RESEARCH EMBARGO IN EFFECT - CONTENTS RESTRICTED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Unexplained shifts in Schwabe cycle periodicity from 2012 to the present are a subject of ongoing uncertainty and contentious debate in heliophysical research[1,2,3].  Solar faculae and sunspots have increased to record densities, with basic models poorly equipped to account for these observations[4].  The so-called “Grand Maximum" solar event has been proposed as a purely physical process which might provide such a basis [4,5].  Despite attempts to explain these phenomena with new discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamic systems, however, proponents fail to substantiate their claims [6].

Beginning in 2018, the heliophysical research community was challenged by the “Astrogeobiological hypothesis," first presented at conference by Massey et al. [7].  Despite predictable outcry of “science fiction doomsday scenarios," this model was the first to provide adequate accounting of all observed deviations on the solar surface, and was soon followed by supporting research [8,9,10,11,12]. 

Patel et al. (2021) first determined the necessary metabolic profile of the entity, now dubbed “The Lithophage"; the significance of this discovery is obviously indicated by the use of the singular[13].  Some have emphasized the purely mathematical nature of Patel et al., decrying the research as merely an abstract model- see e.g. “Reading the Tea Leaves of Heliomagnetic Abberation" Li et al. (2023)[14].  However, to most of the heliophysics community, Patel et. al. represents a phase change in research focus.

This paper adopts the “Great Filter" perspective, urging diasporic high-frequency Voyager-type data stores to be launched at 10^6 or greater nearby star systems, with the goal of impacting terrestrial bodies in those systems which are, like Earth, of nutritional value to the Lithophage, in a variety of data formats and encodings to maximize the chance of any intelligences on these bodies being given an earlier warning than humanity.  It argues that this cost-effective measure can be pursued in parallel with more dramatic but less plausible interventions, in accordance with our obligations to the larger extrahuman community which may yet exist.