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16 Oct 2008

Alien Contact

- 10 Aug 2004
By Seth Shostak   
Page 5 of 5

The same could well happen to us. Imagine everyone from professional cryptographers to amateurs with a flair for puzzles taking a crack at understanding the hieroglyphics from space. The aliens’ message would become the equivalent of a Mayan Codex or the Dead Sea Scrolls. Centuries of human effort might be expended in an attempt to understand this cosmic riddle beamed our way from a society we can never meet. When the headlines of the initial discovery are only a distant memory, humankind might still be busying itself with the message.

The signal is the message

Such thoughts are quite speculative – and they are also, in some sense, irrelevant. The detection of an alien civilization will certainly be the biggest news story of all time. And it will be a lasting story, both because researchers will continue searching for the message contained within the signal and because it will heighten the hunt for other signals. But to paraphrase Marshall McCluhan, the signal is the message. For a million years, humans have lived on this planet surrounded by a bubble of isolation. We have seen the Universe, like a vast and intricate construction, stretching billions of light-years in all directions. We have not, as yet, found any inhabitants.

But if SETI someday becomes a discovery, rather than an experiment, the bubble will burst, and we will suddenly share the cosmic stage with myriad others. It is hard to imagine a greater metamorphosis.

For more information:

Could aliens be visiting Earth. Perhaps the evidence is hidden in government documents. See here about downloading the TV documentary 'British UFO Files'
http://www.firstscience.com/home/firstscience.tv/british-ufo-files_3.html

Full length TV shows to download from Firstscience.tv Video: Close Encounters [Firstscience presents]
Has planet Earth ever had a close encounter with aliens? We investigate some of the most popular and controversial scientific topics of our time.

Full length TV shows to download from Firstscience.tv Video: Alien Contact [Firstscience presents]
Today, most scientists are convinced that we are not alone. But what life exists in our own back yard – our Solar System?

 
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Thanks - it helped me to gain some knowledge going on in the Alien field
Posted by: guest - 2008-09-08 - 14:48 GMT

Thank you for making this web site. It helped me with my home work and was a lot easer to read and to understand than any other site. Top marks
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