共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 0 毫秒
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Laurance R. Doyle Brenda McCowan Simon Johnston Sean F. Hanser 《Acta Astronautica》2011,68(3-4):406-417
We present ongoing research in the application of information theory to animal communication systems with the goal of developing additional detectors and estimators for possible extraterrestrial intelligent signals. Regardless of the species, for intelligence (i.e., complex knowledge) to be transmitted certain rules of information theory must still be obeyed. We demonstrate some preliminary results of applying information theory to socially complex marine mammal species (bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales) as well as arboreal squirrel monkeys, because they almost exclusively rely on vocal signals for their communications, producing signals which can be readily characterized by signal analysis. Metrics such as Zipf's Law and higher-order information-entropic structure are emerging as indicators of the communicative complexity characteristic of an “intelligent message” content within these animals’ signals, perhaps not surprising given these species’ social complexity. In addition to human languages, for comparison we also apply these metrics to pulsar signals—perhaps (arguably) the most “organized” of stellar systems—as an example of astrophysical systems that would have to be distinguished from an extraterrestrial intelligence message by such information theoretic filters. We also look at a message transmitted from Earth (Arecibo Observatory) that contains a lot of meaning but little information in the mathematical sense we define it here. We conclude that the study of non-human communication systems on our own planet can make a valuable contribution to the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence by providing quantitative general measures of communicative complexity. Studying the complex communication systems of other intelligent species on our own planet may also be one of the best ways to deprovincialize our thinking about extraterrestrial communication systems in general. 相似文献
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Raup DM 《Acta Astronautica》1992,26(3-4):257-261
Animals lacking humanoid intelligence have evolved systems indistinguishable in function, if not in structure, from systems built by humans. Although radio communication has never been verified in animals, it is completely feasible biologically. If such systems are present in non-intelligent organisms on other planets, then our chances of detecting life in the universe by current SETI methods are greatly enhanced. 相似文献
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The solar system galactic frontier—the region where the expanding solar wind meets the surrounding galactic medium—remains poorly explored. The sheer size of the essentially asymmetric heliosphere calls for remote techniques to probe the properties of its global time-varying three-dimensional boundary. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission (launch in 2008) will image the region between the termination shock and the heliopause, the heliospheric sheath, in fluxes of energetic neutral atoms. Global imaging in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) will likely be the next logical step in remote exploration of the galactic frontier from 1 AU. Imaging in EUV will establish directional and spectral properties of (1) the glow of singly charged helium (He+) ions in the interstellar and solar wind plasmas; (2) emissions of hot plasma in the Local Bubble; and (3) characteristic emissions of the solar wind. Global imaging with ultrahigh sensitivity and ultrahigh spectral resolution will map the heliopause and reveal the three-dimensional flow pattern of the solar wind, including the flow over the Sun's poles. This article presents the emerging concept of the experiment and space mission for heliosphere global imaging in EUV. 相似文献
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Unloading law for a LEO spacecraft with two-gimbals solar array 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The purpose of this paper is to present a modified cross-product unloading law that can be used to provide an open-loop compensation control design to counteract the predominant effects of the gravity gradient torque. The modified cross-product unloading law, is successfully applied to a three-axis stabilized, nadir-pointed LEO spacecraft with two-gimbals solar array. The variation of the two solar array orientations can significantly change the spacecraft's moment of inertia during the nominal operation mode, which can produce significant momentum accumulation in the roll–yaw body plane and cause large yaw pointing error. A rigorous study of momentum management performance capability has been conducted by using a high-fidelity performance simulation software that contains models of four environmental disturbance torque (gravity gradient, aerodynamic, solar, and magnetic). The simulation results show that the proposed momentum unloading control law has enabled a substantial reduction in the maximum accumulated roll momentum, which results in improving the pointing accuracy of the LEO spacecraft enormously. 相似文献
