Would alien invaders really need to be that advanced?

[kharn the betrayer]

It doesn't really matter how advanced they are because all we would have to do is upload a virus to the mothership.

why not just upload Windows Vista? far easier than making a custom Virus and gets the job done

[MB.Eddie]

It doesn't really matter how advanced they are because all we would have to do is upload a virus to the mothership.

Lol. I was thinking the exact same thing

Our problem as a species is we are still too busy fighting ourselves to put real effort and resources into space projects

[343_Guilty_Spark]

i doubt they would i mean we dont have any space bourne vessels. and our main defence is a load of fighter jets that are useless about 40,000 feet

[the fifth man]

Our problem as a species is we are still too busy fighting ourselves to put real effort and resources into space projects

Sad, but very true. If we could actually get along with one another, as a species, imagine how far we could have come by now where space travel and exploration is concerned. It is so sad that we are still using shuttles designed in the 60s.

[jds1982]

To get here from at least 5 light years away and not dy you would have to be a lot more advance than us.

If they could get their ship up to 10% of light speed, which is theoretically possible with an Orion type ship, they could be here in 50 years. That is well within a human lifespan, and who knows what type of lifespan they would have. If it was a generation ship, their children would be the one to attack us, if they had sleeper technology, it wouldn't even be a problem. I'm pretty sure at 10% the speed of light significant relatavistic effects come into play, but I don't know what to what degree.

[jds1982]

Indeed, if their goal was simply to exterminate most of us and not conquer the planet mostly intact, it would be a great deal easier for them.

They'd just need to launch 2 ships from their homeworld. One that decelerates upon reaching Earth and one that doesn't

If they just wanted us gone they could just fire the relativistic missile from their homeworld in the same fashion and cause an instant planet-wide catastrophe on Earth without ever leaving the comfort of their homes.

Sounds like a pretty good story!

That being said, what do you imagine our hypothetical, non-super advanced aliens would be like?

[Wraith Scientist]

I'm pretty sure at 10% the speed of light significant relatavistic effects come into play, but I don't know what to what degree.

10% of the speed of light only gives a lorentz factor of 1.005, so time would run .5% out of sync and the ship would be .5% heavier, which isn't a lot.

That being said, what do you imagine our hypothetical, non-super advanced aliens would be like?

They'd need a good motive, and the common sci-fi justifications of plundering material resources and enslaving a planet for an alien empire just aren't that practical in real life.

Resources are far more common elsewhere. Even volatiles and water ice are abundant in the trojan asteroids of the outer gas giants, and in comets. Asteroids and other small bodies contain vast resources (some of which are rare on Earth) without being located in an energy-costly gravity well. The aliens can get whatever resources they need from their home system.

Empires in space would be very difficult to hold together due to the communication and travel lag due to the light barrier, which it's pretty reasonable to assume is the ultimate speed limit of the universe.

Finding life on another world would be a scientific goldmine and a valuable opertunity for study, not to mention the cultural impact of contact with a new species, bringing new perspectives. For a civilisation inclined towards biomimicry, life on Earth's billions of years of evolution have generated a vast repository of biochemical tricks, adaptions and useful organisms - an invaluable resource. Biological mechanisms from Earth can be copied (or simply harvested) for scientific and technological advancement.

In science fiction aliens are either violent imperialistic invaders (in which case the plucky humans will heroically repel them) or total pacifists (in which case the greedy, selfish, fearful humans will slaughter and exploit them).
Real aliens are likely to be neither, but differing psychologies (ie. the Fithp from Footfall) might cause problems.

Sci-fi aliens also usually lack any sort of individuality, and are always just a reflection of one facet of humans (cowardly, agressive, scientific and logical, different-shaped forhead but otherwise indistinguishably human etc.). Real extraterrestrials would be likely to be jarringly alien, nothing like sci-fi aliens, and would probably more varied too - just look the diversity of culture and custom and behavior on Earth. How would you react to a gas-bag creature which communicates through a combination of smell and electric fields, "sees" by sensing local changes in pressure indicating movement (like a shark's lateral line), and lives in a completely different environment, classifying Earth as "uninhabitable".

