anybody
out there?
Are we alone in the universe? Do aliens really exist? And
if so, is there any way to contact them? Mankind has
been asking these questions for centuries, but it is only
in recent decades, with the benefit of rapid technological
advancements, that scientists have been able to attempt to
get some answers. Although the idea of communicating with
extraterrestrials is a controversial one, it is worth exploring,
if only to satisfy our curiosity about the mysterious universe
in which we live.
Our fascination with extraterrestrials reached a peak in
the nineteenth century, when a number of books and
articles were published on the subject. Many scientists and
astronomers of the time were convinced that alien lifeforms
existed; some even claimed that they had seen signs
of life on other planets. French inventor, Charles Cros, for
example, was convinced that the lights he’d observed on
Mars (which were probably clouds illuminated by the sun)
indicated the existence of a major city. Cros spent most of his
life trying to persuade the French government to pay for the
construction of an enormous mirror which would be used
for sending signals to the Martians. His plan was to ‘burn’
messages into the sand on Mars by reflecting sunlight on to
the surface of the planet. The French government, however,
was not convinced that Cros’s idea would work and did not
give him the money to build the mirror.
During the twentieth century, space travel became a
reality and scientists’ methods of ‘communicating’ with
extraterrestrials became more sophisticated. In 1972, NASA
(the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the
US) launched an unmanned spacecraft called Pioneer 10
into the solar system. The spacecraft carried with it a gold
plaque, the Pioneer Plaque, which featured diagrams of the
human body and of the Earth’s position in the solar system.
The purpose of the plaque was to communicate some basic
information about humankind to any intelligent species
that might come across the spacecraft.
In 1977, NASA launched two probes into the solar system,
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, in order to gather more information
about Jupiter and Saturn. Attached to the probes was a
gold record containing sounds and images representative
of life on Earth. Like the Pioneer Plaque, the record was
created with a view to communicating information about
our world to alien life-forms. Both probes will take about
40,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, the star nearest the
sun, and it will probably take that long for extraterrestrials
to receive the record, if they receive it at all.
Perhaps the most significant attempt at communication
with extraterrestrials was the 1974 ‘Arecibo Message’. This
was a radio message that was transmitted into space using
the Arecibo radio telescope which is located in Puerto
Rico. The message was composed of images which showed,
among other things, the numbers one to ten, the structure
of DNA, the figure of a man and the solar system. The
message was directed at a star cluster called M13, and the
transmission lasted about three minutes. Unfortunately,
the M13 cluster of stars is so far away from Earth that it
will take approximately 25,000 years for the message to
reach its destination, so we won’t be receiving a response
any time soon!
Today, it is the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
Institute in the US that continues the search for other life
in the universe. Since it was founded in 1984, the SETI
Institute has initiated a number of significant research
projects, including SETI@home, which gives the general
public the opportunity to become involved in the search
for extraterrestrials. All you have to do is download the
free software from the SETI@home website and, when your
computer is not in use (but connected to the Internet), the
software will collect data transmitted from a device located
near the Arecibo telescope. The data will then be sent to
members of the research team so that they can analyse it
and determine whether a signal has been received from
extraterrestrials.
In spite of our best efforts, we have yet to receive a
communication from aliens, but, while the possibility of
finding life on other planets exists, there will always be the
motivation to continue to try to make contact.
out there?
Are we alone in the universe? Do aliens really exist? And
if so, is there any way to contact them? Mankind has
been asking these questions for centuries, but it is only
in recent decades, with the benefit of rapid technological
advancements, that scientists have been able to attempt to
get some answers. Although the idea of communicating with
extraterrestrials is a controversial one, it is worth exploring,
if only to satisfy our curiosity about the mysterious universe
in which we live.
Our fascination with extraterrestrials reached a peak in
the nineteenth century, when a number of books and
articles were published on the subject. Many scientists and
astronomers of the time were convinced that alien lifeforms
existed; some even claimed that they had seen signs
of life on other planets. French inventor, Charles Cros, for
example, was convinced that the lights he’d observed on
Mars (which were probably clouds illuminated by the sun)
indicated the existence of a major city. Cros spent most of his
life trying to persuade the French government to pay for the
construction of an enormous mirror which would be used
for sending signals to the Martians. His plan was to ‘burn’
messages into the sand on Mars by reflecting sunlight on to
the surface of the planet. The French government, however,
was not convinced that Cros’s idea would work and did not
give him the money to build the mirror.
During the twentieth century, space travel became a
reality and scientists’ methods of ‘communicating’ with
extraterrestrials became more sophisticated. In 1972, NASA
(the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the
US) launched an unmanned spacecraft called Pioneer 10
into the solar system. The spacecraft carried with it a gold
plaque, the Pioneer Plaque, which featured diagrams of the
human body and of the Earth’s position in the solar system.
The purpose of the plaque was to communicate some basic
information about humankind to any intelligent species
that might come across the spacecraft.
In 1977, NASA launched two probes into the solar system,
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, in order to gather more information
about Jupiter and Saturn. Attached to the probes was a
gold record containing sounds and images representative
of life on Earth. Like the Pioneer Plaque, the record was
created with a view to communicating information about
our world to alien life-forms. Both probes will take about
40,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, the star nearest the
sun, and it will probably take that long for extraterrestrials
to receive the record, if they receive it at all.
Perhaps the most significant attempt at communication
with extraterrestrials was the 1974 ‘Arecibo Message’. This
was a radio message that was transmitted into space using
the Arecibo radio telescope which is located in Puerto
Rico. The message was composed of images which showed,
among other things, the numbers one to ten, the structure
of DNA, the figure of a man and the solar system. The
message was directed at a star cluster called M13, and the
transmission lasted about three minutes. Unfortunately,
the M13 cluster of stars is so far away from Earth that it
will take approximately 25,000 years for the message to
reach its destination, so we won’t be receiving a response
any time soon!
Today, it is the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
Institute in the US that continues the search for other life
in the universe. Since it was founded in 1984, the SETI
Institute has initiated a number of significant research
projects, including SETI@home, which gives the general
public the opportunity to become involved in the search
for extraterrestrials. All you have to do is download the
free software from the SETI@home website and, when your
computer is not in use (but connected to the Internet), the
software will collect data transmitted from a device located
near the Arecibo telescope. The data will then be sent to
members of the research team so that they can analyse it
and determine whether a signal has been received from
extraterrestrials.
In spite of our best efforts, we have yet to receive a
communication from aliens, but, while the possibility of
finding life on other planets exists, there will always be the
motivation to continue to try to make contact.
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