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The Silurian hypothesis is a
thought experiment A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most anci ...
which assesses modern science's ability to detect evidence of a prior advanced civilization, perhaps several million years ago.


Explanation

The idea was presented in a 2018 paper by
Adam Frank Adam Frank (born August 1, 1962) is an American physicist, astronomer, and writer. His scientific research has focused on computational astrophysics with an emphasis on star formation and late stages of stellar evolution. His work includes studi ...
, an astrophysicist at the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...
, and
Gavin Schmidt Gavin A. Schmidt is a climatologist, climate modeler and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, and co-founder of the award-winning climate science blog RealClimate. Work He was educated at The Corsham Schoo ...
, director of the
Goddard Institute for Space Studies The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) is a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center affiliated with the Columbia University Earth Institute. The institute is located at Columbia University in Ne ...
. Frank and Schmidt imagined an advanced civilization before humans and pondered whether it would "be possible to detect an
industrial civilization Industrial civilization refers to the state of civilization following the Industrial Revolution, characterised by widespread use of powered machines. The transition of an individual region from pre-industrial society into an industrial society ...
in the geological record". They argue as early as the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
era (~350 million years ago) "there has been sufficient fossil carbon to fuel an industrial civilization comparable with our own". However, they also wrote: "While we strongly doubt that any previous industrial civilization existed before our own, asking the question in a formal way that articulates explicitly what evidence for such a civilization might look like raises its own useful questions related both to
astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...
and to
Anthropocene The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. , neither the International Commissi ...
studies." The term "Silurian hypothesis" was inspired by the fictional species called the
Silurians The Silurians are a race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The species first appeared in ''Doctor Who'' in the 1970 serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', and were created ...
from the British television series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. According to Frank and Schmidt, since
fossilization A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
is relatively rare and little of Earth's exposed surface is from before the
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
time period (~2.5 million years ago), there is low probability of finding direct evidence of such a civilization, such as technological artifacts. After a great time span, the researchers concluded, contemporary humans would be more likely to find indirect evidence such as rapid changes in temperature or climate (as occurred during the
Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), alternatively (ETM1), and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or "", was a time period with a more than 5–8 °C global average temperature rise across the event. This climate event o ...
~55 million years ago); evidence of tapping
geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...
sources; or anomalies in
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
such as their chemical composition (''e.g.'', evidence of artificial
fertilizers A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
) or isotope ratios (''e.g.'', there is no naturally occurring
plutonium-244 Plutonium-244 (244Pu) is an isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 80 million years. This is longer than any of the other isotopes of plutonium and longer than any other actinide isotope except for the three naturally abundant ones: uranium ...
outside a
supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
, so evidence of this isotope could indicate a technologically advanced civilization). Objects that could indicate possible evidence of past civilizations include plastics and nuclear wastes residues buried deep underground or on the ocean floor. Frank and Schmidt speculate such a civilization could have gone to space and left artifacts on other celestial bodies, such as the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
and
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. Evidence for artifacts on these two worlds would be easier to find than on Earth, where erosion and tectonic activity would erase much of it. Frank first approached Schmidt to discuss how to detect alien civilizations via their potential impact upon climate through the study of ice cores and tree rings. They both realized that the hypothesis could be expanded and applied to Earth and humanity due to the fact that humans have been in their current form for the past 300,000 years and have had sophisticated technology for only the last few centuries.


In popular culture

Frank and Schmidt cite the novel ''
Inherit the Stars The ''Giants'' series is a group of five science fiction novels by James P. Hogan, beginning with his first novel, 1977's ''Inherit the Stars''. Origins Hogan revealed in the introduction to the omnibus edition ''The Two Moons'', that ''Inher ...
'' by James P. Hogan (1977, Balantine Books) as containing a similar hypothesis, but also say they were surprised by how rarely the concept was explored in science fiction. ''
Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to: * Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series * Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...
'' was a 1970s children's TV series in which a humanoid reptilian species, the Sleestaks, are in decline after their industrial society harmed the environment. It was later remade as another series and as a
movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
.
Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...
's ''
The Time Traders ''The Time Traders'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, the first in ''The Time Traders'' series. It was first published in 1958, and has been printed in several editions. It was updated by Norton in 2000 to account for r ...
'' (1958) and later books in the series discussed the idea that most physical evidence of ancient advanced civilizations on Earth could be removed in mere millennia by glaciers, volcanic eruptions and decay. The '' Star Trek Voyager'' episode "Distant Origin" has the crew encounter the Voth, a spacefaring race that may have evolved on Earth from dinosaurs. When discussing this theory with a Voth scientist, Chakotay speculates that their ancestors evolved on an isolated continent that was destroyed by cataclysm, with all traces buried under oceans or kilometers of rock. ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' featured the ''
Silurians The Silurians are a race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The species first appeared in ''Doctor Who'' in the 1970 serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', and were created ...
'' who are a reptilian race from the earth's ancient past. The idea of pre-human civilizations is explored in
At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was ori ...
and other works by H.P. Lovecraft. In
Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...
's short stor
The Green Marauder
an alien over 700 million years old (due to relativistic travel) tells a human about the last time it visited Earth, and the hopeless plea from Earth's anaerobic civilization for help against the growing environmental threat of chlorophyll.


See also

*
Ancient astronauts Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a pseudoscientific hypothesis which holds that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this ...
*
Gap creationism Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or "the Gap Theory") is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-''yom'' creation period, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved six lit ...
*
Out-of-place artifact An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt or oopart) is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest found in an unusual context, which challenges conventional historical chronology by its presence in that context. Such artifac ...
*
Permian–Triassic extinction event The Permian–Triassic (P–T, P–Tr) extinction event, also known as the Latest Permian extinction event, the End-Permian Extinction and colloquially as the Great Dying, formed the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as ...
* ''
The World Without Us ''The World Without Us'' is a 2007 non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. It i ...
'' *
Xenoarchaeology Xenoarchaeology, a branch of xenology dealing with extraterrestrial cultures, is a hypothetical form of archaeology that exists mainly in works of science fiction. The field is concerned with the study of the material remains to reconstruct and i ...


References


Further reading

* {{Cite journal , last1=Wright , first1=Jason , title=Prior Indigenous Technological Species , journal=International Journal of Astrobiology , volume=17 , pages=96–100 , date=30 Apr 2017 , doi=10.1017/S1473550417000143 , arxiv=1704.07263, s2cid=119028817 Hypotheses Thought experiments 2018 introductions Astrobiology Extinction Paleontological concepts and hypotheses