The head scientist in the international Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence committee explains how Earth’s introduction to extraterrestrials would most likely unfold. <\/p>
The year is 2063 and brilliant scientist Zefram Cochrane has just carried out the first successful test flight of a \u2018warp engine<\/a>\u2019, unlocking the seemingly impossible possibilities of faster-than-light travel.<\/p>\n The warp signature is detected by a nearby Vulcan ship, the crew of which determine that humanity has finally matured enough for first contact. And that \u2013\u00a0in the universe of Star Trek<\/em> \u2013 is how we become aware of the existence of aliens.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you could rule out such a scenario,\u201d says Prof Michael Garrett<\/a>, director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and the current chair of the International Academy of Astronautics Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (IAA SETI) Permanent Committee.<\/p>\n \u201cAny alien civilisation is likely to be significantly more advanced than we are. They could be cloaked.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Garrett, our knowledge of intelligent alien life is more likely to come from an observatory receiving an extraterrestrial signal rather than the sudden arrival of a ship.<\/p>\n In that scenario, organisations signed up to SETI have their own first contact protocol.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe first step is verification of the signal by an independent observatory,\u201d says Garrett, who explains that the discovery should be kept secret until wider verification takes place.<\/p>\n The discoverer\u2019s government, and eventually the United Nations, should then be informed, with the news of the contact announced to the public soon after. That is, at least, how it is meant to go.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether the protocol would actually be adopted, I have some doubts,\u201d says Garrett.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the signal is information-rich, for example, I think that has much larger consequences than a signal that just points towards there being an intelligent civilisation somewhere out there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will have a value that will become understood by governments very quickly. On some level, scientists have to protect themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is written in the protocols may not be what happens in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Depending on the nature of the alien signal, or whether we would even be able to understand or translate it, there is also the question of whether we would respond.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very difficult to stop people transmitting signals into space,\u201d says Garrett. \u201cAnd if you had a really advanced civilisation out there, it might not take a lot to transmit a signal that they could detect.<\/p>\n \u201cYou will no doubt have small groups of enthusiasts and amateurs that would send signals. But what entitles any group, individual or country to send out messages on behalf of the whole planet?<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where the United Nations\u2019 involvement is important, although currently the UN does not have a view on this.\u201d<\/p>\n In Star Trek<\/em>, the revelation that we are not alone, that intelligent life exists beyond the stars, leads to a profound change in how the human race sees itself.<\/p>\n It becomes more enlightened, more unified and ultimately more motivated by exploration than war or greed. Whether we would react in the same way remains to be seen, however.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot depends on distance,\u201d says Garrett. \u201cIf the aliens are within the Solar System, then I think people will be worried. But if they\u2019re on the other side of the Galaxy, I think people would be excited by that.<\/p>\n \u201cSome religious organisations may need to change their doctrines, but most religions are pretty good at accommodating things as they arise.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to think that if we find another civilisation out there, that it would accelerate our own political maturity, ethics and morality.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s the beauty of Star Trek<\/em> \u2013 it gives us something to aspire to.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Garrett is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Manchester and a visiting professor at the University of Leiden. He is also director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and the current chair of the International Academy of Astronautics Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (IAA SETI) Permanent Committee.<\/p>\n His research interests include the study of the distant universe via high-resolution radio observations.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> <\/body><\/html>\n The head scientist in the international Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence committee explains how Earth’s introduction to extraterrestrials would most likely unfold. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":24338,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains.jpg",1200,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains-300x125.jpg",300,125,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains-768x320.jpg",768,320,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains-1024x427.jpg",800,334,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains.jpg",1200,500,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/02\/how-aliens-will-actually-make-first-contact-with-humanity-a-scientist-explains.jpg",1200,500,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The head scientist in the international Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence committee explains how Earth's introduction to extraterrestrials would most likely unfold.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/24337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}About our expert, Prof Michael Garrett<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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