would be necessary to extract signals at 5 Hz?  How about 5 milliHz?  What if a signal is being sent out one bit per week?  Would we recognize it as a signal?  Have we even watched Tabby's star long enough to know if there is information in its dimming cycle?  What if it is sending a byte a year?  If one is sending out signals over many light years where spanning the distance would take centuries with the best known technology, what is the big hurry?

Once you have that answer, note that a signal can be sent by rotating a group of reflective objects, such as MBrain nodes.  It takes a while, but... if you don't need to say much and you have plenty of time... what's the big hurry?  For practical purposes, we should speak slowly but listen quickly.

spike