That Crazy Cassini Probe is at it Again

[hmh]

WSB I think you're on to somethin, the aliens are all Mac users, thats why noone can understand what they're sayin.   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OH NO! We have been lied to and deceived by Bill Gates! Windows is evil! If we were using Mac's, we could have email and chat rooms with aliens from 10,000 light years away! ARRRRRRRRRRGGG!

[nebula]

Hey , WSB -

I found something you can gloat over.

Bacteria: Major Mars Mission Hazard

[nebula]

Here's a serious question:

contamination.

With all the micro-organisms we pack around with us, in our bodies, on clothes, in the air, etc. Wouldn't any mission to mars, if successful, contaminate that planet with life originating on earth? I can see an astronaut stepping off the lander and finding...an amoeba!?! in the first soil sample....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amoeba need water to survive. I doubt they would find any in the (very dry) soil samples, then.

But would other microorganisms survive Mars' climate?

[M45510G1C]

Well, first youdetermine whether or not the source is terrestial. There have been several false alarms from sources that later turned out to be orbiting satelites. Then, you have to determine if any known clestial objects produce such a signal (like pulsars).

And one proves that the signal does not originate from an unknown nonterrestrial natural source how?

As nebula pointed out, I don't think it would even be possible to develop radio without a basic understanding of mathematics. How would you determine how large to make the antenna? How would you determine what frequency you're broadcasting on?

I dunno, I only know how to do it using mathematics.

And your comment about using base 10 math is TOTALLY irrelevant. Thirteen 'beeps' in a radio signal is thirteen 'beeps', irregardless of you you count them.

My comment regarding base10 was in direct response to your comment regarding primes and atomic weights. If not communicated in base10, binary, or some other system understood by us humans, how would they be recognized?

WSB's post further elaborates upon this point.