Plan for huge laser signal ‘to tell aliens where we are’
Experts still debate whether sending signals into space is actually a good idea – or whether it will alert potential invaders to our presence.
But a new plan suggests that we could create a ‘laser beacon’ which would be visible even over the radiation of our sun – and could be used to send messages to E.T.
But scientists from MIT say that we could use existing laser technology to create a ‘beacon’ which could be seen by aliens up to 20,000 light years away.
The researchers suggest that if we focused a high-powered laser through a huge telescope (up to 147 feet) it would be visible to alien astronomers (even in among the radiation from our sun).
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If alien astronomers DID spot the signal, we could also use it to send a message in Morse Code, says MIT scientist James Clark.
Clark says, ‘If we were to successfully close a handshake and start to communicate, we could flash a message, at a data rate of about a few hundred bits per second, which would get there in just a few years.’
Clark suggests that the laser/telescope contraption could be built on the moon – to avoid dangers such as the powerful beam hitting spacecraft which fly overhead.
Clark says, ‘I wanted to see if I could take the kinds of telescopes and lasers that we’re building today, and make a detectable beacon out of them.
‘In general, this was a feasibility study. Whether or not this is a good idea, that’s a discussion for future work.”
Professor Stephen Hawking was a vocal opponent of attempts to ‘message’ or contact aliens directly.
Professor Hawking thinks this is a terrible idea, as any aliens hi-tech enough to get our message and travel here may well crush us without mercy.
He said, ‘If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.’
