NASA studies human reactions to aliens

NASA invited 24 theologians to study the reaction of people on Earth to information about the presence of extraterrestrials.

If the aliens found are indeed living on other planets, what will be the reaction of humans on Earth?

This is the question that NASA hopes theologians at the CTI Center for Theological Investigation in Princeton, New Jersey, USA can answer. In addition, NASA also wants to see how the discovery of extraterrestrials will affect people's ideas about gods and creation.

Do aliens really live on Earth?

CTI is a place to build bridges that bring together theologians, scientists, and policy makers to think together and understand global concerns.

The program, which started in 2016, aims to answer questions that make people wonder such as what is extraterrestrial life? How to live? Where is the line between humans and aliens?.

Andrew Davison, a research fellow in religion at Cambridge University, and a doctorate in biochemistry at Oxford, is one of 24 theologians invited by NASA to carry out the project. Davison believes we are getting closer to finding life on other planets.

Now, he said, theology and astrology have become quite popular topics through specific studies over the years.

CTI expert group studies show a link between belief in extraterrestrial intelligence and religion. People who seek meaning in extraterrestrials often do not follow a particular religion.

Researcher Andrew Davison.

"The detection of extraterrestrial life may come in the next few decades, or it may also be in other centuries in the future, or it may never happen, but it will certainly be useful if we think about it." think ahead of time about the impact that information will have on people today," Andrew Davison said.

Currently, NASA has two probes on Mars, several probes around Jupiter and Saturn, the giant Web James Telescope looking for extraterrestrial life. NASA hopes they are on the right track to explore the universe and search for life on other planets.

However, not all theologians have the idea of ​​life on other planets.

When asked if he believes in the existence of extraterrestrials, Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, replied that it was speculation and that he did not believe it.

According to NASA, when the James Web Telescope comes into operation, research data could change how people observe the universe. It is described as a time machine that helps unravel the secrets of the universe.

The goal of this powerful device is to unravel the mysteries of supermassive black holes, distant alien worlds, stellar explosions, dark matter and more.