It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.
Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.
This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by scientists at Nasa and Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman of Nasa’s Planetary Science Division and his colleagues compiled a list of plausible outcomes that could unfold in the aftermath of a close encounter, to help humanity “prepare for actual contact”.
In their report, Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis, the researchers divide alien contacts into three broad categories: beneficial, neutral or harmful.
Beneficial encounters ranged from the mere detection of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), for example through the interception of alien broadcasts, to contact with cooperative organisms that help us advance our knowledge and solve global problems such as hunger, poverty and disease.
Another beneficial outcome the authors entertain sees humanity triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor, or even being saved by a second group of ETs. “In these scenarios, humanity benefits not only from the major moral victory of having defeated a daunting rival, but also from the opportunity to reverse-engineer ETI technology,” the authors write.
Other kinds of close encounter may be less rewarding and leave much of human society feeling indifferent towards alien life. The extraterrestrials may be too different from us to communicate with usefully. They might invite humanity to join the “Galactic Club” only for the entry requirements to be too bureaucratic and tedious for humans to bother with. They could even become a nuisance, like the stranded, prawn-like creatures that are kept in a refugee camp in the 2009 South African movie, District 9, the report explains.
The most unappealing outcomes would arise if extraterrestrials caused harm to humanity, even if by accident. While aliens may arrive to eat, enslave or attack us, the report adds that people might also suffer from being physically crushed or by contracting diseases carried by the visitors. In especially unfortunate incidents, humanity could be wiped out when a more advanced civilisation accidentally unleashes an unfriendly artificial intelligence, or performs a catastrophic physics experiment that renders a portion of the galaxy uninhabitable.
To bolster humanity’s chances of survival, the researchers call for caution in sending signals into space, and in particular warn against broadcasting information about our biological make-up, which could be used to manufacture weapons that target humans. Instead, any contact with ETs should be limited to mathematical discourse “until we have a better idea of the type of ETI we are dealing with.”
The authors warn that extraterrestrials may be wary of civilisations that expand very rapidly, as these may be prone to destroy other life as they grow, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth. In the most extreme scenario, aliens might choose to destroy humanity to protect other civilisations.
“A preemptive strike would be particularly likely in the early phases of our expansion because a civilisation may become increasingly difficult to destroy as it continues to expand. Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilisational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions,” the report states.
“Green” aliens might object to the environmental damage humans have caused on Earth and wipe us out to save the planet. “These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets,” the authors write.
Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.
of course these fairy tales emerge as the sunspots begin to emerge on the sun’s surface with greater intensity. What a joke! So is NASA.
Please place this story in the dumpster where it belongs.
Who’s writing this crap and why they always start with “Scientists say…”
Are the scientists some kind of new species high above us, all knowing and never wrong?
The same kind of NASA scientists like the infamous JOHN MATHER who “won” the Nobel Prize for “proving” Big Bang with a defective Hubble telescope?
Yes people, the entire Big Bang theory is a proven crap but somehow the “scientists” still preaching/teaching it !!!
http://www.bibhasde.com/bigbangfraudbook.html
Who, the same guys preaching greenhouse?
So when the elites cannot impose some dirty taxes on us, they are passing that job to the “bad aliens”, huh ?!
“Who’s writing this crap and why they always start with “Scientists say…”
Are the scientists some kind of new species high above us, all knowing and never wrong?”
Lol.
Nothing is sacred anymore — it appears that fake data and junk science (like the global warming UN data) is the new norm. If I were to characterize these “scientists” and politicians as a separate life form, it’s my guess they would most resemble ticks, fleas or other disease ridden parasites.
As inane as this report seems, regardless:
Science>Religion
All day, everyday, and mercilessly.
Do they drive cars on mars or saturn to…..its interplanetary warming…….the earth is not unique in this matter.bring it on disinfo people……bring it on…..
….truth revails over evil…….
Lets keep hammering back folks………
we will win we have the numbers
hahahaha….no one believes this crap. Maybe change is coming.
lol they are really trying hard with the scare tactics arent they… And who is the idiot posting this stuff?? a disinfo agent id wager. 90% of the people on this site know better than to be scared by moronic and COMPLETELY unrealistic assumptions like this. “Oh no. the humans have damaged their planet… and we have technology so incredible that we can monitor that from light years away… but somehow they are a threat to us. we had better destroy them.” SO MUCH UNREALISTIC HORSE SHIT. If aliens are monitoring our planet they are LAUGHING. because we are so far behind them we wont pose a threat for another 500 years probably. they arent going to destroy us over greenhouse gasses… IDIOTS
It’s so twisted I can hardly believe it. I think hey will do and say just about anything to get a global carbon tax passed into law. Someone check their bank accounts.
