Dirk Schulze-Makuch - The Search For Biosignatures Is Hard. Should We Look For Technosignatures Instead?

The Search For Biosignatures Is Hard. Should We Look For Technosignatures Instead?

Should we be searching for life on other planets, or technology?

Key Takeaways

• Our quest to find life on other planets is currently tuned to biosignatures. But this search is far from straightforward, and there is always the risk of false positives.
• The best scenario we can hope for is to find a complex biosphere that produces multiple lines of evidence pointing to life. But what if we focused instead on technosignatures — evidence of technological activity from advanced civilizations?
• If a planet hosts technologically advanced life, it stands to reason that it would also host less complex life forms, and we should expect to see both kinds of signatures.