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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence

Abstract

As far as we know, humanity is alone in the Universe: there is no definite evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life, let alone extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) capable of communicating or travelling over interstellar distances. Yet popular speculation about the existence of ETCs abounds, including reports of alien visitations either now or in the past. But there is a middle way. It is now possible to put limits on the existence of ETCs of varying capabilities, within arbitrary distances from the Solar System, and conceive of real-world strategies whereby we might communicate with ETCs, or they with us.

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Figure 1: Noise from the Earth's atmosphere and the minimum noise from our Galaxy, versus wavelength.
Figure 2: How increases in effective radiated power (ERP) of a transmitting radio dish are related to wavelength and the size and distance of the target.
Figure 3: An example of a possible message from an ETC.

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Correspondence to T. L. Wilson.

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Wilson, T. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Nature 409, 1110–1114 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35059235

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