# A new way to find life like ours on another planet **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318 "2021-12-19T18:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/41 "2021-12-23T15:50:20Z")
> [@robertmuler](#): > > Sunlight and artificial light are two distinctly different forms of light. The difference can be detected if we look for it. Perhaps if you moved slightly so that the Sun is not shining right in your eyes it would be easier to read the preceding replies in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/42 "2021-12-23T16:09:08Z")
They could use black holes as a cold reservoir, and so “emit” waste heat only inwards. You can get some truly impressive efficiencies out of what we consider “waste heat”, when your cold reservoir is at a millionth of a kelvin. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/43 "2021-12-23T16:12:02Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@robertmuler](#): > > > > Sunlight and artificial light are two distinctly different forms of light. The difference can be detected if we look for it. > > Perhaps if you moved slightly so that the Sun is not shining right in your eyes it would be easier to read the preceding replies in this thread? LOL! 🤣 You win the thread! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/44 "2021-12-23T16:23:02Z")
Fair enough, and that would indeed be a neat trick. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/45 "2021-12-23T17:28:12Z")
> [@robertmuler](#): > > We just need to retune some of these detectors to look for artificial light. Is “retune the detectors” anything like “reverse the polarity”? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318/46 "2021-12-23T17:47:06Z")
Don’t forget that there are many different kinds of artificial light, each of which differs from starlight in a different way, and the makers of artificial lights actively attempt to minimize the differences in many cases. Literally any deviation at all from what our models predict for starlight could be accounted for as artificial light, and at this level, we’re 100% guaranteed to see deviations from what our models predict, both because our models can’t be sufficiently detailed, and because all measurements contain measurement error. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-way-to-find-life-like-ours-on-another-planet/956318.md?page=2)