A new project from the SETI Center asks us what welcome message we'd like to transmit to an extraterrestrial being—and tells us a lot about what humanity's really like.
Though we’ve all seen thousands of film and TV depictions of aliens with giant heads, telepathic powers, and occasional M&M addictions, in real life, it’s been awfully quiet out there so far—but that doesn’t keep us from searching.
Some scientists, in fact, have dedicated their lives’ work to studying other planets for signs of life. At the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Center in Mountain View, California, a nonprofit organization that has been funded by NASA and many private technology companies, more than 150 scientists are constantly surveying the sky with sophisticated equipment that would be able to pinpoint transmissions from other planets if any are sent out within range. A decade ago, they invited astronomy enthusiasts from around the world to help take part in their research by downloading a free program that will enable ordinary computers to help crunch their mountains of scientific data, in a project known as SETI@Home. Now, the extraterrestrial experts are inviting ordinary people to participate in their work yet again through a fascinating new project: Earth Speaks.
On the Earth Speaks website, SETI researchers are inviting people from all over the world to pass on the messages that they’d like to transmit to a hypothetical extraterrestrial. Earth Speaks “attempts to answer the question, If we detect another civilization out there, should we reply? And if we do, what should we say?” one of SETI’s researchers, Douglas Vakoch, told PopTech.
Just several days after launching the new project, responses have already poured in from all over the world—and, while everyone has their own interpretations of how to greet an extraterrestrial, some common threads run through many of the messages. “Some of the most common have to do with friendship and peace,” Vakoch said. “People, so far, are indicating a sense of optimism, and hope that there is some other life out there.”
Another message simply asks the aliens, “Would you like a cup of tea?” As the message writer explains, “the aliens will have traveled a long way, and it’s only good hospitality to offer them a brew, and maybe some cake, or biscuits.” Sounds reasonable enough to us.
While the organization has no plans to send transmissions into space in the near future, the project is a fascinating experiment to discover how everyday people might interact with an extraterrestrial culture. Vakoch hopes that Earth Speaks might provide a “much clearer sense of what it is about being human that really matters, both to us and to another civilization,” he said. “It helps to give us, as humans, a new perspective about ourselves. I think that’s valuable—whether or not there’s ever going to be anyone else out there to learn about us.”
Whether or not you believe in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the new Earth Speaks project provides a fascinating glimpse into our own world. To read some of the alien greetings, and post your own if you’re so inclined, visit SETI’s Earth Speaks website.