The continuous belief that there are other-worldly beings out there remains strong, especially for scientists, and it seems like they are still attempting to reach out.
For years, astronomers and scientists have been looking towards the sky and scanning it in hopes of contact with beings or civilizations beyond our mother planet that could possibly carry advanced technology and knowledge.
There has always been a belief that there are 300 million habitable worlds within the Milky Way galaxy and possibly beyond, so astronomers believe that there might be life forms that have developed somehow along with supreme intelligence and technology.
However, for years of scanning the skies, they have been met with what is called as “The Great Silence” — which astronomers and scientists are still contemplating today.
While the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been around for some time, messaging extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) has not been commonly used. In the next two months, two teams of astronomers are planning to send a message to outer space in hopes of communicating with intelligent aliens who might be listening. Blasting Earth’s location is akin to something like a ‘bonfire’ in space to catch the attention of other life forms.
One team is going to use a giant new radio telescope which will send a message in China around the year 2023 through a radio pulse that will travel skyward.
This message—dubbed as “The Beacon in the Galaxy”—is composed of prime numbers and mathematical operators. It also contains information such as the biochemistry of life, human forms, a time stamp, and, of course, Earth’s location.
The other message from the other team is targeted at only one object: a star called TRAPPIST-1 which they predict to have a quicker response. This message will be sent in England. The star itself has seven planets; three are similar to Earth, which could possibly harbor life.
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There are mixed feelings about this attempt to contact potential beings that are more advanced than us. Remember that the late Stephen Hawking did warn against the possible dangers of successfully contacting these “aliens.”
There is always a possibility that giving away the Earth’s location to these beings may harm us in the future or, on the bright side, could help us move forward from our still ‘primitive’ technology.
What do you feel about this? Do you think there are aliens who will one day reply to these message attempts? Do you think they are already here?
Sources: Arstechnica, The Conversation