asu in the news 02-06-08 to - ASU News - Arizona State University

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Source: Universe Today
Title: Are we sending a bit too much information into the c...
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Full Text: Written by Ian O’Neill
ASU in the News
On Monday (February 4, 7 pm EST) NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) toward the North Star,
Polaris. The transmission sent was the song ’Across the Universe’ by the Beatles intended for any
sufficiently advanced extra terrestrial life to listen to. Although this is a nice gesture and may nurture
Beatles fans beyond our solar system, some scientists have expressed concerns for advertising our
planet’s location to the universe, just in case the aliens listening in aren’t that friendly after all& The
main argument against trying to communicate with other civilizations is the possibility that if there are
aliens out there listening in, then perhaps they might not be friendly. By giving away our location,
critical facts about our society, biology and intelligence, we have already given possible alien
aggressors a strategic advantage. This threat is obviously very far-fetched, but sending information
about our current state of humanity will be inaccurate when signals are received in hundreds,
thousands or millions of year’s time, perhaps putting our future generations in a negative light. ’Before
sending out even symbolic messages, we need an open discussion about the potential risks [&] It’s
very charitable to send out our encyclopedia, but that may short-change future generations.’ -
Douglas Vakoch of the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California.
Vakoch is not concerned that we are risking an alien invasion any time soon, but does highlight the
need to discuss the implications of attempted extra-terrestrial communication in an open scientific
forum before acting.
If there are any advanced alien beings out there however, they are keeping very quiet. The purpose
of the ’Sound of Silence’ meeting is to discuss why the SETI project has, thus far, not found anything
compelling to suggest there are any life forms transmitting their presence to the universe. ’Have we
been looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong way?’ asks Prof Paul Davies of
Arizona State University. ’The purpose of this meeting is to brainstorm some radically new thinking
on the subject.’ Source: Telegraph.co.uk Filed under: NASA, SETI
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