Where are the Radio Signals Part 2

Recently I talked about the Fermi Paradox. That is, why aren't we inundated with radio messages from other species in the universe? In that post I mostly talked about the technical reasons we may not be getting radio signals (e.g., we may not have the technology to detect them). 

But I forgot about the practical reasons. For example, we may be the first civilization to invent radio. I find that hard to believe since the universe is 13.8 billion years old. The Milky Way Galaxy is 13.6 billion years old. That no one came before us seems nearly impossible.

The early universe was metal-poor (because metals had yet to form in old stars and supernovae). Maybe we're the first since there was enough metal to build a civilization. Maybe.

The other consideration is maybe civilizations who reach high enough technology are wiped out by nuclear war, pandemics, climate changes, pollution, overpopulation, robot uprisings (AI), nanotechnology or other calamities. This is a rather pessimistic view and I'm always (well, mostly) the optimist. But it could be things out of that civilization's control like a large asteroid strike or a nearby gamma ray burst (and it doesn't need to be that close, like in the Milky Way). Us humans barely have protection from large asteroids and we have no protection from a nearby gamma ray burst. Or the alien civilization might be wiped out by a super volcano like Yellowstone erupting. 

Why do you think we haven't had any radio signals from alien civilizations? Let me know in the comments below.

Reusing Footage

Out of the blue my wife said she wanted to watch JAG. Maybe she thinks David James Elliot is cute. I found it on Paramount+. 

JAG is a television program that ran from 1995 to 2005 on NBC then CBS. The letters stand for "Judge Advocate General." Basically, the Navy's lawyer group. The show had a reputation of being popular with older viewers.

As of this writing we've watched four episodes including the pilot. That episode had to do with naval aviators on an aircraft carrier. At the beginning of the episode there is a dog fight between U.S. F-14 Tomcats and "Bosnian MiGs." And the footage was lifted 100% from the movie Top Gun. The "MIGs" were actually F-5s just like in Top Gun. Other footage used in the episode was also lifted from Top Gun (F-14s launching off the catapult, or in aerial maneuvers for example). I annoyed my wife by pointing this out... every time it happened. 

According the the Internet Movie Database, the show utilized "unused" footage from a lot of Paramount studios films. But since I recognized the footage, it wasn't all "unused."

I thought I caught them in a historical inaccuracy. They showed A-6 Intruders taking off from the carrier (perhaps using footage from the Flight of the Intruder movie). But JAG started in 1995 and the Navy was still flying both A-6 Intruders and EA-6B Prowlers electronic warfare planes at that time. They were both replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet/Super Hornet and the EA-18B Growler.

The second episode took place on a submarine. And guess which Paramount film they used footage from. The Hunt for Red October. 

The third episode took place at Twenty-Nine Palms marine base in the Mojave Desert (I've been to Twenty-Nine Palms... in August). I didn't recognize any reused footage. The fourth episode was set in Washington D.C. and, again, no reused footage.

During the opening credits (used from the second episode on) they re-reuse the footage from Top Gun and The Hunt for Red October and maybe other movies.

I remember when JAG first came out, I watched the first season and then lost interest. But it went on for ten seasons, apparently. 

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.

Robot Soldiers

We've all seen the Terminator movies, I assume. Basically robot warriors from the future battle in the time period the movies were made. And we all thought "that's decades away, if ever." (The time travel component is probably never.)

But the time for robot warriors is now. Humanoid robots called Mk-1 Phantom are being deployed to Ukraine for testing in a war zone. No, they don't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or even Robert Patrick, but they are trying to develop a robot that can handle any weapon that humans use. Or drive vehicles.

Like all new technology, there are upsides and downsides. I'd rather have robots "dying" in war zones than humans. But what if robots are used in attacks on civilians? You don't have to promise a robot 72 virgins to get it to blow itself up around people. 

(Actually, this is already happening as drones, essentially dumb robots, are being used to attack civilians.)

I don't think robots on their own are going to rebel and turn on humans as in the Terminator movies. But once a tool is developed, it can be used against you. It depends on who is programing the robots. 

Isaac Asimov in the late 1940s wrote three laws of robotics (inventing the word "robotics").  Those laws were logical and I think would work for most robots:

1 A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;

2 A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and 

3 A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

But a robot warrior would already violate the first law. 

What do you think of robots being used in war? Good idea or terrible idea? Let me know in the comments below.

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.