Projections of Earth's technosphere: Scenario modeling, worldbuilding, and overview of remotely detectable technosignatures

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Haqq-Misra, Jacob, Profitiliotis, George, Kopparapu, Ravi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Haqq-Misra, Jacob
Profitiliotis, George
Kopparapu, Ravi
author_facet Haqq-Misra, Jacob
Profitiliotis, George
Kopparapu, Ravi
contents This study uses methods from futures studies to develop a set of ten self-consistent scenarios for Earth's 1000-year future, which can serve as examples for defining technosignature search strategies. We apply a novel worldbuilding pipeline that evaluates the dimensions of human needs in each scenario as a basis for defining the observable properties of the technosphere. Our scenarios include three with zero-growth stability, two that have collapsed into a stable state, one that oscillates between growth and collapse, and four that continue to grow. Only one scenario includes rapid growth that could lead to interstellar expansion. We examine absorption spectral features for a few scenarios to illustrate that nitrogen dioxide can serve as a technosignature to distinguish between present-day Earth, pre-agricultural Earth, and an industrial 1000-year future Earth. Three of our scenarios are spectrally indistinguishable from pre-agricultural Earth, even though these scenarios include expansive technospheres. Up to nine of these scenarios could represent steady-state examples that could persist for much longer timescales, and it remains possible that short-duration technospheres could be the most abundant. Our scenario set provides the basis for further systematic thinking about technosignature detection as well as for imagining a broad range of possibilities for Earth's future.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_00067
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Projections of Earth's technosphere: Scenario modeling, worldbuilding, and overview of remotely detectable technosignatures
Haqq-Misra, Jacob
Profitiliotis, George
Kopparapu, Ravi
Physics and Society
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Popular Physics
This study uses methods from futures studies to develop a set of ten self-consistent scenarios for Earth's 1000-year future, which can serve as examples for defining technosignature search strategies. We apply a novel worldbuilding pipeline that evaluates the dimensions of human needs in each scenario as a basis for defining the observable properties of the technosphere. Our scenarios include three with zero-growth stability, two that have collapsed into a stable state, one that oscillates between growth and collapse, and four that continue to grow. Only one scenario includes rapid growth that could lead to interstellar expansion. We examine absorption spectral features for a few scenarios to illustrate that nitrogen dioxide can serve as a technosignature to distinguish between present-day Earth, pre-agricultural Earth, and an industrial 1000-year future Earth. Three of our scenarios are spectrally indistinguishable from pre-agricultural Earth, even though these scenarios include expansive technospheres. Up to nine of these scenarios could represent steady-state examples that could persist for much longer timescales, and it remains possible that short-duration technospheres could be the most abundant. Our scenario set provides the basis for further systematic thinking about technosignature detection as well as for imagining a broad range of possibilities for Earth's future.
title Projections of Earth's technosphere: Scenario modeling, worldbuilding, and overview of remotely detectable technosignatures
topic Physics and Society
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Popular Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.00067