2024-01-03 12:35:05
“Without an Available Fire Source, Superior Technology Will Never Be Developed,” Study Authors Say – MICHAEL OSADCIW/U. ROCHESTER
MADRID, 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Astrophysicists have studied the links between atmospheric oxygen and the development of advanced technology on distant planets such as new way to search for life on other worlds.
In the quest to understand the potential for life beyond Earth, researchers are expanding their search to encompass not only biological markers, but technological ones as well. While astrobiologists have long recognized the importance of oxygen to life as we know it, oxygen could also be key to Unlock advanced technology on a planetary scale.
In a new perspective published in Nature AstronomyProfessor Adam Frank, of the University of Rochester, and his colleague Amedeo Balbi, of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, describe the links between atmospheric oxygen and the possible rise of advanced technology on distant planets.
“We are ready to find signs of life on alien worlds,” says Frank it’s a statement. “But what do the conditions of a planet tell us about the possibilities of intelligent, technology-producing life?”
“In our paper we explored whether any atmospheric composition would be compatible with the presence of advanced technology,” says Balbi. “We found that the atmospheric requirements can be quite strict.”
Frank and Balbi postulate that, beyond its need for respiration and metabolism in multicellular organisms, Oxygen is crucial to developing fire, and fire is a hallmark of a technological civilization. They delve into the concept of “technospheres,” expansive realms of advanced technology that emit telltale signals (called “technosignatures”) of extraterrestrial intelligence.
On Earth, the development of technology required easy access to open-air combustion, the central process of fire, in which something burns by combining a fuel and an oxidizer, usually oxygen. Whether it’s cooking, forging metals for structures, making materials for homes, or harnessing energy by burning fuels, Combustion has been the driving force behind industrial societies.
Following Earth’s history, researchers discovered that the controlled use of fire and subsequent metallurgical advances were only possible when oxygen levels in the atmosphere reached or exceeded 18 percent. This means that only planets with significant concentrations of oxygen will be able to develop advanced technospheres and, therefore, leave detectable technosignatures.
The oxygen levels needed to biologically support complex life and intelligence are not as high as the levels needed for technology, so Although a species could emerge in a world without oxygen, it will not be able to become a technological speciesaccording to the researchers.
“You might be able to get biology (even intelligent creatures) in a world that doesn’t have oxygen,” Frank says, “but without a ready source of fire, you’ll never be able to develop further.” technology because superior technology requires fuel and fusion.”
So, they talk about “oxygen bottleneck”, a term coined by researchers to describe the critical threshold that separates worlds capable of fostering technological civilizations from those that do not. That is, oxygen levels are a bottleneck that prevents the emergence of advanced technology.
“The presence of high levels of oxygen in the atmosphere is like a bottleneck that must be overcome to have a technological species,” says Frank. “You can make everything else work, but if you don’t have oxygen in the atmosphere, you won’t have a technological species.”
The research, which addresses a previously unexplored facet in the cosmic search for intelligent life, underlines the need to prioritize planets with high oxygen levels when searching for extraterrestrial technosignatures.
“Planets with high levels of oxygen should be given priority because the presence or absence of high levels of oxygen in the atmospheres of exoplanets could be an important clue to finding possible technosignatures,” says Frank.
“The implications of discovering intelligent and technological life on another planet would be enormous,” adds Balbi. “Therefore, we must be extremely cautious when interpreting possible detections. Our study suggests that “We must be skeptical of possible technosignatures of a planet with insufficient atmospheric oxygen.”
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