Scientists have created a radio message that will be broadcast into outer space and, perhaps, comprehended by an intelligent extraterrestrial race.
The message is essentially an updated version of the renowned Arecibo message, which was broadcast in 1974 and had the same objective.
The message, which was broadcast from Puerto Rico's Arecibo Radio Telescope, was made up of 1,679 bits divided into 73 lines of 23 characters.
Sending a message from the outer space
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
When we find that intelligent life exists beyond Earth, the first thing we are going to ask is, how can we communicate?
As we approach the 50th anniversary of humanity's first effort to send out a message understandable by an alien intelligence, the question feels more pressing than ever.
Remote sensing technology advancements have shown that the great majority of stars in our galaxy contain planets and that many of these exoplanets are capable of harboring liquid water on their surfaces, which is required for life as we know it, as per Scientific American.
The chances of at least one of these billions of planets producing intelligent life appear to be good enough to invest some time learning how to say "hi."
Scientists have now created a new message to improve the Arecibo transmission.
The Beacon in the Galaxy message provides more fundamental mathematics and scientific knowledge than the Arecibo message.
It is believed that these notions will be universally comprehended by living forms with an intellect comparable to humans.
Matthew Chong, a Cambridge University physics and math student and co-author of a draft paper explaining the research, as per Newsweek.
The main part of this BITG Message, which is an extension of the 1974 Arecibo statement and the 1999/2003 Cosmic Call, contains a new set of graphical information in a format of pictures and special 'alphabets' to represent numbers, elements, DNA, land, ocean, and human, beginning with an artificial header and footer that consists of prime numbers.
Every interplanetary communication must answer two basic questions: what to say and how to express it.
Almost all of the signals that humans have sent into space so far begin by establishing common ground with rudimentary instruction in physics and mathematics, two areas that we and extraterrestrials are supposedly familiar with.
If a culture outside our planet is capable of constructing a radio telescope to receive our message, it most likely understands physics.
The late physics professor Stephen Hawking voiced worry on several occasions about mankind screaming out into space and meeting aliens.
Hawking spoke at an event in 2015 to announce the commencement of the Breakthrough Listen project, which investigates radio waves to see if any of them are artificial in origin.
Hawking expressed support for efforts to locate extraterrestrial life by listening but cautioned against actively reaching out ourselves, citing humanity's past actions as evidence that aliens will not always be nice.
Despite the drawbacks, many argue that the possible benefits of active SETI exceed the dangers.
According to the reasoning, first contact would be one of the most significant events in the history of our species, and if we simply wait for someone to call us, it may never happen.
Concerning the possibility of destruction by a malignant space alien: We blew our cover a long time ago.
Any extraterrestrial capable of getting to Earth would be more than capable of detecting traces of life in our atmosphere's chemical fingerprints or the electromagnetic radiation that has been seeping from our radios, TVs, and radar systems for the past century.
