Post #4780

Self-replicating probes could be operating right now in the solar system; here's how we could look for them In 1949, famed mathematician and physicist John von Neumann delivered a series of addresses at the University of Illinois, where he introduced the concept of the "universal constructor." The theory was further detailed in the 1966 book, "Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata," a collection of von Neumann's writings compiled and completed by a colleague after his death. In the years that followed, scientists engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) considered how advanced civilizations could rely on self-replicating probes to explore the galaxy. As many theoretical studies have shown, self-replicating probes (released from a single planet) could proliferate and explore the entire galaxy within a few eons. According to new research by Professor Alex Ellery of Carleton University, these probes may have already visited the solar system, and some could be operating here right now. As he recommends in a recent paper, future SETI surveys should be on the lookout for the telltale technosignatures these probes would produce. Alex Ellery is an engineering professor with the Center for Self-Replication Research (CESER) and the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University. In the past, Ellery has explored the concept of Von Neumann probes and their potential as a viable method for interstellar exploration by advanced civilizations, as well as the implications this has for SETI. In this latest paper, he revisits the rationale for such probes, their implications for the Fermi Paradox, and how resource requirements would drive their behavior, producing discernible technosignatures in the process. As a researcher with CESER, Ellery is well-versed in the concept of Von Neumann probes and the technological innovations that will go into creating them. In a previous study, Ellery detailed how 3D printing, self-replication, and robotics will allow humans to build Von Neumann probes sooner than expected. He also conducted a detailed study on how human engineers could place limits on the number of times each probe could reproduce itself, thus ensuring that they do not run amok (per the Berserker Hypothesis). In these and other papers, Ellery also argues that the search for Von Neumann probes and the technosignatures they would produce is a focus that SETI researchers should prioritize, rather than the traditional practice of searching the night sky for signs of radio transmissions. These searches, he indicated, should consider the solar system as a good starting point, which echoes similar recommendations made by Professor Gregory L. Matloff in his paper "Von Neumann probes: rational propulsion interstellar transfer timing." As he told Universe Today at the time of the paper's publication, ''The solar system is huge and mostly unexplored, and the probes could be very small. There could be probes everywhere: in craters on the moon, or lurkers in the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt. There are 100 million objects in the Kuiper Belt alone, and we have examined only two, one of which was very anomalous in its shape." Similarly, Ellery considers how SETI researchers and future explorers could look for evidence of extraterrestrial probes through a dedicated search. The first step, he argues, is to consider the rationale for sending out self-replicating probes. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience