So - I stumbled upon this little nugget and am just beside myself...
Mounting mirrors on the Moon and using them to signal across space could let ET know we Earthlings are here.
Ever since radio broadcasts began we've been trumpeting our presence to nearby parts of the galaxy, so far without reply. To improve the chances of being found, Shawn Domagal-Goldman and Jacob Haqq-Misra of Pennsylvania State University in State College reckon we should cover half of the Moon with mirrors.
When angled to catch the Sun's rays, the mirrors would increase the amount of light the Earth-moon system reflects by 20%, they say, more than enough to catch the eye of a vigilant alien astronomer. Domagal-Goldman proposes using a code of prime number flashes - just as aliens used to get in touch in Carl Sagan's book Contact. This will ensure the flashes aren't mistaken for natural variations in brightness.
From New Scientist Space
I guess what upsets me about this is, why would we even entertain the notion of trying (to such an extreme measure no less) to communicate with other life forms on other planets when we can't even get our poop in a group right here on earth?? How can we even HOPE to build a relationship with "aliens" when we don't understand our fellow humans? What if we took a quarter of that money and resources and spent it on something other than a war and really applied ourselves to taking care of our own? Wouldn't that be money better spent?
I sure hope this is just some dumb pipe dream of some goofball mad-scientist and not something anyone is seriously entertaining!
2 comments:
Maybe it's so the man in the moon can see himself?
On reflection, that was a terrible joke!
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