We've only been making radio broadcasts for about 100 years so the part of the milky way that we could be said to have 'communicated' with is very tiny. There could be interstellar wars going on on the opposite side of the Milky Way and we'd never know it.
I've been wondering about radio-wave attenuation. Do they get weaker in space? Do they become more directional? I'd appreciate it if anyone knows the answers.
udee79
The radio waves decrease in energy by the square of the distance. That is the real killer. I don't think we have anything on earth that could be picked up more than a few light years away. And the most powerful transmitters are usually attached to antennas that are very directional so the hypothetical alien would have to have our antenna pointing at it.."
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