by Bob Silberg
Most visitors to the METI website no doubt consider the reasons for wanting to contact intelligent extraterrestrials obvious and compelling. Me, too. But let's acknowledge that some intelligent humans, including no less a luminary than Stephen Hawking, have argued that it is too risky to expose ourselves to possibly hostile beings who are our technological superiors.
by Joshua Bourne, Social Media Administrator, METI International
You may have come across an earlier, riveting blog post from us, written by William Alba, called “Asking Questions,” in which it is suggested we ask an array of questions to aliens. But perhaps there is one question aliens would want to ask us: why do we want to establish contact in the first place?
By Jerome H. Barkow, Member of METI International’s Board of Directors
Everyone seems to want to conquer Afghanistan, perhaps because its location is strategic. Wikipedia lists some 9 invasions (or 13 if we count each of both Britain and the Soviet Union’s three attempts separately). Success is always temporary, as the most recent invaders have learned. Geography in large measure explains why Afghanistan is so expensive to invade and conquer and why any conquests are temporary. The country consists of mountains, with fertile valleys between them where farming villages can thrive, and also of various deserts. Defenders can hide in their familiar mountains, attacking at will, and sooner or later the invaders withdraw.
By William Edmondson
It is timely, therefore, that there is METI focussed discussion of the detection of a tone from a source aligned with Proxima Centauri. For background information about the “discovery” go here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alien-hunters-discover-mysterious-signal-from-proxima-centauri/
Julio D. Carbajal Smith
Mexico City
Imagining extraterrestrial life—from UFO sitings to the possibility of real intelligence— we pause to think. Some of us are afraid. Some truly want to see life outside of Earth. Some are oblivious. Like many, I really do not believe we are alone. How many galaxies are out there? How many stars within those galaxies and how many planets circling those stars? I feel like it is egotistical to assume we are the only ones in the universe.
So, what if there is life?
By William Alba
William Alba is Associate Teaching Professor in Chemistry and Assistant Dean for Diversity in the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he directs two academic programs. He serves on the Advisory Council of METI International, the Advisory Board of Arch Mission Foundation, and the Board of Directors of the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology.
Earlier this year, astronomers with the Breakthrough Listen project detected a narrow-band radio signal (BLC1) from the direction of Proxima Centauri. Scientists continue to verify and analyze data to determine whether BLC1 might be an intentional message from an extraterrestrial civilization.
METI, the scientific organization devoted to Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is excited to announce that actor Anson Mount has joined its Board of Directors. Mount stars as Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise in the upcoming CBS All Access television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Author: Douglas Vakoch
Douglas Vakoch is the President of METI International
Teaser: Rage, father-son conflict, and a distant husband launch Ad Astra, a science fiction action film.
The further we travel into outer space, the more we realize our most important connections are down here on Earth. That’s the message of Ad Astra, a science fiction action movie that doubles as a psychological study of deep space exploration and complex intimate relationships.
SPOILERS FOLLOW.
Carl L. DeVito.
Carl L. DeVito is a member of the Emeritus faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. Here he discusses his new book “Space, Life, Science and Stories: Our Recurring Interest in the Possibility of Cosmic Visitors”.
Some time ago an unusual book sold over 70 million copies and was translated to 28 languages. It claimed that aliens had come here and greatly influenced the development of humanity. This was just one of a number of surges of public interest in the possibility of our having cosmic visitors. Unfortunately, the scientific community rarely addresses the stories behind these surges and, when pressed, some among them respond with ridicule.
By Morris Jones
Morris Jones, PhD, is an Australia-based journalist and has acted as an advisor on scientific matters to the media. He can be reached at morrisjones@hotmail.com.
Multi-messenger astronomy is a hot ticket in science right now. Basically, it means observing the same astronomical target (or event) with different types of instruments. Some phenomena can produce flashes of light (visible with optical telescopes), radio bursts (collected by radio telescopes), and particle emissions (which show up in neutrino detectors and other instruments). Combining simultaneous observations from two or more instruments with different capabilities can help to reveal the true nature of strange things in the universe.