For all the hype over the idea that someday, somehow we humans will voyage to the stars — not at a measly fraction of the speed of light — but several “warp” factors beyond light speed, it’s a prospect few physicists take seriously. Even mention of “warp drive” is borderline taboo in certain academic circles.
And the idea that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and with it the axiom that the ultimate speed of light can never be violated is a tenet that most researchers who spend their time plying the nearby cosmos for artificial radio or laser beacons have taken to heart. It supports most SETI scientists’ long-held notion that Earth has never been visited by sentient extraterrestrials.
Most members of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) community continually discount the fact that sentient beings in our own galaxy might not only know we are here, but might also have the means to visit. That is, within a tenable amount of time; over time periods of decades instead of centuries.
As I noted in a recent Forbes post on the prospects for faster-than-light (FTL) communication — most mainstream physicists don’t see a way around the speed of light — even one involving quantum entanglement over great distances.
Thus, the only hope we have of determining whether we are alone in the universe is by doing the hard work of looking for intelligent civilizations ourselves.
They aren’t going to come to us; the argument goes, mainly because they would be incapable. So, any kind of contact we have with other intelligent beings in the universe will have to come through virtual means — that is, primarily via communication over the known electromagnetic spectrum — via radio or laser signals.
These so-called "alien hunters" are either suffering from cognitive dissonance, are in denial, or outright lying. The tyranny of conventionality rears its ugly head once again. To read more, click here.