Many people are doing optical SETI where they are searching for fast-pulsed lasers.  The narrow beam and high directionality of lasers make them a good choice for interstellar communication. Here is an interesting article about my former Physics teacher discussing optical SETI:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2012/04/g...

Radio frequencies in the MHz and GHz range have better propagation characteristics than visible light has. For example: you can't see the stars on a cloudy night but your radio, GPS, and satellite TV work just fine.  So there are some advantages to using radio frequencies as an interstellar communications channel.

You mentioned quantum entanglement which seems like a great long distance communications concept but we're not even sure if it's possible. I've read the articles about some short distance quantum entanglement experiments but I'm skeptical.  We also don't know if this sort of communication is instantaneous or if it's limited by the speed of light.  I'd bet on the later. Same thing goes for the speed of gravitational waves.  We just don't know but I'd bet on the speed of light. 

You're absolutely correct that we can't fathom the technology or science discoveries that will be made in the next 1000 years.  Extraterrestrials may in fact be communicating across the cosmos using some sort of particle we don't know about.  There isn't much we can do about that except wait for someone to discover it.

The philosophy of SETI is to make the best use of the technology we have today. When new Physics discoveries are made they will be incorporated into the search.  The same goes for new computational discoveries. When Frank Drake did the first search 50+ years ago the FFT hadn't been discovered yet and that algorithm has been a revolution.  Who knows what the future has in store?  We have to search with what we've got and do the occasional upgrade when we can. The alternative is to do nothing and wait, forever.

I also don't agree with the optical approach, because that form of communication is also limited by the speed of light.
 
I seriously doubt advanced civilizations would use a form of communication or travel that is limited by the speed of light. -It would take a 150 000 years to reach the other side of the Milky way?
 
SETI is searching for advanced civilization based on signals from our own civilization, or maybe a little bit more advanced, but still based on our current understanding of physics.
 
Geoff Marcy says aliens could use lasers to communicate, but if you would send a message to a spaceship that is only as far as the sun from us, it would take 8min for the spaceship to receive the signal, and the spaceship would have to be standing in the exact same spot to where the signal was sent? You only have to think logically to know that this is a very primitive way to communicate.
 
I think the only signs of advanced life SETI could detect, would be from a civilization with more or less our own Technology, because that's what they're searching for.
 
If we would find a way to communicate or travel that's faster than the speed of light, we would stop using our current ways, and all traces of it would fall away, and you would not be able to detect it.
 
I am sure Aliens exist, but I am also sure most of them are way more advanced than us, and would not base their Technology on our primitive understanding of physics.
 
My point is, don't search for advanced life based on our current understanding of the universe.

Am I wrong?

Speculation abounds about advanced ET communication abilities, that we are focusing on the wrong frequencies, that these ETs wouldn't use the radio waves cause their too darn smart, blah, blah, blah.

I think/hope that any other advanced technological civilization would have gone through the same stages of communications in somewhat the same way we did.

Steps like the telegraph, radio, television, communications satellites, microwave based communications and on and on into the future.

So given the distances to exoplanets, it seems like a good possibility to me that we may very well be able to pick up there 'earlier' communications that are just arriving/about to arrive here on Earth.

Even if they've already advanced to communications way beyond our current capabilities/understanding, or blown themselves up 100+ light years ago, the signals they originally produced are still limited to the speed of light and therefore well within the reach of our current technology.

Probably already missed their version of I Love Lucy, darn

Any thoughts?

(repost from talk.setilive.org by me)

Wow! 

I think you're throwing poision tipped darts at the wrong target. I am a level "-1" SETIzen scientist when it comes to the technology, but a level "4" SETIzen scientist when it comes to really wanting to help in any small way I can in the search for ET. THAT, is why I signed up, for the first time I could help in the search, no prior experience required.

I realize now that many setiQuest members had a 'whole nother idea' about what 'doors' SETILive would unlock for the much more technical savy members of setiQuest.

Being a "moderator" over there on the 'dark side' doesn't mean I am oblivious to other channels of information. I spend part of every day I can learning on the setiQuest site, reading the blogs/forums on a regular basis and visiting the ever expanding sites I find relating to our quest for ET.

I have been able to produce my first image and plot following the guidelines at http://setiquest.org/wiki/index.php/Windows_setiQuest_Data_tutorial  (on a Win7 machine no less) thanks to the software and instructions on the setiQuest site. Big thanks to those who took the time to produce a Windows version!

So, no technical arguments from me, but I do feel it is my right to use the setiQuest forum to ask questions/leave comments and expect a certain amount of civility in the responses.

afeder, I am interested to know more about the inverse-square law as it applies to our quest for ET that you mentioned.

Your quote:

"Due to the inverse-square law, radio leakage from a civilization similar to ours would be severely diminished in power by the time it reaches Earth."

So, what I get out of your 'lesson' is that by the time a signal 100 light years away reaches us it will be 10,000 times weaker than the original signal (is that right?), so nothing except DSP technology (I have no idea what that is, but I'm going to look it up) can detect an ET signal buried within.

My question:

Does that mean that "I Love Lucy", ET style, could be picked up with DSP technology? I don't know, I'm just asking the question.

Final comment:
I hope everyone over here at setiQuest doesn't have the same opinion when a comment/question comes in from a member of SETILive who hasn't passed through setiQuest first. I sense your pain/frustrations in all things SETI, but I have learned that the 'wheels of SETI Science' turn at a much slower rate than we would like. Time will tell.

I'm not sure 'meg' would appreciate a similar response sent to her from a comment she might make over at SETILive to a valid question/commment. Right?

Thanks,
dpeace

setiQuest-

Thanks to all for clearing up (literally) my 'I Love Lucy' question!

I am a strong supporter of all things SETI, and what I can't do with my wallet, I will continue to do with my time.

Special thanks to janebird, jrseti, and of course to jctarter (what an honor)!

No worries!

dpeace