British astrophysicist thinks that advanced technological extraterrestrial civilizations might have turned into machines or… Cyber-aliens

According to renowned British astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees, scientists that are searching the cosmos for alien life should not only focus on finding organic life, but they should also look for possible signs generated by machines since it is very likely that there are extremely advanced alien civilizations that could have developed to the point and become living machines, or better said something like the ‘Borg’.

According to Nautil.us it is likely that extraterrestrial machines have evolved from being simple organic life forms and in the future, at the rate at which humans are developing, we could see a similar transition. According to the British Astrophysicist, on a planet orbiting a distant star much older than our sun, somewhere in the cosmos, live could have developed to the stage where organic life forms are now part organic part machine.

Interestingly, according to Rees’ calculations, in approximately one or two century’s life as we know it could become overwhelmed by Artificial Intelligence which will start to evolve on its own taking over the planet becoming the predominant species on Earth. But Rees isn’t the only one who warns us about potential AI threats. Elon Musk and Professor Stephen Hawking have done the same. This means that if we ever discover advanced alien beings in the cosmos, it is very likely that these civilizations are not organic but mechanical civilizations. According to Reese, it’s a mathematical question.

‘Non-biological “brains” may develop insights as far beyond our imaginings as string theory is for a mouse.’ – Nautil.us

Talking about SETI, the project in charge of seeking extraterrestrial life, Sir Martin Rees believes that although we might actually capture an ‘Alien’ transmission it would be nearly impossible for us to decode it because the message could have originated from an extremely complex machine which goes far beyond our understanding. These machines could have been in the distant past actual flesh and blood aliens who developed in time and are extinct.

The scientist also noted that, even if advanced intelligence spread throughout the cosmos, we would only be able to recognize only a tiny fraction of it.

“Even if intelligence were widespread in the cosmos, we may only ever recognize a small and atypical fraction of it. Some “brains” may package reality in a fashion that we can’t conceive. Others could be living contemplative lives, perhaps deep under some planetary ocean, doing nothing to reveal their presence. It makes sense to focus searches first on Earth-like planets orbiting long-lived stars.” States Rees.

Moreover, instead of sticking to the mainstream concept of ‘Civilization’ advanced alien beings could advance to the point of becoming a unified intelligence.

Featured image: www.deviantart.com (Alien Robots by AndyND)

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