Voici trois propositions:
Cela signifie-t-il qu'il n'y a rien à découvrir ou plutôt que nous ne cherchons pas de la bonne façon, ou au bon endroit? Nous ne disposons peut-être pas encore des technologies requises pour mener une recherche efficace? Si la vie - une vie intelligente - existe ailleurs, où est-elle? Pourquoi ne l'avons-nous pas trouvée, et pourquoi ne nous a-t-elle pas trouvés? Comment être sûrs qu'elle ne nous a pas trouvées? Beaucoup de personnes croient que c’est le cas et que nous ne nous en sommes tout simplement pas rendu compte, soit parce qu’elle est cachée, soit parce que nous ne savons pas ce qu’il faut chercher. Deux autres propositions:
Passez plutôt à la deuxième proposition. Ces formes de vie qui ont 500 000 ans d'avance sur la Terre, si elles viennent ici, de quoi seraient-elles capables? Pourraient-elles asservir l’humanité et le voudraient-elles? Nous chasseraient-elles comme s’il s’agissait d’un sport? Peut-être encore, conservaient-t-elles les humains en tant qu’animaux de compagnie pour les utiliser comme sujets de conversation lors des soirées? L’éventualité de l’existence d’une vie extra-terrestre a fasciné les humains depuis la nuit des temps. La Guerre des Mondes, inspiré par l'idée (reconnue désormais comme étant fausse) qu'il y aurait des canaux artificiels sur Mars, avait placé cette vie extra-terrestre aussi près de nous que possible. Nous savons maintenant qu’il y a du pergélisol sur Mars. Du pergélisol implique donc de l'eau. De l’eau implique l’éventualité de la vie. Personne ne s’attend à y voir un être ressemblant à un humain y nager. La manifestation de vie la plus probable serait sous la forme de bactéries. Une bactérie est cependant bien une forme de vie. Son existence signifierait que les conditions de développement de la vie ont existé ailleurs que sur Terre. Si les bactéries peuvent prospérer hors de notre planète, alors qui peut certifier qu'il n’existe pas, quelque part, une équipe de football participant à la Coupe du Monde d’une planète autre que la Terre? En réalité, les bactéries de Mars ne répondraient pas à notre grande question. La Terre et Mars se sont échangé dans les deux sens beaucoup de matériel alors qu’ils ont subi les impacts d’énormes astéroïdes. En s’écrasant sur Terre, un astéroïde devient météorite et son impact, s’il est suffisamment puissant peut arracher des masses rocheuses à la planète. Qui sait si les bactéries de Mars ne proviennent pas de la Terre? Dans le même ordre d’idée, qui sait si la vie intelligente sur Terre ne s’y est pas développée à cause des bactéries primitives qui ont voyagé depuis Mars, et qui ont trouvé ici de meilleures conditions pour leur développement. Notre grande question est en effet la suivante: est-il possible que la vie ait évolué à partir de rien dans plus d’un endroit dans l'univers? C'est une question au sujet de laquelle les scientifiques restent prudents. Charles Darwin, lorsqu’il a élaboré le schéma de l’évolution des différentes formes de vie, a prudemment omis de mentionner d'où elles venaient vraiment. Il n'a pas parlé de Dieu et il n'a pas non plus parlé de hasard complet. Certains scientifiques diront que même les formes de vie les plus simples sont en fait si complexes qu'il est presque impossible que la séquence d’évolutions qui a conduit à la formation de la toute première bactérie ait eu lieu ailleurs dans l'univers; nous y serions donc seuls. D’autres encore disent: « Si cela est si complexe, comment se peut-il que la vie se soit produite par hasard? Pourquoi ne serait-ce pas plutôt planifié, mais par qui? Comment les Terriens peuvent-ils être aussi arrogants pour prétendre que la vie a été planifié qu’une seule fois et ce, uniquement sur cette planète? » Fred Hoyle et N. Chandra Wickramasinghe ont dit qu'il était impossible que la vie ait pu émerger par hasard. Cette probabilité, ont-ils dit, équivaudrait à une chance sur 10 puissances de 40 000. Puisque la majorité des humains communs ne peuvent se représenter un tel nombre, ils ont eu la bonne idée d’ajouter qu’il s’agissait là « d’une probabilité extrêmement faible ». Richard Dawkins ne partage pas ce point de vue et traite avec mépris toute personne qui croit que le développement de la vie ne puisse, même théoriquement, n'être qu'un accident. Stephen Hawking, dans le dernier livre publié avant sa mort, a dit que l'univers n'a pas été créé par Dieu. Plutôt, il s’agissait là de l’inévitable résultat des lois de la nature. Oui, Stephen. Très bien. Cependant, les lois de la nature, d'où viennent-elles? La vie extraterrestre existe-t-elle? Le but de ce livre n'est pas de prendre parti d'un côté ou de l'autre sur cette question. Plutôt, nous proposons d’explorer l'état actuel de nos connaissances sur le sujet pour ultimement tenter de répondre à la question à savoir si nous sommes seuls dans l'univers. Il n'y a aucun doute: cette question préoccupe les humains depuis qu'ils sont humains, et selon nous, c'est une question qui perdurera tant que vivra l’être humain. S'il y avait des êtres intelligents ailleurs dans l'univers, où sont-ils ?
