Based on statistics, humans are most likely not alone in the universe. The idea sounded far-fetched a few years ago. But today, most scientists take the existence of extraterrestrial sentient life for granted.
Alien civilizations may have already arisen, prospered, and become interstellar, given the abundance of stars likely to have planets like the earth, where life, liquid water, and a temperate atmosphere support life. Visits to other galaxies may be as simple for aliens as excursions between home and Taco Bell on Earth. If this is the case, we may not need to go to other worlds to encounter aliens. They might try to get in touch with us.
It’s terrifying and intriguing to consider, but how will aliens communicate with humanity? According to a declassified National Security Administration (NSA) report, some of the world’s top scientists believe alien intelligence may try to get in touch with the human race. They might be a natural part of our societal evolution, and they could happen within the next few decades.
If you want to believe, you are halfway there.
Alien civilization must be actively trying to communicate
Like the versatility of human-made technology advances with empirical research, we’ve learned new ways that an intelligent alien species might extend a high-tech olive branch over the abyssal depths. Scientists increasingly agree that contact with alien civilizations could be a natural part of our society’s evolution, similar to discovering radiation by accident or taking our first steps on the Moon.
The National Academy of Sciences stated that contact with other civilizations “is no longer something beyond our dreams but a natural occurrence in the history of mankind, which may occur in the lifetime of many of us.”
In this regard, we are reminded of Sir Bernard Lovell, the world’s leading radio astronomer. He once estimated that “there must be about 100 million stars in our galaxy with planets of the right dimensions, chemistry, and temperature to support organic evolution,” – even allowing for a margin of 5000 percent.
Let’s consider that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is but one of at least a billion other galaxies similar to our solar system in the observable world. The number of stars that could potentially support some form of life is astronomical. “The high end of that prediction is something around 400 billion stars,” NASA research explains.
Dr. Frank D. Drake of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, has indicated that based on all of our knowledge, the number of civilizations that could have arisen by now is around one billion. The next question is, “Where has everyone gone?”
Alpha Centauri, our nearest neighbor, is only 4.3 light-years away. Still, according to Dr. Su-Shu Huang of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, its planetary system is probably too young to form life. Two other heavenly bodies (Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti), both around 11 light-years away, are more likely to host life. Nonetheless, if advanced civilizations are prevalent, the nearest would likely be at least 100 light-years away. Hence, it would take 200 years for a reply to be forthcoming – a small matter of seven generations.
However, this should make little difference, considering the vast potential gain from our contacts with a superior civilization. We must believe the “others” are far more advanced than we are unless we are highly egotistical (a very unscientific attitude).
Others may have satellite probes in space that retransmit anything that sounds non-random to the search to “them.” But they most certainly have called us thousands of years ago and are still waiting for a response; or, much worse, they have given up; or, more likely, they have made such incredible technological advances that they have destroyed themselves.
The prerequisites for alien communication
Several conditions must be met before an alien intelligence can try communication. First, they should not have given up yet. It’s also possible that they have attempted to thousands of years ago and are still waiting for a reply. Finally, they must be living or have been alive when the message was sent.
Lasers, Megastructures, And Radio Waves
· Lasers
Repetitive laser pulses may be the best method of interstellar communication since they can travel unimaginably long distances.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is currently testing its Laser SETI laser pulse system. (So far, they’ve come up empty.)
Another way entails arranging numerous stars into an unusual or recognizably geometric design, which would immediately alert any observer that this was not created by nature. In a Live Science report, Astrobiologist David Grinspoon of the Planetary Science Institute said, “They could develop something that would be visible from a great distance across the galaxy, or even from another galaxy, that would be unmistakably artificial.”
· Alien megastructures
Some researchers believe alien megastructures could serve as a massive message to the universe, indicating the existence of life elsewhere.
However, the best-known megastructure theory turned out to be a dimming star rather than an interstellar S-O-S. According to 2019 research, the “blinking” star could be generated by an exomoon collapsing in the foreground.
· Radio waves
The old-fashioned radio is the most viable and dependable method in pursuing interstellar communication. Scientists have primarily relied on radio waves for nearly a century to listen for extraterrestrial transmissions. Radio waves are highly resilient, and they can travel to the farthest reaches of the cosmos without a hitch. They’re dependable, though a little slow. Radio travels at the speed of light. A response would take eight years, with the nearest star more than four light-years away.
We may be first to the party…
We may be the first (although very unlikely) advanced civilization in our galaxy, and alien civilizations won’t respond to our communications for another 3,000 years because they simply don’t exist yet. Aliens may be just fashionably late.
