Research report – Aliens could make contact with humans in 2029

Humans have been using radio waves to communicate on Earth for over 100 years. The waves also reach space and represent a fingerprint of our presence in the cosmos, so to speak. In recent years, however, significantly stronger signals have also been sent, for example to communicate with probes such as Voyager.

Researchers recently tracked these transmissions and deduced which stars and nearby planets are best positioned to receive the signals. The goal: the discovery of planets on which extraterrestrial life may predominate.

According to a research report in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, this created a list of planets likely to receive the human-sent signals over the next few years. (via: PopSci).

Extraterrestrial contact in six years? Many researchers have doubts

According to the calculations, extraterrestrial populations – if they exist – could return the signals as early as 2029. These had reached a white dwarf star in 2002. The theory came from Carl Sagan, who also used it in the film Contact, as Howard Isaacson of the University of California and co-author of the research explains.

According to the research report, further opportunities for messages from extraterrestrials will arise in the early 2030s. However, there are still great doubts among researchers regarding the possibility of contact from extraterrestrials. For example, Macy Huston of Penn State University recently said that even if a message is sent back, there are many factors that make people even notice it.