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Cavicchioli R 《Astrobiology》2002,2(3):281-292
Extremophiles thrive in ice, boiling water, acid, the water core of nuclear reactors, salt crystals, and toxic waste and in a range of other extreme habitats that were previously thought to be inhospitable for life. Extremophiles include representatives of all three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya); however, the majority are microorganisms, and a high proportion of these are Archaea. Knowledge of extremophile habitats is expanding the number and types of extraterrestrial locations that may be targeted for exploration. In addition, contemporary biological studies are being fueled by the increasing availability of genome sequences and associated functional studies of extremophiles. This is leading to the identification of new biomarkers, an accurate assessment of cellular evolution, insight into the ability of microorganisms to survive in meteorites and during periods of global extinction, and knowledge of how to process and examine environmental samples to detect viable life forms. This paper evaluates extremophiles and extreme environments in the context of astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life. 相似文献
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Heidmann J 《Acta Astronautica》1994,32(12):855-857
In line with the concept of the galactic belt of advanced life, we evaluate the sky distribution of detectable artificial sources, using a simple astrophysical model. The best region to search is the median band of the Milky Way in the Vulpecula-Cygnus region, together with a narrower one in Carina. Although this work was done in view of a proposal to send a SETI probe at a gravitational focus of the Sun, we recommend these sky regions particularly for the searches of the sky survey type. 相似文献
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Jill Tarter Robert Ackermann William Barott Peter Backus Michael Davis John Dreher Gerald Harp Jane Jordan Tom Kilsdonk Seth Shostak Ken Smolek 《Acta Astronautica》2011,68(3-4):340-346
The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) finally has its own full-time telescope. The Allen telescope array (ATA) in Northern California was dedicated on October 11, 2007. This array, which will eventually be composed of 350 small radio antennas, each 6.1 m in diameter, is being built as a partnership between the SETI Institute and the University of California Radio Astronomy Laboratory. Last October, Paul G. Allen (who provided the funds for the technology development and the first phase of array construction) pushed a silver button and all 42 antennas of the current ATA-42 slewed to point in the direction of the distant galaxy M81. Specialized electronic backend detectors attached to the ATA began making a radio map of that galaxy and simultaneously began SETI observations of HIP48573, a G5V star near M81 on the sky and a distance of 264 light years from Earth. The Allen telescope array will greatly improve the speed of conducting SETI searches over the next few decades, and it will allow a suite of different search strategies to be undertaken. This paper summarizes some of the earliest SETI observations from the array, and describes the search strategies currently being planned. 相似文献
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A key issue in astrobiological research is identifying target molecules that are unambiguously biological in origin and can be easily detected and recognized. We suggest porphyrin derivatives as an ideal target, because these chromophores are global in distribution and found in virtually all living organisms on Earth, including microorganisms that may approximate the early evolution of life on Earth. We discuss the inherent qualities that make porphyrin ideally suited for astrobiological research and discuss methods for detecting porphyrin molecules in terrestrial sedimentary environments. We present preliminary data to support the use of ToFSIMS as a powerful technique in the identification of porphyrins. 相似文献
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以单片机为核心部件,本文提出了一种光栅信号的软件处理方法。文中详细阐述了系统设计原理和软硬件设计流程,光栅检测电路输出的两路差分信号,经调理电路放大、整形、AD转换、再由单片机通过程序控制实现了辨向和细分特性。该软件处理方法简化了系统硬件电路,增强了系统抗干扰能力,提高了分辨率。实验证明该方法具有一定的实用性,可以应用于机床改造和相关的位置检测系统中。 相似文献
