Stargazers prepare to make first contact with aliens by sending out ‘invitation’ to come visit us on Earth
Despite warnings from terrified scientists, we will begin streaming signals to Earth 2.0 by 2018
EARTH is preparing to send a signal to alien life in the galaxy – but we’re not entirely sure what to say.
After years of searching for ET with no luck, it’s no wonder scientists are getting fed up.
And so they’ve taken matters into their own hands.
Experts at San Francisco based Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or METI for short, will send signals to Proxima b from 2018.
The exoplanet (dubbed Earth 2.0) is the most likely to be home to alien life, according to space boffs.
The communications will be sent repeatedly using radio or laser signals to make sure possible listeners know they're deliberate.
Rather than unleash a War of Worlds style attack, the researchers believe the invitation could spark the beginning of a harmonious alliance.
Douglas Vakoch, president of METI and former director of Interstellar Message Composition at the Institute said: “If we want to start an exchange over the course of many generations, we want to learn and share information.”
But cross-planetary relations don't come cheap.
It will need around £818,000 every year just to keep the signal going.
And there’s the necessary powerful transmitter housed in a remote location that it will need to borrow.
But the real obstacle is what to say to our alien chums.
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We need a “common” language, Vakoch said.
“If they have radio transmitters, they’re good engineers.
“And if you’re a good engineer, you’ve got to know that 2 + 2 = 4,” he said.
“That’s true on Earth and it’s true on Proxima Centauri.”
Let’s hope aliens listened during maths class.
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