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.
By Laura Welcher.
Laura Welcher is the director of Operations and the Long Now Library at the Long Now Foundation. She is also a member of the board of METI International.
Beth Laura O’Leary, New Mexico State University
Beth Laura O’Leary is a retired professor of Anthropology from New Mexico State University
Of all the kinds of unlikely scary stories humans have told each other about what might be 'out there', to me, this is the scariest. Our thanks to Rebecca Orchard for the grim details:
Rebecca Orchard is a fiction writer in the PhD program at Florida State University, and her work about the Voyager Golden Record has been profiled in the Guardian, BBC World Service Newshour, and Atlas Obscura.