Quote;
“Another beneficial outcome the authors entertain sees humanity triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor, or even being saved by a second group of ETs.”
Not bloody likely, either scenario. In one, the tech-gap would be far too broad to compete against successfully and as for another species going to war on our behalf, I think that’s just hard-core space-opera fantasy.
Quote;
“In these scenarios, humanity benefits not only from the major moral victory of having defeated a daunting rival, but also from the opportunity to reverse-engineer ETI technology,” the authors write.”
Again, not bloody likely. Here’s why; We somehow win, and start playing with revers-engineering. NOW we become a real threat and they send in ten-times the initial forces and orbital bombardment ordnance.
GAME OVER
It appears as though the prelude to the implementation of “Project Blue Beam” is beginning. If you are not familiar with it, I think it would be good info for the library in your brain. It appears that they are going to try and pull it off. Unbelievable!!!
Six months ago, alien was never mentioned in the MSM. Unless to mock or ridicule the idea. Now, oh my, we need to check our closets and behind doors for them. I have no doubts of their existence. My concern is that the people will not be benefactors of the governments actions as it pertains to them.
Heres the proof folks…… disclosure must be imminent.. hip hip hooray. Why else would NASA say this crap, to spread fear obviously. Cmon, what a pile of steaming s..t this article is. Just more proof that the illuminates enslavement of us is up. Now there running around like headless chickens. hahahaha
Who needs aliens, we have “Barry Soetoro” our dictator in chief!
The stinking elite want to re-promote cap and trade; make slaves of us all.
NASA is one desperate step from applying for a slot on Big Brother. If the universe is so concerned with our Global Warming I for one say it is our Global Warming, F the ship you rode in on…
The NASA boys have been re-watching ‘day The Earth Stood Still’ too much.
Seriously, think it through, their logic is totally out-there.
Why would aliens want to destroy a species that is already destroying its self? They could just wait it out and the planet would quickly recover without us on it, and then its like , hey free plant for the taking!
What TF why wast peoples time and energy publishing this garbage.
These guys are NUTS !
So it’s true, the aliens do see us as a threat to them.
Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.
This comes from the same “scientists” that participate in the fraud of global warming.
Really? I’m not even gonna bother posting a snide comment on this one. When Global Warming turns out to be bunk, now the tree huggers threaten us with aliens. Pardon me while I go flush my toilet some more just to waste water.
If aliens decide to destroy Humanity for being a threat, it might have more to do with the ‘quality entertainment programming’ leaking out into space electromagnetically and spreading out to adjacent star systems…
…serious, ‘Jersey Shore’ might be enough to provoke an attack, if you’ve ever watched it you’ll know what I mean.
Yes, I’m joking, but my hypothesis holds more water than the scientist’s hypothesizing, wouldn’t you say?? LoL
Aye aliens have seen Star Trek and have probably learned our plans for galactic domination. Of course it was God who gave mankind that right, ie domination.
Personally, I think the aliens likely have far better things to do in an area as vast as the galaxy than knock Humanity off.
Resources?
Plenty, in pretty much any star system, and easier mining in asteroid belts than in the gravisphere of a planet.
Water?
As we’re learning now with out relatively-primitive-to-an-interstellar-civilization’s-capabilities technology, water’s all over the cosmos.
Now Earth is a jewel of a planet, and might tempt them…but if they’ve got advanced terraforming technology and can build or reshape worlds to their exact specifications…even that isn’t too attractive a reason to attack us.
Killing us off for the argument that the aliens are a bunch of militant ecowarriors is just absolute garbage-izing, it’s not even proper hypothesizing…and those flat-headed backbirths claim to be educated and intelligent thinkers of the scientific community.
Nothing more than fear-mongering shills who probably got some nice under-the-table funding for their pet projects in exchange for shooting their mouths off.
aliens are the new threat, succeeding: holy wars, communism, drug war, terrorism (and countless others of course). lets all be scared and give our money and power to the same a-holes that screwed everything up so they can save us from the new enemy. if humanity is stupid enough to believe this rather than use a couple of brain cells, i hope aliens destroy us all because we dont deserve the awesome planet we have
Wouldn’t it be great if they came down and vaporized all liberals?
More likely they’re sitting out there watching this world through remote surveillance drones that have tapped silently into the internet and trying to figure out how a species like this has managed to survive so long, and interested to see what happens next.
Some alien Sociologist is likely making a career out of studying this world.
Aliens are the returning threat. They’ll come with the One eyed one claiming to be God. Remember, your God is not one eyed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJA-jQvg1w
It seems like the story provider in this newspaper, knows…