InterstellarNet: Origins Read Online Free PDF Page A

is sure to throw them for a circle. A head’s up seemed in order.”
    For a loop , Dean thought to himself. “What is it?”
    “Watch.”
    She opened two windows on his PC. In a red window she ran the animation of ET’s “us”-labeled spectral flipbook. The other window, in green, showed a similar sequence of images. She slid the second window over the first, and re-ran them superimposed. The green charts were in all cases a superset of the red.
    “Green is our best-guess reconstruction of Earth’s aggregated RF emissions over time. The big energy spikes are from TV transmitters and ballistic missile early warning radars.”
    “When does your animation start?”
    She grinned from the corner of his screen still showing real-time video. “The best match between ET’s spectrum animation and our reconstructed data starts in mid 1950.”
    She had used incoming correctly: ET had lobbed a figurative bombshell at them.
    ■□■
    Apropos of the New York venue, it was déjà vu all over again: another short-notice Media meeting. So far only the task force had the explosive news. If Media moved quickly, this time they could shape the world’s impressions.
    ET had in 1958 captured signals emitted by Earth in 1950. Then he had waited thirty-six years to respond. Why?
    “It’s devastating,” said Dr. Shah, a psychologist. “ET could not be bothered to answer us. Are we so insignificant?”
    Thanks to Bridget, Dean had had a few hours to ponder the matter. He had spent much of the time surfing the Internet. “A purposefully delayed response is not the only possibility. Perhaps ET is just explaining how Earth came to his attention. His astronomers might routinely survey radio energy inbound from neighboring stars, and not have immediately recognized our ‘signal’”—he waggled his fingers as exaggerated quotation marks—“for what it was.
    “ET sent us a systematically constructed message, much of which we almost instantly understood. He sent it at very high power levels. Whatever signal he’s gotten from Earth was much weaker, unintended leakage from TV and radio and military radars, and it was all jumbled together. None of that was designed for him to recognize or decode. I’m guessing, but what may have eventually convinced ET that we’re here and aware is the rapid increase in power levels and in the range of frequencies being used. I doubt ET extracted any meaning from the mish-mash.”
    Dr. Shah imitated Dean’s gesture. “About those air quotes…what did you mean?”
    “The signals ET received from us were very faint. ‘I Love Lucy’ was not meant as an interstellar communication. If ET’s signal were as low-powered as what Earth emits even today, we might never have noticed it.”
    Michel Margot, a Belgian sociologist, broke the thoughtful silence that had come over the committee. “You suggest we can’t know how long ET delayed after suspecting our presence.”
    Dean nodded.
    “But his radio technology is more advanced than ours.”
    “Correct.”
    “But not greatly more advanced, or his response would likely have come sooner.” Margot took Matthews’s silence as assent. “That’s good. There could be an adverse reaction to a perceived technology gap.” To the group, the sociologist added, “This seems a responsible position to articulate.”
    Heads bobbed in what Chairman Ricard apparently mistook for unanimous agreement. He assigned a staff writer to draft a press release.
    The phrase “not greatly more advanced” allowed a significant degree of ambiguity. ET had radio receivers in 1958 more sensitive than any Earth operated today. His high-power transmitter was a marvel. In the interest of an announcement more devoid than usual of spin, Matthews kept to himself the thought of how much he would like to obtain ET’s radio technology.
“In the United Nations General Assembly today, the Secretary-General urgently requested an emergency supplemental authorization. He stated that the