وقتی که E.T تماس می گیرد

Chapter 12

WHEN E.T. CALLS

by Seth Shostak

from Sharing the Universe

If it happens, it will begin slowly and without Warning in a radio telescope’s cramped, cluttered control room. Here, under a hundred tons of steel faced off against the pinpoint gleams of the night sky, a back-burner experiment could change the world.

We can imagine this future drama. The protagonist is a lone astronomer, one of the two dozen or so who have gambled their careers on SETI. For Weeks, she has been spending long nights seated in front of a bank of computer displays, nursing a cup of coffee and intermittently scribbling routine entries into a logbook.

On the screens, blocks of slowly changing text monitor the

electronics that are sifting through the thick cosmic static collected by the telescope. She sips at her drink and scans the displays’ laconice reports. There is no theatrical music, no high—tech sound effects; only the constant drone of fans in the electronics racks and the faint, distant grind of the telescope’s tracking motor. This is not SETI as depicted by Hollywood. No control room loudspeaker will suddenly break into a squeal or a rhythmic boom. There was a time, many years earlier, when listening for audible signals was practical.

But modern SETI experiments monitor tens of millions of channels simultaneously. Computers do the listening.

With only a soft beep as herald, the computers have found that one channel in this multitude bears the hallmarks of extraterrestrial origin.

On the screen, a single line of text tells the tale, a string of numbers giving the signal strength and exact frequency, terminated by the cryptic words, “confirmed by FUDD.” The FUDD, or Follow Up

Detection Device, is a specialized piece of electronics that orchestrates a two—telescope procedure to confirm that a signal is coming from deep space. The astronomer, while taking note, is not excited. After all, the system finds such candidate signals five or six times a week. So far, all have been traced to some sort of satellite interference or other manmade source. None has been extraterrestrial.

Without prompting, the observing software swings the telescope two degrees away from the targeted star system. Ten minutes go by while the receivers accumulate more data. The FUDD then reports that the signal has disappeared, as would be expected if it came from the star itself. The astronomer pays close attention, but her blood pressure doesn’t change. It’s probably another satellite, briefly mimicking E.T. as it parades across the sky.

The telescope slews backs on target. Another ten minutes drag by, and the FUDD reports that the signal has returned. The astronomer puts her coffee down. Her eyes fix upon the display screen. The telescope begins its cycle of on—off observations anew, and the exidence that this signal is extraterrestrial persists. She is now the first witness to a staggering sequence of events, a sequence that has never before occurred. Within hours, she will call another radio observatory to enlist its help. A detection at a distant telescope, by other people and other equipment, will rule out fiendish

interference,” a bug in the system, or an ingenious college prank.

Within a few days, the signal will have been confirmed beyond reasonable doubt. The drama begun by a computer’s soft beep will have grown to a worldwide din. We will finally have observational proof that other thinking beings populate the Galaxy.”

Society’s Reaction

If SETI scientists find a signal, some people will challenge the detection, claiming that its a hoax. After all, there are several million people who still doubt astronauts ever walked on the moon. But the reality of the result will be firmly based. Unlike the incessant claims that UFOs are alien spacecraft, belief in a SETI success won’t depend on anecdotal evidence” or shaky, amateur videos. Anyone with access to a suitable radio antenna would be able to confirm the signal for himself, with his own equipment. There would be no doubt of its legitimacy, and a SETI discovery would immediately precipitate intense scientific inquiry. Every major telescope would be cranked in the direction of E.T.’s signal, in the hope of learning more. But would the discovery also provoke a dramatic response from society at large? Would there be panic? Disbelief’? A sudden eruption of brotherly love and international goodwill?

Panic in the streets is unlikely. To be sure, Orson Welles’ 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worms did cause a certain amount. of alarm. But its far less threatening to read of a signal from a distant star system than to hear that aliens are afoot here on Earth.

A better example of the immediate reaction to the news that aliens exist is the public’s response to the August 1996 announcement by NASA scientists that fossilized Martian microbes had been chipped out of a meteorite. This was, after all, “life in space,” even if it was very small and long dead. It was later acclaimed as the biggest science news story of the year, and yet it hardly. affected anyone’s daily routine. The announcement generated one week of headlines, after which the discovery dropped off the public’s radar screen.

No matter how anemic” the short—term reaction, most pundits” assume that the long-term consequences of finding extraterrestrials will be profound.

Alien Message

Out of the inevitable chaos following a SETI discovery, the facts of the detection would soon emerge—at least for those who are interested in facts. In view of the known technological limitations of SETI experiments, one can dare to predict What we would learn in those first, exciting days.

To begin with, where is the signal coming from’? This might sound as if the answer should be obvious, but it won’t be. For SE’I’I searches that scan the heavens, the astronomers who first tune in E.T. will only know that the signal originates from a particular patch of sky. Many star systems could be camped out in such a patch. Fortunately, uncertainty about the source of the signal could be quickly dispelled.

Observations with a massively large instrument, such as the 1,000 foot Arecibo dish, could substantially narrow the piece of sky from which the transmission originates. A large constellation of telescopes, such as the Very Large Array in New Mexico (where Ellie Arroway first heard the aliens in the movie Contact), could zoom in more precisely on the spot where E.T. is broadcasting.

So within weeks of the discovery, we would likely know a few astronomical facts about E.T.’s home turf. But such information would be, at least in the public’s mind, secondary. First and foremost, the world will hanker to know what the aliens have to say. After all, the phone has rung, so what’s the message?

Deciphering a message could take a long time. Indeed, it could take forever. As we’ve mentioned before, any signal We’re likely to detect will come from a civilization that is enormously more advanced than we. The aliens’ message might be impossible to unravel. Imagine Aristotle’s puzzlement if he were faced with the task of decoding a modern color—television signal. And Aristotle Was no dummy.

In this case, or in the case that the signal turns out to be merely intercepted alien radar devoid of any message, We still won’t be left empty-handed. We will have proof, after all, of celestial company;15 we will know that intelligent beings exist. We just Won’t know much about their particulars.

A more interesting scenario is that they might try to help us. A lid”) deliberate transmission might be designed for infant technologies such as our own. In that case the alien senders might take pity on our cryptographers by sending simple directions for deciphering their broadcast, a kind of interspecies primer.” Elementary mathematics is frequently suggested as a good first lesson. Indeed, the initial messages received in the movie Contact amounted to a bit of boring algebra. On the other hand, E.T. may figure that anyone able to eavesdrop on his signals will probably have already taken algebra, and send us pictures instead.

Given enough time and patience on the part of our extraterrestrial tutors, there’s no certain limit to what they could teach us.

Consequently, if we can crack the code of an alien signal, with or without E.T.’s help, the impact on earthly society could be profound.

We would be in touch with an ancient and sophisticated culture. We might skip eons of history“ and leap into what otherwise would be a far distant future.

Some consequences of this sort of contact are obvious. We could bone up on physics, chemistry, and astronomy. The aliens might fill us in on how to get along. Perhaps they would even be considerate enough to divulge the cure for death (a good thing to know from the individual’s point of view, although a real challenge for society).

There would be cause for optimism on Earth, for if E.T.’s society could endure for countless centuries without self—destructing, then presumably ours can as well.