Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile’s Atacama desert.
Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

The question of whether we might one day make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence, whether near or far seems close at hand.

A new research paper examines the social consequences of first contact with other star folk and calls for humanity to prepare for an encounter with an extraterrestrial intelligence.

First of all, the consequences of a first contact strongly depend on the way it takes place. The paper offers the view that first contact with extraterrestrials poses considerable risks for humanity. Additionally, a first contact event could also take place without being culturally recognized.

Image credit: Andreas Anton, et al.

This intriguing research paper published in Acta Astronautica is led by Andreas Anton of the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg, Germany.

Scenarios

Anton and colleagues serve up a set of scenarios:

The signal scenario is the basis of SETI programs in which radio astronomers search for extraterrestrial civilizations. It assumes that radio telescopes pick up artificial signals from the far reaches of space.

The technosignature scenario is one where future powerful telescopes will find evidence of past or present extra-terrestrial technology.

Image credit: SETI Post-detection Hub

The artifact scenario assumes that one day, somewhere in our solar system (or even on Earth itself), we will come across the material remains – such as a space probe – of an extraterrestrial civilization.

The encounter scenario involves the appearance of an extraterrestrial spacecraft in near-Earth space that can be assumed, based on its flight maneuvers or other actions, to be controlled by a (biological or artificial) intelligence.

Biological beings or artificial intelligence?

The prospect of an encounter scenario, the paper points out, raises an important question: Whether the alien technology is controlled by a biological life form or an artificial intelligence.

The late Frank Drake with cosmic equation to gauge the presence of intelligent life in the cosmos. The Drake Equation identifies specific factors believed to play a role in the development of civilizations in our galaxy.
Image credit: SETI Institute

“A biological life form, we suspect, could potentially cause greater anxiety, as the immediate question would be what ‘they’ want here. It also has an inbuilt assumption that they have a relatively nearby base or have superfast travel (maybe faster than light) and would thus be very far ahead of us technologically. However, the question of whether the encounter is with a biological life form or the emissaries of a machine civilization could remain unresolved for a long time,” Anton and co-authors suggest.

Be prepared

The paper concludes with acknowledging that the more we know about the Universe and the further we penetrate into the cosmos through our own research activities, “the more likely it is that we will be confronted with alien civilizations, their signals or their legacies.”

That being the case, the order of the day, the researchers suggest there seems need to be prepared as a global society for this scenario.

“In the political sphere, the question of how to deal with this discovery and possible communication with extraterrestrial civilizations would lead to a global discourse,” notes the paper. “International cooperation would be essential to develop a unified approach to dealing with this new reality.”

 This research paper – “Meeting extraterrestrials: Scenarios of first contact from the perspective of exosociology” – is available at:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009457652300629X?via%3Dihub

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