[jds1982]

Great post. I agree that with less than light speed travel a space empire would be impossible to hold together. However it is possible that like the Fithp the aliens might be refugees, or exiles, and crave life on a planetary surface which would give them reason to try and conquer us

[AvatarIII]

Sci-fi aliens also usually lack any sort of individuality, and are always just a reflection of one facet of humans (cowardly, agressive, scientific and logical, different-shaped forhead but otherwise indistinguishably human etc.). Real extraterrestrials would be likely to be jarringly alien, nothing like sci-fi aliens, and would probably more varied too - just look the diversity of culture and custom and behavior on Earth. How would you react to a gas-bag creature which communicates through a combination of smell and electric fields, "sees" by sensing local changes in pressure indicating movement (like a shark's lateral line), and lives in a completely different environment, classifying Earth as "uninhabitable".

cant you remember the gadmeer?

but i agree with you totally on that, i read a lot of sci-fi and my favourite aliens are always the least human ones. one of my favourite series of books involves aliens known as the hydrogues, liquid hydrogen based life forms that live in the centre of gas giants.
and if anyone has seen the documentry series "Alien Planet" that really goes in depth into how alien life would be different on different worlds
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence...et/splash.html

[Quinn Mallory]

Not sure if people mentioned this already, but the aliens do need to be advanced enough to even find us in the first place. I know we have send signal out to space to find intelligent life but when you factor in how long it takes for the signal to travel (even at the speed of light) and how long it would take for anyone to respond to it (not to mention the odd of finding that needle in the haystack), we're probably safe from invasion from not so advanced aliens for thousands of years.

[jds1982]

Not sure if people mentioned this already, but the aliens do need to be advanced enough to even find us in the first place. I know we have send signal out to space to find intelligent life but when you factor in how long it takes for the signal to travel (even at the speed of light) and how long it would take for anyone to respond to it (not to mention the odd of finding that needle in the haystack), we're probably safe from invasion from not so advanced aliens for thousands of years.

I was operating under the assumption that these aliens would be relatively close, as in within 20 light years. Also it wouldn't take them detecting a radio signal from us for them to find Earth. We've already begun to find new terrestrial planets, and as I've said before this is something WE could accomplish if we had the will to do so, so it is within the realm of possibility.
Imagine a human built ark traveling to another star system where we have detected an Earth-like world. En route , and about 60 years away from the planet the ark picks up radio signals from this world. It has three options, divert and avoid the world, prepare for peaceful contact, or use that 60 years to prepare for invasion. The first option might not be doable, colonization of this world was the whole reason the ark was built, there may not be enough supplies to go somewhere else. Option two is certainly preferable, but imagine the radio signals you receive parrallel those of Earth in the 1940's, preparing for a hostile encounter may be the only real option available.

[boxvic]

It wouldn't take a super advanced alien species to reach earth, heck if humans had the ability that some reptiles have to hibernate we could have already launched a planet bound expedition. All it would take would be a long living or hibernating species that has the desire to reach Earth- wouldn't really require the alien to be much more advanced than us.

In fact, I would assume any alien that would have the ability to reach Earth would have less militaristic ability than we currently have. Earth has spent it's time and money on the military while an alien species might have spent its time on figuring out how to get here.

Plus don't assume that spaceships armed with weapons give them an advantage. Both Russia and America control sat-killer Satellites than can launch several kinetic kill rockets designed to kill other satellites, space stations, and space shuttles. Unless the alien ship has shields the several sat-killers orbiting Earth could destroy several ships.

[jds1982]

What are the range of those satellite killers, and would point defense lasers render them useless?

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Laser point defence weapons are only any good if you can get a lock. and as the Space craft may be unarmed then why pose a question that could be a bit superfluos. and the Sat-killerrs range is uite large not sure of the actual range.

[jds1982]

Laser point defence weapons are only any good if you can get a lock. and as the Space craft may be unarmed then why pose a question that could be a bit superfluos. and the Sat-killerrs range is uite large not sure of the actual range.

How is that a superfluous question? The thread is about alien invaders. I'm pretty sure they might come armed, and point defense lasers are a weapon they could and are even likely to have.