FOXSYLVANIA

– – The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence may have gotten more difficult as communications technology improves, and the Earth becomes “quieter” as a result…

…Earth used to churn out a loud mess of radio waves, television signals, and other radiation, but more communications traffic is now relayed by satellite and fiber optic cables, which  tends to limit the “leakage” of such signals into space.   The recent switch from analogue to digital television also uses a far weaker signal.  If similar processes are taking place in other technologically-advanced societies, they too are presumably becoming quieter and would be more difficult to find.   Additionally, alien cultures might have a bad impression of us from exposure to shows sent their way such as Gilligan’s Island.

A new avenue for contacting ET might be to use lasers to send ultra-bright flashes of light into space for mere fractions of a second.  Such pulses could theoretically be seen by advanced civilizations up to 1,000 light years away, with infrared versions of such devices capable of sending beams even further.

This of course presupposes that alien civilizations would want to get in touch with us to begin with!