<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:inherit;
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
h1
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
span.Heading1Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 1 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 1";
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
font-weight:bold;}
span.apple-converted-space
{mso-style-name:apple-converted-space;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Interesting commentary by SETI’s Seth Shostak:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.space.com/34713-intelligent-aliens-machines-seti-search.html">http://www.space.com/34713-intelligent-aliens-machines-seti-search.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h1 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:36.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>Electronic ET: Intelligent aliens are likely machines<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><a href="http://www.space.com/" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=156 height=32 style='width:1.625in;height:.3333in' id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.png@01D23FF2.DA3D6D60" alt="http://www.foxnews.com/content/global/source/space-com/_jcr_content/image.img.png/1425337726306.png"></span></a><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:16.5pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:top;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit;display:inline-block'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#999999'>By<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Mike Wall Space.com Senior Writer</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:black'> </span></span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:black'>Published November 15, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:black'><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/11/15/electronic-et-intelligent-aliens-are-likely-machines.html"><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Facebook</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/11/15/electronic-et-intelligent-aliens-are-likely-machines.html"><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Twitter</span></a> <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/11/15/electronic-et-intelligent-aliens-are-likely-machines.html"><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>livefyre</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/11/15/electronic-et-intelligent-aliens-are-likely-machines.html" target="_blank" title=Email><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Email</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/11/15/electronic-et-intelligent-aliens-are-likely-machines.html"><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Print</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#CCCCCC'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#CCCCCC'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>Any intelligent aliens that humans manage to contact probably won't look much like you or me, or the squid-like creatures in the new film "<a href="http://www.space.com/34694-arrival-movie-alien-contact-philosophy.html" target="_blank"><span style='color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Arrival."</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>If an<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.space.com/search-for-life" target="_blank"><span style='color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>extraterrestrial species</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>becomes advanced enough to send signals Earthlings can pick up, it will likely shed its traditional biological trappings and become a form of machine intelligence in rather short order, said veteran alien hunter Seth Shostak.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>To make his case, Shostak pointed to the path that humanity appears to be on. The human species invented the radio around 1900 and the computer in 1945, and it's already manufacturing relatively cheap devices with greater computing power than the human brain.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>The development of true, strong<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.livescience.com/55089-artificial-intelligence.html" target="_blank"><span style='color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>artificial intelligence</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>(AI) is therefore not too far off, experts have said. The famous futurist Ray Kurzweil, for example, has pegged 2045 as the year this world-changing "singularity" will hit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"But maybe it takes to 2100, or 2150, or 2250. It doesn't matter," Shostak said in September during a presentation at the Dent:Space conference in San Francisco. "The point is, any society that invents radio, so we can hear them, within a few centuries, they've invented their successors. And I think that's important, because the successors are machines."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>AI will interface with people's bodies for a while, but eventually humans will abandon the wetware and go fully digital, Shostak predicted. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'> "It'll be like — you build a four-cylinder engine. You put it in a horse to get a faster horse. And pretty soon you say, 'Look, let's get rid of the horse part and just build a Maserati,'" said Shostak, an astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California. "So that's probably what's going to happen."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>Humans' machine selves will get smarter and more capable incredibly quickly, he added. Humanity's present intelligence is the result of 4 billion years of Darwinian evolution, which uses random variation as its raw material and is not directed toward any particular goal. But the evolution of machine intelligence will be engineered and efficient, Shostak said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"Once you invent a thinking machine, you say, 'Invent something better than you are,' and you build that. 'Design something better than you are,' and you build that, and so forth," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>This idea has serious implications for the search for<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.space.com/33626-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence.html" target="_blank"><span style='color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>intelligent alien life</span></a>. Unlike Earth organisms, super-advanced extraterrestrial machines would not require water or other chemicals to survive, so they would not be tied to their ancestors' home worlds tightly at all, Shostak said. And journeying tremendous distances would not be a big deal to these machines, provided they could access enough energy and raw materials to keep repairing themselves over the millennia, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"We continue to look in the directions of star systems that we think have habitable words, that have planets where biology could cook up and eventually turn into something clever like you guys," he told the Dent:Space audience. "But I don't think it's going to be that way."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>Shostak said he isn't counseling his fellow SETI astronomers to stop investigating potentially Earth-like planets such as<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.space.com/33825-earthlike-planet-proxima-b-discovery-in-pictures.html" target="_blank"><span style='color:#222222;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>Proxima b</span></a>, a recently discovered world that lies just 4.2 light-years away. (And simple life-forms could still inhabit such worlds even if their most intelligent inhabitants went digital and departed long ago, Shostak said.) But it may be a good idea to expand the search to regions of space that would seemingly be attractive to digital life-forms, he said — for example, places with lots of available energy, such as the centers of galaxies. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"That may be where the really clever beings are," Shostak said. "Maybe what we ought to do is look at places on the sky that connect two places where there is a lot of energy," in an attempt to intercept communications between alien machines, Shostak added.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.25in;margin-left:0in;background:#F4F4F4;vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>"This is my message to you: We're looking for analogues of ourselves, but I don't know that that's the majority of the intelligence in the universe," Shostak concluded. "I'm willing to bet it's not."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>