In addition, according to the portal Space.com, the Breakthrough Listen project has been underway since 2015, within which scientists will search for artificial messages from 100 million stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
The question "How should the public be informed in the event that a signal from other intelligent beings in the Universe comes to Earth?" an international group of scientists has been involved for a long time. This was announced on Monday by the Internet portal Space.com.
If experts found such a signal now, then one of the most important questions would be how this news will be submitted on social networks, Duncan Forgen, an expert from the Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations (SETI) Institute, told Space.com. The first plan of action in this case was developed by the Standing Committee on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Signals at The International Academy of Astronautics in 1989. In 2010, this plan was supplemented and expanded to two pages of text and included such sections as finding a signal from another mind, checking the artificial nature of the signal and acting upon receiving confirmation that a message from an extraterrestrial civilization was received. Now, according to Forgan, a new version of the action plan is being developed, and it will be ready in a few years.
Scientists proceed from the fact that mankind learns about the existence of another mind, having received a signal specifically directed to the Earth. The fact that the signal is artificial will have to be confirmed by several groups of scientists. “It will take some time to get confirmation of the artificial nature of the message, and then, as those who deal with this issue say, they will have to hold a press conference and announce it to the whole world,” explained SETI astronomer Seth Shostak. He noted the importance of keeping information about the received signal secret until the very last moment, but he did not rule out the possibility of data leakage.
If the news about the signal of an extraterrestrial civilization becomes public even before its scientific analysis is completed, then, according to Duncan Forgan, experts will have to somehow regulate the submission of materials, using various formulations to assess how real the signal is.
The search for an alien intelligence signal began in 1960, when Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake pointed a radio telescope at the stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani as part of the Ozma project. In 1984, SETI was established, as well as a number of independent programs, in particular, the Phoenix project, within the framework of which observations were made of stars closest to our solar system with characteristics close to the parameters of the Sun. SETI is currently collaborating with other research centers on the Allen Telescope Array project, which uses multiple radio telescopes in northern California to search for a signal.
In addition, as noted by the portal Space.com, the Breakthrough Listen project has been carried out since 2015, within which scientists will search for artificial messages from 100 million stars in the Milky Way galaxy, as well as in the 100 galaxies closest to us.