Humans Are Divided and Unhappy. What Better Time to Contact Alien Life?

On Nov. 16, 1974, scientists fired off a nearly three-minute radio message into space with the express intention of communicating with intelligent extraterrestrial life. Broadcast from what was then the world’s largest radio telescope, in Arecibo, P. R., the message was delivered in the direction of M13, a globular cluster of stars about 25,000 light-years away. The M13 cluster was chosen in part because it includes hundreds of thousands of stars. Scientists hoped at least one may be orbited by a planet bearing intelligent life of some sort. The Arecibo message was a glorious demonstration of our species reaching outward into the universe for a connection to whoever was listening.

That’s precisely what the missive was — a demonstration of the Arecibo radio telescope’s technological prowess to fire off a powerful signal into the far reaches of space. It was never seriously expected to make contact with alien life. That should change. It’s time to follow up on that transmission 50 years later with a new, multigenerational project looking for proof that we are not alone in the universe.

We are living in strange and precarious times — marked by perpetual wars, a global climate crisis and polarized feelings about the state of the world. At this moment, when terrestrial concerns are tearing us apart, what if we looked to the heavens for a reason to hope? Knowing that another civilization is surviving the gantlet of its own challenges could reassure us. And while we hope to succeed in discovering and contacting other life, even concluding that we are alone in the universe could be a revelation that helps unite our species.

The Arecibo message tries to establish a common language with another species through math and science — subjects that should be universally understood by any extraterrestrial engineers who can build radio receivers. The message is made up of 1,679 radio pulses, which are meant to be organized into a two-dimensional graphic comprising 73 lines. Each line is 23 characters long. When decoded, the message begins by counting from 10 to one in binary. Then it lists key elements essential to life on Earth through their atomic numbers.

Credit…Science Photo Library

The message goes on to show the chemical formulas that combine these elements into the building blocks of DNA. The shape of the double helix (the molecular structure of DNA) is paired with the number of units that make up the human genome. Humans are described by their height and population on Earth. A stick figure hovers above a diagram of our solar system to point out our species lives on the third planet from the sun. To celebrate the technology that makes interstellar contact possible, the message ends with a diagram of the Arecibo radio telescope itself.