The Universe is a Dark Forest for Civilization

The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds other life—another hunter, an angel or a demon, a delicate infant or a tottering old man, a fairy or a demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire a...

 Kardashev scale

TYPE I Characteristics: Planetary Society. Developed Technology. * understanding the laws of physics. * space technology. * nuclear technology. * electromagnetic communications. Initiation of spaceflight, interplanetary travel, settlement of space. Early attempts at interstellar communication. Starting to push planetary resource limits. Information Level: I. Energy Consumption: 10 to the 16 power to 10 to the 17 power Watts. Manifestations: Intentional or u...

 An Alien United Nations

figure out how to live with high technology, how to avoid nuclear war, then tehre are at this moment a million advanced civilizations in the Milky Way. This place was built to help get us through this dangerous time. it would be good to know if there are other civilizations out there, if their United Nations have succeeded. it's something to think about when you stare up at the stars on a clear autumn night.

 The Religious Disquiet Concerning Extraterrestrial Life

These two articles reflect some religious disquiet at the prospect of contact with ETI. When faced with an alien civilization of enormous powers and the likelihood that they are not even approximately human, the differences that divide us on Earth are likely to seem increasingly trivial and irrelevant. At least for many people, Aere should be a real decline in ethnocentrism and xenophobia and a major upsurgence of an identification with the human species and the planet Earth. Warring tribes ...

 Look for the Improbable in Extraterrestrial Life

To land a spacecraft on Europa, with the heavy equipment needed to penetrate the ice and explore the ocean directly, would be a formidable undertaking. A direct search for life in Europa's ocean would today be prohibitively expensive. But just as asteroid and comet impacts on Mars have given us an easier way to look for evidence of life on that planet, impacts on Europa give us an easier way to look for evidence of life there. Every time a major impact occurs on Europa, a vast quantity of wat...