Two teams of astronomers intend to send messages containing details about humans and Earth's location to parts of space where they believe intelligent life may exist this year.
As the 20th century began, curiosity about the possibility of life on Mars and possible civilizations there led to a search for signals. Could we communicate with a planet beyond our own? How could we search for cues and messages from other worlds?
Astronomers have been searching for radio or optical signals from other civilizations in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program for over 70 years. Most scientists believe that life exists on many of the Milky Way's 300 million potentially habitable worlds.
They also believe that some life forms may have evolved intelligence and technology. However, no other civilization's signals have ever been detected, a mystery known as "The Great Silence."
While SETI has long been a part of mainstream science, METI, or extraterrestrial intelligence messaging, has been a less common chevalier.
These efforts are analogous to making a large bonfire in the woods and wishing that someone finds you. However, some people question whether this is even a good idea.
NASA launched the Pioneer 10 spacecraft toward Jupiter in 1972, carrying a plaque depicting a man and a woman, as well as symbols indicating where the craft originated. NASA followed up with the famous Golden Record, which was attached to the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1977.
These spacecraft, along with their twins, Pioneer 11 and Voyager 2, have now all exited the solar system. However, in the vastness of space, the chances of finding these or any other physical objects are fantastically slim.
Multiple global teams of astronomers are making new attempts at alien communication nearly half a century after the Arecibo message. One employs a massive new radio telescope, while the other selects an enticing new target.
One of these new messages will be transmitted from China's largest radio telescope in 2023. The 1,640-foot (500-meter) diameter telescope will beam a series of radio pulses across a wide swath of the sky. These on-off pulses correspond to the 1s and 0s of digital data. These on-off pulses correspond to the 1s and 0s of digital data.
The message is titled "The Beacon in the Galaxy," and it contains prime numbers and mathematical operators, as well as biochemistry, human forms, the Earth's location, and a time stamp.
The message is being sent to a cluster of millions of stars near the Milky Way's center, about 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth. While this increases the number of possible aliens, it also means that it will take tens of thousands of years for Earth to receive a response.
