Searches for extraterrestrial civilizations by listening to interstellar radio broadcasts have been going on since the 1960s, but so far it has not been possible to identify a single extraterrestrial signal of artificial origin. However, this is still not at all proof that other civilizations do not exist in space
“Humanity has sent radio messages to aliens more than a dozen times. This happened for the first time at the Yevpatoria center for deep space communications back in 1962. Then only three words went into space: Mir, Lenin, USSR. However, this short letter and the subsequent, more informative messages remained unanswered. But since then Evpatoria has been considered the capital of interplanetary contacts."
“The radio telescope, located in Evpatoria, is best suited for messages to extraterrestrial civilizations. After all, its technical characteristics - a large antenna area, high radio signal power - allow reaching almost any corner of the Universe."
The signal is sent to five addresses: the constellations of Cancer, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Ursa Major and Orion.
These constellations were chosen by scientists because they contain stars that resemble our Sun. It is assumed that finding life in such places is more likely. This means that the call of earthlings can be heard.
Is it all about neutrinos?
Canadian professor Allen Thaw from the University of Toronto has created a special web page on the Internet where he invites aliens to contact humanity through his email address.
The scientist is well aware that his project can be perceived by others, to put it mildly, with great skepticism, and therefore he lists on his website a long list of serious researchers who support his idea.
Promotional video:
“There are 80 signatories in total, including researchers from the SETI group. For example, Australian astrophysicist Ray Norris, who supported the Canadian professor, argues his "voice" that this method of searching for an unearthly mind costs almost free, so why not use it, even if this whole venture ends in nothing."
Allen Thaw's website has an email address, fax address, and phone number. There is also a text for aliens explaining why they should make contact with humanity.
However, according to the astronomer from the Australian National University Charlie Lineweaver, aliens are unlikely to ever "call" the Earth themselves, because even if they exist, their intelligence is most likely radically different from what we are used to.
To date, none of the species of living beings inhabiting the Earth has managed to develop an intelligence similar to human. Therefore, it is unlikely that representatives of alien life forms will think in the same way as we do, or create similar technologies, the Australian astronomer believes.
If we talk about our neighbors on the planet, then if human intelligence were useful, we could observe its presence in numerous representatives of the biosphere. But nothing like that happens. From which it follows that human intelligence is most likely a specific feature of only our biological species.
Despite the fact that we are not sure that an intelligent life form can appear on other planets, Lineweaver believes that people should continue to search for extraterrestrial civilizations. The scientist sees the only problem in the "language barrier", because signals from aliens may differ from the ones we are used to and, probably, we simply do not yet have the opportunity to perceive them.
"American physicists agree with this assumption, according to which, brothers in mind exchange information using not electromagnetic waves, as we do, but beams of one of the types of elementary particles, called neutrinos."
Neutrinos are extremely lightweight and incredibly penetrating. Even a multi-kilometer layer of lead will not be an obstacle for them.
"According to scientists, the fact that neutrinos practically do not notice obstacles should be the main argument for extraterrestrial organizations in favor of this type of communication."
It remains to "call" the aliens themselves!
Cartoon for green men
“Humanity has sent radio messages to aliens more than a dozen times. This happened for the first time at the Yevpatoria center for deep space communications back in 1962. Then only three words went into space: Mir, Lenin, USSR. However, this short letter and the subsequent, more informative messages remained unanswered. But since then Evpatoria has been considered the capital of interplanetary contacts."
“The radio telescope, located in Evpatoria, is best suited for messages to extraterrestrial civilizations. After all, its technical characteristics - a large antenna area, high radio signal power - allow reaching almost any corner of the Universe."
The signal is sent to five addresses: the constellations of Cancer, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Ursa Major and Orion.
These constellations were chosen by scientists because they contain stars that resemble our Sun. It is assumed that finding life in such places is more likely. This means that the call of earthlings can be heard.
True, it should be borne in mind that the signal goes to the nearest star for 32 years. And it will take the same amount of time to wait for an answer. Therefore, all this is done not for contemporaries, but for future generations.
They are engaged in sending messages to aliens in other countries. So, similar services are offered to absolutely everyone by Deep Space Communications Networks, which creates communication systems for NASA. With the help of a satellite transmitter at the Kennedy Space Center, any Earthling can send a message to "brothers in mind" either in the form of a text notification, or in the form of a video of his own production or a photo of a favorite animal.
The only limitation is that the company warns against sending messages that are offensive, obscene and ignorant.
Mobile phone users who want to say something to aliens also have this option. TalkToAliens service transmits voice into space through a parabolic dish (dish) with a diameter of 3.3 meters, installed in the US state of Connecticut.
The service's developers claim that a powerful radio receiver installed on a distant planet can pick up the signals being sent. One minute of service costs four dollars. The antenna is not directed specifically at any astronomical object potentially habitable for aliens.
True, according to Christopher Rose of Rutgers University in New Jersey, a mobile phone signal, even transmitted through a radio receiver, can be caught at a distance of no more than 2 light years from Earth.
And the closest star to us apart from the Sun - Proxima Centauri - is at a distance of 4.2 light years, which means that users of the TalkToAliens service have little chance of being heard by the inhabitants of distant planets.
In the meantime, a Dutch company has made an 8-minute cartoon about what people are like, what they think and how they feel. The film, of course, is all intended for the same aliens. The creators of the video hope that their creation, recorded on a CD-ROM, will be launched into space aboard a research probe with a space telescope.
It should be noted that the filmmakers set themselves a difficult task: to explain what a person is, to a creature who can perceive the world around him in a completely different way from people. After all, we ourselves sometimes find it difficult to explain ourselves to each other, but here we need to tell about ourselves in such a way that a representative of other worlds understands.
True, it is not yet clear how the aliens will watch the cartoon. It is unlikely that they will dare to capture the probe, which will be in low-earth orbit.