Posted on 12/18/2007 2:29:34 PM PST by blam
ET too bored by Earth transmissions to respond
16:35 18 December 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Tom Simonite
Messages sent into space directed at extraterrestrials may have been too boring to earn a reply, say two astrophysicists trying to improve on their previous alien chat lines.
Humans have so far sent four messages into space intended for alien listeners. But they have largely been made up of mathematically coded descriptions of some physics and chemistry, with some basic biology and descriptions of humans thrown in.
Those topics will not prove gripping reading to other civilisations, says Canadian astrophysicist Yvan Dutil. If a civilisation is advanced enough to understand the message, they will already know most of its contents, he says: "After reading it, they will be none the wiser about us humans and our achievements. In some ways, we may have been wasting our telescope time."
In 1999 and 2003, Dutil and fellow researcher Stephane Dumas beamed messages in a language of their own design into space. Now, they are working to compose more interesting messages.
"The question is, what is interesting to an extraterrestrial?" Dutil told New Scientist. "We think the answer is using some common ground to communicate things about humanity that will be new or different to them – like social features of our society." Fortunately those subjects are already being described mathematically by economists, physicists and sociologists, he adds.
Vexing problems
One topic the two researchers are already composing messages about is the so-called 'cake cutting problem'. "How do you share out resources is a classical problem for all civilisations," he says.
Democracy is also a potentially eye- or antenna- catching subject. "The maths shows that with more than two choices,
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
they are to busy laughing about global warming.
Send them E.T. They could have a flying bike here!
Maybe they are using quantum modulation to communicate.
The galactic internet is all around us!
But we’re too stupid yet to jack in.
Unfortunately, the ET’s have been intercepting MTV and rap videos and are seriously considering whiping out the planet.
When I was younger, my mom would say, “If ET can phone home, why cant you?” I think I will forward this too her for a good laugh.
But have they tried the Martian “ack ack ack?”
We’ll be beaming the 2008 Democratic National Convention out into space. Why would any self-respecting ET be caught dead on such a planet?
Old Star Trek reruns.
“We know that every human social network behaves as a gas...”
LOL
Bake slowly for seven hours, pull apart meat and mix with Earth sauce, serve on a bed of Earth vegetation, with cold sweet Earth tea.
Let the Nigerians write the message....
Aliens are only listening for whale songs anyway.
Send them Star Wars or Star Trek movies, and they will will be scared sh—less of us.
Penthouse Forum letters might pique their interest.
Do, Do, Duh, Duh, Duhhhh
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