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THE SETI PROJECT Officially, the SETI Project is the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence, but it’s actually a little more tightly defined than that. Quest for Fire (originally, in French, La guère du feu), was a French movie made in Scotland, in Kenya, and on Vancouver Island and set in the Europe of 80,000 years ago. It was about control of fire – who had it, who wanted it, and how they could get it – but it ends in a way relevant to this chapter. The love interest is provided by Ika, a young woman played by Rae Dawn Chong, and Naoh (not Noah), a young man played by Everett McGill. At the very end of the movie, the two expectant lovers (Ika is pregnant) sit on the ground in an embrace and gaze at the moon. They speak to each other in a language supposedly developed just for this film by British author Anthony Burgess, though in fact he lifted it wholesale from northern Canada’s Cree/Inuit people. (The Inuit got a special kick out of the movie because the words being spoken had nothing to do with the on-screen action – but most viewers would not know that). Their gestures and facial expressions make it clear that they are talking about the moon. What is it? Where is it – how do you get there? Are there animals that could be killed for food? Are there animals that might kill them for food? And are there people there? People like Ika and Naoh? This is the conversation of intelligent humans. They are able to build on their experience, discuss it in terms that others can understand, pose questions and suggest possible answers. Intelligence is at work. If someone on another planet had a conversation like this, that would be regarded as extra-terrestrial intelligence. Anyone looking at Ika and Naoh from another galaxy would draw the same conclusion: this is extra-terrestrial intelligence. But it is not the sort of extra-terrestrial intelligence that the SETI Project is ever going to find, because Ika and Naoh are not capable of sending signals into space. However intelligent they may be, they lack the technology to do that. So the project’s name is not entirely accurate. Really, it is the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence that has reached a stage of development at which it is capable of transmitting signals into space. And that is inevitable, because a civilisation on another planet, perhaps in another galaxy, is most likely to come to the attention of watchers on earth if it can transmit signals that can be recognised here for what they are. The search exists in its own right, and has done for as long as humans have been looking at the sky through telescopes. In the last 30 years or so, the SETI Institute has become one of the key searchers. The common view is that the SETI Institute is a bunch of scientists examining radio waves looking for characteristics that would say, “This is not noise. This did not happen by chance. This is a signal initiated and transmitted by an intelligent being.” The reality is more complex and more diverse; Advance review "The question of whether or not we're alone in the Universe is one of the biggest and most profound questions we can ask. This thought-provoking examination of the science and philosophy behind this question is well-researched and eminently readable." -Nick Pope UK Ministry of Defense (Retired) "Where Are They?" is set to release on Sept 18th, 2018 in Both English and French. Order information can be found by following this link here. Featured Author Steven Lazaroff By Christine Liston Featured Interview With Steven Lazaroff Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now? I was a Military Brat, we moved around a lot during my youth. I lived in several cities in Canada and did a brief stint overseas in Germany when my father served with the Royal 22nd Regiment at the height of the cold war. Mark, my co-writer and I met in high school and we have remained friends ever since, 30 years later. He is a bit of an eccentric and has not yet done interviews. At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing? I was a voracious reader from a young age. Having to rebuild friendships every two years caused me to escape into stories. I started writing short stories and poems in Junior high School and have since been writing in amateur formats ever since. My day job requires me to write very descriptive content regularly. Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings? I loved the Narnia series from C.S. Lewis and pretty much anything from Piers Anthony at a YA stage in my life. Later my tastes evolved to Asimov and Frank Hebert. Simon Scarrow wrote a fantastic Historical fiction series called ‘Eagles of the Empire’ that I really enjoyed. Scarrow also did a series called ‘Wellington and Napoleon’ which I really got into. Finally, I enjoyed Hunter S. Thompson and followed the style of Gonzo journalism, which is perhaps why my writing is humorous and sarcastic. Tell us a little about your latest book? Its a collection of short stories essentially. You can pick up any chapter in any order and each chapter is its own stand-alone story. Mark and I researched and documented an example of a confidence scam perpetrated on people at every epoch of recorded human history. We start with the ancient Egyptians, move on the late Roman empire, then middle kingdom’s era of China, all the way through the modern age. Each chapter explains, in detail how the deception or confidence scam was conceived, executed and concluded. There is a lot of humor to keep the reader from being bored. Especially for people that typically don’t enjoy reading history. Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles Original article site can be found here Steven Lazaroff’s Website Steven Lazaroff Facebook Page Steven Lazaroff Twitter Account L’expression deux solitudes réfère, dans la société canadienne, à l’isolement existant entre les Canadiens anglais et les Canadiens français. L’expression est utilisée pour illustrer le manque de communication et l’éloignement culturel entre les deux groupes linguistiques.
