Possible reason why we havn't detected alien radio chatter

Could it be possible that one of the reasons it's difficult to detect aliens' transmission is we're at a different relative time flow from other alien star systems?

We know that time is relative, and a distant star system might be moving faster or slower in space relative to our solar system which could throw our clocks out of sync relative to one another.

Could that possibly make their radio transmissions frequencies stretch (if the alien solar system is moving faster) or contract (if they're moving slower) which makes them unrecognizable from cosmic microwave background radiation? Or time dilation doesn't impact electromagnetic radiation frequencies?

No, it has to do with the speed of light being relatively slow compared to the distance between planets that could possibly have life on them. For a planet 1000 light years away, it would take 1000 years for a radio transmission to reach us... and if they respond to the one's we have sent out, that would take 2000 years.

I think complex life is abundant in this universe...problem is the universe is so big, and the requirements for life (as we know) still so somewhat rare - that even with a lot of life, the distant between each is so large that it would take thousands of years for us to pick up any sort of transmission. Plus, if we are to assume that intelligent life (like our own [*sometimes]) takes a similar amount of time to reach such a point technology wise that such transmission are possible, then those signals could still be thousands of years away. With that said, we could literally pick up something tomorrow...or never.

@foxhound_fox:

I do acknowledge that.

But could there be also another reason that is time dilation?

I don't want to give some plot element from the movie Interstellar to clarify what I'm asking, so I'll ask this instead:

If time ticks far slower on the surface of a planet near a black hole than from a spaceship flying enough distance from that black hole to cause a time dilation of 1 hour to 10 years.

I.e. Each hour spent on that planet surface would measure 10 years on the spaceship clock.

If a 1 hour video transmitted from the surface of the planet, how would that video be perceived on the spaceship?

The prime directive.

No time dilation would not be the culprit. While time dilation is a real thing, to see any sort of measurable effect you have to be traveling pretty near the speed of light. Between zero velocity and 60-70% the speed of the light the dilation effect is so small that there is only little measurable difference. Knowing what we can see of stars and other planets it's doubtful any planets are moving at such a speed that dilation would be a factor. Not to mention the astronomical amount of energy it would take to accelerate a planet to that velocity. In terms of gravity if they were close enough to a singularity for time to be dilated there would be little chance of a civilization developing on such a world.

After playing Dark Souls. I'm pretty sure what TC said is right.

I don't think you understand what relativity is.

Considering what Stephen Hawking said about not wanting to make contacts with Alien beings, I take his word on it. Hopefully we won't detect any Aliens.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/the-fermi-paradox_b_5489415.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law
https://vimeo.com/117815404

I think the most likely answer is that there are a shockingly low number of alien species sending out radio chatter now or in the fairly recent past, that are anywhere near us. Why that's the case, I don't know. Maybe they're super-advanced but they just don't euse radio transmissions. Maybe they use some signal that we haven't learned to search for, or maybe they're smart as shit but just never developed into the kind of technological civilization that uses machines. Maybe they are transmitting radio signals, but they're far enough away that we haven't gotten their message yet. Or maybe the universe really is more dead and lifeless than we want to admit. i don't know. But if the immediate area around us was full of aliens sending out radio transmissions, then we would have detected them. So it stands to reason that we aren't close to a bunch of aliens that are doing that. Beyond that, the reasons are anyone's guess. Feel free to hypothesize to your heart's content.

The Inverse Square Law is enough to dispel the possibility of aliens picking up our TV/radio signals, or we theirs. The only real possibility of receiving an alien radio signal is if they intentionally beamed a focused signal right at us.

This article is so good, I want to take it out, buy it a nice dinner, see a movie, bring it home... and **** its brains out.

That's an interesting theory, but I am probably going to stick with what my astronomy professor told me a few years ago. His theory is who's to say they use the same technology as us? These aliens come from different planets that are from completely different environments than us. Thus, they will have to only use the resources that they have. The technology they make probably will not be compatible with ours. They could be sending us messages right now, but we wouldn't know because we have no method of detecting it.

There is another theory I just recently snooped up called The Fermi Paradox. You guys can read about it HERE. It's a decently long read, but very interesting if you're into that kind of stuff. I didn't finish reading it, but what I got from it so far is that intelligent life is much harder to come across than you think.

Maybe they just don't wanna be detected.

WTF are you on about?

Hartsickdiscpl has been in contact with them for years.

This. Shit is just too far away unfortunately.

i get static on radio stations 100 miles away so it can't be much of a mystery why we can't receive any transmissions from 1,000 light years away.

also while i believe the universe is crawling with lifeforms the number that are at our level or beyond has got to be rare.

time to face facts, we are stranded on an infinitesimally small island in a sea of infinity and we are never going to make contact with anything because of that.

every species in the universe that is sentient and possesses radio or beyond level tech make the proverbial needle in a haystack easy to find in comparison.

That's not a confirmed fact; it's you stating an opinion forcefully.

Here's why: they don't exist.

Even on our own planet we haven't discovered every species.