<story><title>Arecibo Observatory Detects Mysterious, Energetic Radio Burst</title><url>http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/20/mysterious-energetic-radio-burst/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Houshalter</author><text>Would aliens have any interest in prime numbers, like Earth mathematicians do?</text></item><item><author>steeve</author><text>Call me (and Dr Arroway of course) when it starts generating prime numbers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>electromagnetic</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s an interesting question, which simply answered is a plain yes or no.&lt;p&gt;If they use technology as we understand it, then presumably yes. Prime numbers are just a unique artifact of basic arithmetic. Our knowledge of prime numbers appears to date back to at least Ancient Egyptian times, so it&amp;#x27;s quite safe to assume an alien race capable of something as technologically adept as transmitting a signal with the purposeful intent of contacting another race would know what prime numbers are.&lt;p&gt;The issue is we&amp;#x27;re limited to our view point, we&amp;#x27;re exceptionally naive of anything different as we&amp;#x27;ve never experienced it. So, is our technology the only way?&lt;p&gt;We&amp;#x27;re designing nanotechnology that could fabricate anything we could dream of, but what if an alien race ended up evolving a unique cell that could do it too. We have white blood cells, they have nanofab cells. Would they even comprehend math if they&amp;#x27;re just growing jet engines and rocket nozzles?&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s this latter, our unknowable unknowns that will broadside us. How do we relate to something that&amp;#x27;s unfathomably alien to us.&lt;p&gt;The good news is you and I likely won&amp;#x27;t be around to care when we find out what aliens are really like.</text></comment>
<story><title>Arecibo Observatory Detects Mysterious, Energetic Radio Burst</title><url>http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/20/mysterious-energetic-radio-burst/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Houshalter</author><text>Would aliens have any interest in prime numbers, like Earth mathematicians do?</text></item><item><author>steeve</author><text>Call me (and Dr Arroway of course) when it starts generating prime numbers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>josai</author><text>Interesting question. Reducing it further, is the concept of mathematics, as we understand it, &lt;i&gt;required&lt;/i&gt; to develop high technology?&lt;p&gt;I would have thought the answer to be yes.</text></comment>