La paternité de l’expression revient à l’auteur Hugh MacLennan dans le roman Two Solitudes publié en 1945. Dans son discours d'investiture en tant que gouverneur-général du Canada, Michaëlle Jean a parlé de la fin des deux solitudes. Nous avons décidé de traduit notre prochain livre afin d’être capable de l’offrir à tous les Canadiennes et Canadiens. Well, we are on the verge of releasing another work. A great study in the Fermi Paradox. Below is a short excerpt of the work in progress. Tentative release date is on Aug 15th, 2018. Stay tuned here for more info.
The possibility of extra-terrestrial life has gripped humans for as long as anyone knows. The War of the Worlds, encouraged by the idea (now known to be false) that there were artificial canals on Mars, placed life as close as that. And now we know that Mars has permafrost. Permafrost means water. Water means the possibility of life. There’s no expectation that something resembling a person will be swimming in it. What’s more likely – or, at least, possible – is some forms of bacteria. But a bacterium is life. Its existence would mean that the conditions for life to develop had existed elsewhere than on Earth. And if bacteria can develop, then who’s to say that there isn’t, somewhere, a soccer team competing for another planet’s World Cup? In fact, bacteria on Mars wouldn’t answer the big question. Rocks disturbed by huge meteor and asteroid impacts have travelled between the two planets. There’s nothing to say that bacteria on Mars did not get there from Earth. Come to that, there’s nothing to say that intelligent life did not develop on Earth as a result of primitive bacteria that travelled from Mars and found better conditions for development here. Because the big question is: has life developed from scratch in more than one place in the universe? It’s a question scientists are wary of. Charles Darwin, when he mapped out the way that life forms evolved, carefully avoided any mention of where they came from. He didn’t talk about God, and nor did he talk about blind chance. There are scientists who will say that even the simplest lifeforms are so complex that it is almost impossible that the sequence of processes that led to formation of the first bacterium was ever reproduced elsewhere in the universe, and so we are alone. And there are others who say, ‘If it’s that complex, how could it have happened by accident? And if it was planned, by whom? And by what stretch of arrogance would earthlings claim that it was planned only once, and uniquely to this planet? Fred Hoyle and N. Chandra Wickramasinghe said that it was impossible that life could have started by chance. The odds, they said, amounted to one chance in 10 to the power of 40,000. Since most ordinary humans can’t visualise such a number, they helpfully added that it was “an outrageously small probability.” Richard Dawkins disagrees and treats with contempt anyone who believes that the development of life could even theoretically have been anything but an accident. Stephen Hawking, in his last book before he died, said that the universe was not created by God. Instead, it was the inevitable result of the laws of nature. Yes, Stephen. Quite so. And the laws of nature – where did they come from? The purpose of this book is not to take one side or the other in that argument. It is to explore the present state of knowledge and to say where humanity now stands on the question of whether or not we are alone in the universe. Because there isn’t the slightest doubt: that is a question that has occupied humans since they became human, and it’s a question that shows no sign of going away. And if there are intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe – where are they? |
AuthorMark Rodger and Steven Lazaroff live in Canada. Archives
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