This is the opposite outcome of one of my friends advisors. We went to the Roswell UFO museum as a lark. And one of the info panels said “this is potential alien metal panels, analyzed by a scientist, Dr. So and So” and we told the professor, who got really angry. “I said that I would look at what they had and it was all flattened pieces of beer cans, I told them not to associate me with this nonsense!”
This whole “it’s comprised of an unknown element” thing that sci-fi likes to do is ridiculous in and of itself.
If aliens did turn up on Earth their starships would be constructed out of known materials, sure it might be some exotic alloy, or other engineered metamaterial, but we definitely understand what it was.
There’s no such thing as alien atoms. Iron is iron.
I think the most crazy thing we could potentially encounter atomically (that we theorize about but haven’t seen) is material from the possible “Island of stability” that could be (much) farther along in the periodic table from things we’ve created.
For the uninformed, the island of stability is a range on the periodic table with atomic numbers in the ~170’s (currently the element with the highest atomic number - how many protons in the nucleus - that humans have synthesized is Oganesson, with an atomic number of 118) where it is believed that nuclei will remain (more?) stable, rather than breaking down in microseconds after we slam other elements into each other with devices such as the Large Hadron Collider.
There are SO many challenges with even getting to 118. Getting higher than that is theoretically possible but so far we haven’t worked it out. A super advanced civilization might have the means and/or dedicated the resources, and be the beneficiary of whatever properties exist in the advanced/exotic matter that we know nothing about.
That being said, we would still be able to analyze the materials and understand what we’re looking at, even if our WTF meters are breaking from the overload because we don’t know how they managed to achieve it.
I’m still not convinced alien technologies would be totally incomprehensible to us. Some of it obviously will, but their tech will still adhere to basic fundamentals like levers, inclined planes, and wheels – as well as fundamental forces like electromagnetism, kinetic energy, and pressure.
When you need to fasten two parts of machinery together, there are a limited number of efficient ways to do it. I fully expect bolts, nuts, and washers to be a universal technology. Same with focusing radiation; there are not many substitutes for lenses, mirrors, and lasers. When you need to move something around in gravity well, you’re always going to need a wheel. If something needs to rotate, there aren’t many substitutes for a rotor, stator, copper windings, and electricity. Gears, chains, and belts work just fine for transferring that rotational energy. Nobody is gonna go looking for exotic forces to perform tasks that can be far more easily accomplished conventionally.
Its very important that they can only hover and not float or fly. If they could float or fly then you wouldn’t be able to do cool car chases in a society without cars
Humans harness fire now more than all of history combined. And fire is plasma.
I’m just saying, even the lowest tech has never really disappeared. We still use rocks and steam in our highest technologies. There’s no reason to think aliens would abandon whatever tech has worked for eons.
This is the opposite outcome of one of my friends advisors. We went to the Roswell UFO museum as a lark. And one of the info panels said “this is potential alien metal panels, analyzed by a scientist, Dr. So and So” and we told the professor, who got really angry. “I said that I would look at what they had and it was all flattened pieces of beer cans, I told them not to associate me with this nonsense!”
So you’re saying he did analyze the metals, and that he couldn’t conclusively prove that they weren’t alien metal?
This whole “it’s comprised of an unknown element” thing that sci-fi likes to do is ridiculous in and of itself.
If aliens did turn up on Earth their starships would be constructed out of known materials, sure it might be some exotic alloy, or other engineered metamaterial, but we definitely understand what it was.
There’s no such thing as alien atoms. Iron is iron.
I think the most crazy thing we could potentially encounter atomically (that we theorize about but haven’t seen) is material from the possible “Island of stability” that could be (much) farther along in the periodic table from things we’ve created.
For the uninformed, the island of stability is a range on the periodic table with atomic numbers in the ~170’s (currently the element with the highest atomic number - how many protons in the nucleus - that humans have synthesized is Oganesson, with an atomic number of 118) where it is believed that nuclei will remain (more?) stable, rather than breaking down in microseconds after we slam other elements into each other with devices such as the Large Hadron Collider.
There are SO many challenges with even getting to 118. Getting higher than that is theoretically possible but so far we haven’t worked it out. A super advanced civilization might have the means and/or dedicated the resources, and be the beneficiary of whatever properties exist in the advanced/exotic matter that we know nothing about.
That being said, we would still be able to analyze the materials and understand what we’re looking at, even if our WTF meters are breaking from the overload because we don’t know how they managed to achieve it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability
I, for one, love me some copernicium… truly magical stuff.
I’m still not convinced alien technologies would be totally incomprehensible to us. Some of it obviously will, but their tech will still adhere to basic fundamentals like levers, inclined planes, and wheels – as well as fundamental forces like electromagnetism, kinetic energy, and pressure.
When you need to fasten two parts of machinery together, there are a limited number of efficient ways to do it. I fully expect bolts, nuts, and washers to be a universal technology. Same with focusing radiation; there are not many substitutes for lenses, mirrors, and lasers. When you need to move something around in gravity well, you’re always going to need a wheel. If something needs to rotate, there aren’t many substitutes for a rotor, stator, copper windings, and electricity. Gears, chains, and belts work just fine for transferring that rotational energy. Nobody is gonna go looking for exotic forces to perform tasks that can be far more easily accomplished conventionally.
Not wheels. When your technology is sufficiently advanced you un-invent the wheel and just hover everywhere.
Its very important that they can only hover and not float or fly. If they could float or fly then you wouldn’t be able to do cool car chases in a society without cars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUDUiauPys
I know right? Who needs fire anyway?
Replaced with plasma and lasers.
Humans harness fire now more than all of history combined. And fire is plasma.
I’m just saying, even the lowest tech has never really disappeared. We still use rocks and steam in our highest technologies. There’s no reason to think aliens would abandon whatever tech has worked for eons.