Nexus - 0801 - New Times Magazine-pages

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communications. However, across the vastness of space, these new system, only a single cable was used, the return current to 186,000-miles-per-second transmissions take a hell of a long time. complete the circuit being established through metal stakes insert- For instance, to exchange greetings with an ETI near Proxima ed into the ground; this was known as a "ground return". As soon Centauri (the nearest star to us) would take around eight years! as this was done, there were reports of anomalous power surges, Would not a more advanced civilisation have discovered either a so great that telegraph operators complained of big fat blue sparks field or wave that could travel at a velocity greater than that of | jumping between their key contacts. Eventually it was decided light? In which case, it would have a better chance of hearing a that there was no point in using a battery any more, and so tele- response. graph networks operated using the power within the earth. This same limited velocity of light has another disadvantage: if In 1849, Alexander Bain invented the first well-known electro- the transmission has come from some far-distant star system, then chemical recorder, which would receive, record and print out an the very civilisation from which it came could now be long gone! incoming transmission through a chemical action. Many compa- The electromagnetic wave may have made the world a smaller nies soon replaced their old electromechanical devices with this place, but it also reflects how vast the Universe is in both space —_—_ more sensitive electrochemical substitute. Due to their low cur- and time. rent consumption, these devices were even better at being pow- Another assumption made by SETI is with regard to the defini- ered by the natural electrical energy within the ground. However, tion of extraterrestrial intelligence. Looking for microwave trans- when many telegraphic operators returned to their posts after a missions of prime numbers from sun-like stars indicates a narrow night's sleep, they would find parts of sentences and strange geo- criterion for intelligence. First, not all life may be biological; it metric patterns recorded by the device. Could this have been may not even exist in the physical dimension. Even if it were, early contact with an ETI or even an EDI—an extradimensional assuming it would spout out prime intelligence? numbers indicates an expectation . ae of a very similar psychology to While at the Berkeley Radiation NIKOLA TESLA’S CLOSE our own. Also, who's to say their Laboratory, the now famous quantum ENCOUNTER ; ciple dvtoomens | physicist David Bohm made a startling J ,0", Nu fot, se almost as though they are looking discovery when conducting research electrical power system, dedicated for other human life. So we have on plasmas. He found that under much time to researching the high- found nothing because we nar- voltage, high-frequency electrical rowed our search before we had certain conditions the electrons and ions structure of the planet. During even begun! What we need todo | that composed the plasma managed to these investigations at his is widen our scope and so give organise themselves spontaneously Colorado Springs research station, ourselves a better chance of find- . . ana . Tesla noticed that his instruments ing other intelligent life. into a single living unit. were receiving some unusual While at the Berkeley Radiation signals. In his own words, he Laboratory, the now famous wrote: quantum physicist David Bohm made a startling discovery when conducting research on plasmas. He found that under certain I can never forget the first sensations I experienced when it conditions the electrons and ions that composed the plasma dawned upon me that I had observed something possibly of managed to organise themselves spontaneously into a single incalculable consequences to mankind. I felt as though I living unit. Like some amoeboid creature, the contained plasma were present at the birth of a new knowledge or the revela - was able to surround and destroy any foreign body that was tion of a great truth... within its vicinity. Bohm called these plasmic creatures My first observations positively terrified me, as there was "plasmons". present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatur - Considering that plasma is the most abundant state of matter in al, and I was alone in my laboratory at night; but at that the Universe, it would seem logical to conclude that plasmons— time, the idea of these disturbances being intelligently con - not hydrocarbon-based life such as ourselves—may make up the trolled signals did not yet present itself to me. The changes I greatest percentage of life in the cosmos. noted were taking place periodically and with such a clear av and avdav that the a nat tearanhla I can never forget the first sensations I experienced when it dawned upon me that I had observed something possibly of incalculable consequences to mankind. I felt as though I were present at the birth of a new knowledge or the revela - tion of a great truth... My first observations positively terrified me, as there was present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatur - al, and I was alone in my laboratory at night; but at that time, the idea of these disturbances being intelligently con - trolled signals did not yet present itself to me. The changes I noted were taking place periodically and with such a clear suggestion of number and order that they were not traceable to any cause known to me. I was familiar, of course, with such electrical disturbances as are produced by the Sun, Aurora Borealis and Earth cur - rents, and I was as sure as I could be of any fact that these variations were due to none of these causes. The nature of my experiments precluded the possibility of the changes being produced by atmospheric disturbances, as has been rashly asserted by some. It was some time afterward when the thought flashed upon my mind that the disturbances I had observed might be due to an intelligent control. Although I could not decipher their meaning, it was impossible for me to think of them as having been entirely accidental. The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one EARLY CONTACTS WITH OTHER DIMENSIONS? As has been mentioned before, communication may have been established with ETIs well over a hundred and fifty years ago, at the dawn of the modern development of electromagnetics. The first electromagnetics-based communications system was developed by Samuel Morse in the 1830s and demonstrated in 1844; this, of course, was the telegraphic wire. In the original system, a battery and Morse key at the transmitting station actuated an electromechanical transducer some distance away at the receiving end, via a long stretch of cable. A return cable was then connected to the other terminal of the electromechanical device as a current-return back to the transmitting station's battery, these two cables being buried underground out of the way. It was not long before it was discovered that it was possible to do away with the return cable and use the earth instead. In this NEXUS - 45 DECEMBER 2000 — JANUARY 2001