Noosignatures were proposed to fill the gap between biosignatures (chemical signs of life) and technosignatures (detectable advanced technology like radio signals). They indicate intelligent activity that is not necessarily technological. Examples include:
- Stone tools (e.g., Acheulean hand axes)
- Architecture or carvings
- Undeciphered writing systems (e.g., Indus Valley script)
- Complex cultural products such as bread, used as a thought experiment for measurable complexity
Chemical signs of possible life go back billions of years on earth. Production of radio waves, a bit over a hundred. Noosignatures on earth would go back maybe 3 million years or so. Exactly how you could detect these from earth is unclear.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I learned something noo today.
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All I noo, er, know about Brewster Rockit is that he’s a Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers ‘space hero’ parody…and he’s an idiot.
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Words beginning in “noo-” like “noosignature” and “noosphere” (from which the former derives) would seem to be pronounced like ‘NOH-oh-‘ not ‘noo’ as in “noon”. Lexically analogous to “zoological” which is pronounced ‘ZOH-oh-LAH-jih-cuhl’.
The second ‘o’ often has a diaresis to make this clearer.
That pronouciation of “noosignature” would make the misunderstanding in the comic more understandable.
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@Powers: I’ve removed the reference to pronouncing “noo-” like “noon” since most of the places I checked seem to agree with you. Thanks.
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And then there’s nous, an English word but taken from the Greek. It seems the words in noo- are also from the same Greek root but influenced by French.
From Etymonline:
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“Noosignatures on earth would go back maybe 3 million years or so. Exactly how you could detect these from earth is unclear.”
Archeology?
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Brewster Rockit is a very underrated comic.
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He is not searching for much of anything with that telescope.
Am I doing this right? Complaining about piddling details in a comic?
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Mitch4 (5): Is that “nous” as in the French pronoun, or is it something else, perhaps pronounced NOH-uss?
Also, there are these “Like” stars. For some while, they worked in Safari (for me, anyhow) but not in Chrome or Firefox (usually popped up and quickly dropped a blank password window). Now they don’t work in Safari either.
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@Powers: Welp, I thought I learned something. NOO such luck, I guess.
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Every single item you list as non-technology is, in fact, a technology.
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Carl, yes, of course they are, but they are not considered advanced technology that might be detectable from another planet. Though I suppose that large buildings like the Great Wall could fit as Nootechnology and be detectable from space, if you are close enough.
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@Boise Ed Nous rhymes with house.
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From Dictionary.com, Amedrican section of “nous” entry:
[noos, nous] / nus, naʊs /
[The first pronunciation shown is “noose”]
[The second pronunciation is the one Ian was pointing out, rhymes w “house”]
[They are giving two pronunciations, in two different systems: first some kind of “intuitive” spelling used by dictionaries(in square brackets), then second a simplified IPA (between slashes)]
[Both pronunciations have the s at the end pronounced, so it is not like the french pronoun, where the s is silent]
noun
1 Greek Philosophy. mind or intellect.
2 Philosophy. (inNeoplatonism ) the first and purest emanation of the One, regarded as the self-contemplating order of the universe.
British section
/ naʊs /
[This is still the “rhymes with house” pronunciation]
noun
1 metaphysics mind or reason, esp when regarded as the principle governing all things
2 slang common sense; intelligence
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And here it is from Merriam-Webster: (With the Simple Definition switch set to OFF)
b
2
ˈnau̇s chiefly British : common sense, alertness
These are the same pronunciations as before, slightly different notation. The apostrophes before the word indicate a stressed syllable, which is probably unnecessary when these monosyllables are shown in isolation. The u in my copy/paste is actually on the site a special symbol
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