Advanced exotic civilizations could live in clusters of galaxies, and humanity would do well to follow

The best place to find advanced extraterrestrial civilizations can be at the heart of clusters of matter-rich galaxies, according to a Harvard astronomer.

Abraham Loeb, head of the astronomy department at Harvard University, explains that aliens might have traveled to clusters of galaxies in anticipation of the impending isolation that could happen to intelligent civilizations while the Universe is expanding rapidly beyond its current size.

In an article published on the ArXiv pre-print server, Loeb describes how advanced extraterrestrial civilizations would have clustered into thousands of Milky Way-like galaxies in the same way that the ancient peoples of the Earth flock to the rivers. and the lakes.

Prepare for the expansion of the universe

In the 1990s, scientists discovered that the universe was growing at an exponential rate, contrary to popular theory at the time that gravity will eventually cause the collapse of the universe on himself.

This led to the theory of dark energy, a mysterious force meant to comprise three quarters of the entire universe. Experts theorize that black energy can be responsible for the expansion of the universe against the internal attraction of gravity.

By the time the universe will be 138 billion years old, black energy will become the most dominant force of the cosmos and all objects in the space will have moved away from each other for to be virtually inaccessible.

This also applies to the local group, the galaxy group containing the Milky Way, Andromeda and all their satellites.

Assuming that humanity will still be there when that happens, Loeb recommends preparing for such radical isolation by migrating to clusters of galaxies.

Migration to clusters of galaxies

The history of civilizations, according to Loeb, looks like that of "Ants and Grasshopper". The variations of the famous Aesop fable abound, but the central lesson is that it is better to be ready for rainy days, or in this case, the isolation of the rest of the world. universe.

Clusters of galaxies are groups of thousands of galaxies as large as the Milky Way. It is thought that they were formed 10 billion years ago, when disturbances of the density of the primordial universe caused the implosion and assembly of everything. which matters to form multiple galaxies. These clusters are held together by mutual gravitational attraction between galaxies. Loeb believes that this gravity is strong enough to withstand the expansion of the universe.

"Clusters of galaxies […] host the largest tanks of matter related by gravity against accelerated cosmic expansion, "says Loeb.

The closest candidate is the Cluster of the Virgin, which can be found towards the constellation of the Virgin at 50 million light-years away. The Virgo Cluster contains a thousand times more material than the Milky Way. Another viable destination would be the Coma Cluster, which has thousands of galaxies and is about 300 million light-years away from Earth.

Advanced civilizations may have been the first

Anticipating the effects of the expansion of the universe, exotic species that have developed far more advanced technologies than humans may have already begun migrating to these rich clusters of galaxies.

However, it would be impossible for scientists to detect them unless they emit powerful light signals to propel their spaceships or communicate with each other.

For this to be possible, Loeb says that civilizations had to design a spacecraft capable of traveling at a speed greater than 1% of the speed of light. The fastest artificial spacecraft is hundreds of times slower than that, although Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Starshot Initiative is raising money to solve the problem.

If aliens actually settled in clusters of galaxies, Loeb suggests that they could use the energy of cluster stars to collect fuel for isolation that could take place in hundreds of billions d & # 39; years.

Most of the stars in these clusters have masses much less than those of the sun, although they burn the fuel more slowly and shine much longer. This means that civilizations nestled in clusters of galaxies would have access to sources of energy for billions of years. Loeb says it may be better for humans to follow.

"It would be beneficial for us to live with as many extraterrestrial civilizations as possible with whom we could share technology," he says, "for the same reason that animals feel empowered by congregating in large herds. . "

Previous studies

Loeb began studying the distant future of the universe in 2001. His research led him to correspond with the theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson, who suggested that humans undertake a "cosmic engineering project" to move stars in a large area and focus them around the Earth. so that he could bear the force of expansion.

The idea is similar to that suggested by Dan Hooper of the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory. In a recent study, Hooper proposed that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations could use the energy collected from stars to push these stars towards the center of their civilizations.

Hooper said that, if the current understanding of the humanity of dark energy is correct, aliens collect fuel from stars with solar masses between 0.2 and 1.

However, Loeb stresses the limits of Hooper's theory.

"First, we do not know of any technology to move stars," he says, "and moreover, Sun-like stars only shine for ten billion years and can not be used as nuclear furnaces."

For this reason, he believes that humans do not need to harvest stellar fuel; we only need to migrate out of the local group to a rich galaxy cluster.

See now:

30 Gadgets and Gifts Tech for Father's Day 2018 Daddy Will Think to be Rad

© 2018 Tech Times, All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.