The powerful opening scene of the movie "Contact" portrays radio and television signals from Earth heading out into space. Then later in the film, shockingly, one of those signals — a televised speech by Adolf Hitler — is beamed back as a reply. Could that really happen? Could an alien civilization "find" us from our inherent noise? Or, if we want other intelligent life to know we're here, will we have to take a more proactive or aggressive approach? Perhaps we'll find out. Today, messages from Earth were beamed specifically at an alien world considered capable of supporting life, the planet Gliese 581, a "super-Earth" located approximately 20 light years from us. The social networking site Bebo sponsored a competition for young people to share their views and concerns of life on Earth, and the winners' messages were transmitted this morning from a radio telescope in Ukraine. Bebo was assisted by Dr. Alexander Zaitsev, who says the only way alien civilizations might find us is if we specifically make ourselves known.
Read the rest of Nancy Atkinson's article on Universe Today
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