Culture
The Search for Extraterrestrial City Life
Astrophysicists suggest looking for the shimmering light of cities on far off planets
The nighttime light of cities could be a new target in the search for extra-terrestrial life. A recent paper by Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Edwin Turner of Princeton University suggests that we should be scouring faraway planets for urban metropolises.
It’s an idea that relies on a lot of assumptions being true, but the basic premise is that if there are planets with human-like intelligent life, they'll likely have invented their way out of the dark nights caused by revolving around a sun. In other words, cities full of lights shining out, waiting to be seen.