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The Siljan ring structure (368 +/- 1.1 Ma) is the largest known impact structure in Europe. It isa 65-km-wide, eroded, complex impact structure, displaying several structural units, including a central uplifted region surrounded by a ring-shaped depression. Associated with the impact crater are traces of a post-impact hydrothermal system indicated by precipitated and altered hydrothermal mineral assemblages. Precipitated hydrothermal minerals include quartz veins and breccia fillings associated with granitic rocks at the outer margin of the central uplift, and calcite, fluorite, galena, and sphalerite veins associated with Paleozoic carbonate rocks located outside the central uplift. Two-phase water/gas and oil/gas inclusions in calcite and fluorite display homogenization temperatures between 75 degrees C and 137 degrees C. With an estimated erosional unloading of approximately 1 km, the formation temperatures were probably not more than 10-15 degrees C higher. Fluid inclusion ice-melting temperatures indicate a very low salt content, reducing the probability that the mineralization was precipitated during the Caledonian Orogeny. Our findings suggest that large impacts induce low-temperature hydrothermal systems that may be habitats for thermophilic organisms. Large impact structures on Mars may therefore be suitable targets in the search for fossil thermophilic organisms. 相似文献
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One of the forms of astroengineering activity that a very advanced civilization could possibly carry on is the constructions of huge “buildings” in space around the central star. Historically such constructions are called Dyson Spheres. We would like to introduce a new name — Astroengineering Constructions (AC) — to mean a more general type of construction not necessarily related to any specific star. AC absorb energy from different types of activity and re-emit it as infrared radiation, i.e. radiation lying in the submillimeter and millimeter range. Further, AC are expect to have spectra similar to the black-body spectra because they re-emit all the energy that they absorb, although in the infrared range, as already mentioned. Thus, the effective temperature of these Planckian distributions is expected to lie between 3–300 K with the spectrum peaking between 10 μm and 10 mm. We have analyzed the IRAS database and extracted a catalog of sources whose spectra are similar to the black-body emission. The catalog of these sources and their preliminary parameters are discussed. The distribution of the color temperatures of IRAS sources and the sky distribution of sources are also considered. The possibility of the distinction of AC from thick circumstellar dust shells around red giant stars is discussed. 相似文献
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Bailey J 《Astrobiology》2007,7(2):320-332
Current proposals for the characterization of extrasolar terrestrial planets rest primarily on the use of spectroscopic techniques. While spectroscopy is effective in detecting the gaseous components of a planet's atmosphere, it provides no way of detecting the presence of liquid water, the defining characteristic of a habitable planet. In this paper, I investigate the potential of an alternative technique for characterizing the atmosphere of a planet using polarization. By looking for a polarization peak at the "primary rainbow" scattering angle, it is possible to detect the presence of liquid droplets in a planet's atmosphere and constrain the nature of the liquid through its refractive index. Single scattering calculations are presented to show that a well-defined rainbow scattering peak is present over the full range of likely cloud droplet sizes and clearly distinguishes the presence of liquid droplets from solid particles such as ice or dust. Rainbow scattering has been used in the past to determine the nature of the cloud droplets in the Venus atmosphere and by the POLarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances (POLDER) instrument to distinguish between liquid and ice clouds in the Earth atmosphere. While the presence of liquid water clouds does not guarantee the presence of water at the surface, this technique could complement spectroscopic techniques for characterizing the atmospheres of potential habitable planets. The disk-integrated rainbow peak for Earth is estimated to be at a degree of polarization of 12.7% or 15.5% for two different cloud cover scenarios. The observation of this rainbow peak is shown to be feasible with the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronograph mission in similar total integration times to those required for spectroscopic characterization. 相似文献
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Francis Lyall 《Acta Astronautica》2000,46(10-12)
Although little progress has recently been made in concrete law, the development of two inter-related declarations regarding detection and reaction to it, has carried matters further. The declarations are summarised. It is time to formulate their principles as a document suitable for discussion within COPUOS, with the intention that eventually the General Assembly should adopt a Declaration of Principles, with the advantages of the status of such a declaration. 相似文献
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介绍基于VxWorks实时操作系统的宽带数传信号接收与识别试验平台的结构,在研究通用解调器CORTEXTCP/IP以太网接口通信机制以及VxWorks系统Socket通信协议实现方法的基础上,开发出数传信号接收识别部分与COR-TEX的通信模块,成功地将宽带数传信号识别、调制参数估计与信号解调三者融为一体。 相似文献