The danger of NASA trying to contact aliens

Scientists at the University of Oxford (UK) have warned NASA when the agency plans to broadcast position data and other information into space.

According to RT station, the plan that scientists talk about is 'Beacon in the Galaxy' (BITG, roughly translated: Beacon in the Milky Way'). This is a data broadcast by a team of NASA-led researchers to celebrate extraterrestrial intelligence. NASA wants to broadcast signals from the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope network in California and China's 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). The information will include the biochemical composition of life on Earth, the time-marked position of the Solar System in the Milky Way, digitized images of people and invitations to extraterrestrials to respond.

 Such alien search broadcasts can be risky.

Anders Sandberg, a senior research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford (FHI), said such a broadcast could be risky. In the event that an alien civilization receives the message, he says, the response might be more than just a friendly greeting.

Mr Sandberg said: 'Many people refuse to take the matter seriously, which is unfortunate because these are important things.

Another FHI scientist at Oxford, Toby Ord, thinks there should be a public discussion before sending a signal to extraterrestrials. Even listening to incoming messages can be dangerous, as they can be used to trap people. 'These hazards are small, but poorly understood and poorly managed,' he said.

According to Ord, scientists do not agree on the ratio between peaceful and hostile civilizations around the galaxy. 'Since the negatives can be much larger than the positives, it's not a good situation to take positive steps towards contacting aliens,' he said.

In the past, weaker signals have been sent into space using early technologies, such as the Arecibo message sent in 1974. Russian scientists have carried out a series of broadcasts. such waves, called Cosmic Calls, in 1999 and 2003. Mr. Sandberg theorized that aliens might have received various messages sent for all sorts of reasons.

Scientists from the BITG team speculated that an alien species advanced enough to be capable of communicating through space would most likely have had a high degree of cooperation between them and would therefore know the importance of it. importance of peace and cooperation.

Canadian futurist George Dvorsky has dismissed that theory, saying he can think of many scenarios in which evil-minded extraterrestrials continue to exist.