Formation | 2015 |
---|---|
Headquarters | San Francisco |
Founder | Douglas Vakoch |
Website | meti |
METI International, known simply as METI, is a non-profit research organization founded in July 2015 by Douglas Vakoch[1] that creates and transmits interstellar messages to attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations.[2][3][4][5][6] It is based in San Francisco, California.[7][5]
Overview
[edit]METI targets nearby stars and researches the nature of the messages to send.[1][8] On October 16, 17, and 18, 2017, it sent a message consisting of a scientific and mathematical tutorial to the red dwarf Luyten's Star, just over 12 light years from Earth.[9][10][11] The message was sent from a radio transmitter at the EISCAT research facility in Tromsø, Norway.[12]
METI's aim is to build an interdisciplinary community to design interstellar messages, within the context of the evolution of intelligence and language.[13] In May 2016, it convened the meeting “The Intelligence Of SETI: Cognition And Communication In Extraterrestrial Intelligence” in Puerto Rico.[2][4] In May 2018 in Los Angeles, it held “Language in the Cosmos” in conjunction with the International Space Development Conference.[13][14] to examine the connection between astrobiology and linguistics.[8] On March 22, 2017, it held a workshop in Paris examining the question "What is life?" from an extraterrestrial perspective.[15]
METI also conducts an optical search of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).[16][2] Its optical observatory in Panama looks for laser pulses from advanced civilizations. It has examined anomalous stars like the nearby red dwarf star Ross 128,[17] as well as HD 164595, 94 light years from Earth.[16] None of the searches has yielded evidence of artificial signals.[16][17]
Criticism
[edit]American scientist and science-fiction author David Brin has questioned "whether small groups of zealots should bypass all institutions, peer critique, risk appraisal or public opinion, to shout ‘yoohoo’ into a potentially hazardous cosmos" and so force a fait accompli on humanity.[18]
Numerous other authors and scientists have expressed similar concerns, generally known as the Dark forest hypothesis of ETI, including Stephen Hawking.[19][20] Of particular interest in science fiction is Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past, exploring the theory and some of its implications.[21][22]
Notable members
[edit]Notable members of METI's Board of Directors and Advisory Council include:
- Iván Almár, Consultant, Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
- Setsuko Aoki, Professor of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
- Jacques Arnould , Ethics Advisor, Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), France
- Jerome H. Barkow, Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, Canada
- Nelly Ben Hayoun, Designer of Experiences, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios, UK
- Lowry Burgess, Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
- Kerri Chandler, Founder of Madhouse Records, USA
- Nathaniel C. Comfort, Professor of History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
- Paul Davies, Regents' Professor and Director of the Beyond Center, Arizona State University, USA
- Steven J. Dick, Former Chief Historian, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
- David Dunér, Professor of History of Science and Ideas, Lund University, Sweden
- George Dvorsky, chair of the board, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Canada
- José Gabriel Funes, Professor of Philosophy of Nature, Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina
- Ellen Howell, Senior Research Astronomer, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, USA
- Chris Impey, Associate Dean, College of Science and Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona, USA
- Mary Lee Jensvold, Director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI), Central Washington University, USA
- James Kasting, Evan Pugh University Professor, Pennsylvania State University, USA
- Arik Kershenbaum, Fellow of Girton College at the University of Cambridge, and author of The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy, UK
- Guillermo A. Lemarchand , Researcher and Science Policy Consultant, UNESCO, Argentina
- Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities, University of Wyoming, USA
- Roger Malina, Arts and Technology Distinguished Chair and Professor of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas, USA
- Lori Marino, Founder and executive director, Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, Inc., USA
- David Messerschmitt, Roger A. Strauch Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, USA
- Anson Mount, Actor; known for his portrayal of fictional character, Cullen Bohannon, in the AMC western drama series, Hell on Wheels, and Captain Christopher Pike in season two of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, USA
- Elisabeth Oberzaucher , Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria
- Alexander Ollongren, Professor Emeritus at Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Leiden University, Netherlands
- Serpil Oppermann, Past President, EASCLE (European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture, and the Environment), Turkey
- Irene Pepperberg, Research Associate, Harvard University, USA
- Ted Peters, Research Professor Emeritus in Systematic Theology and Ethics, Graduate Theological Union (GTU), USA
- Stephen G. Post, Director, Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics, Stony Brook University, USA
- Ian Roberts, Professor of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, UK
- Holmes Rolston III, University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Colorado State University, USA
- Vandana Singh, Professor and Chair of Physics and Earth Sciences, Framingham State University, USA
- Susan Stryker, Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, University of Arizona, USA
- John Traphagan, Professor of Religious Studies and Anthropology and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow, University of Texas at Austin, USA
- Douglas Vakoch, President of METI, USA[23]
- Ariel Waldman, Global Director, Science Hack Day, USA
See also
[edit]- Active SETI — METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
- Fermi paradox — Lack of evidence that extraterrestrials exist
- SETIcon – Public conventions on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
- Zoo hypothesis — Hypothesis that suggests humanity is effectively caged on Earth
References
[edit]- ^ a b Johnson, Steven (2017-06-23). "Greetings, E.T. (Please Don't Murder Us.)". The New York Times Magazine.
- ^ a b c Osborne, Hannah (2016-02-16). "Meti president Douglas Vakoch: Sending messages to aliens is not dangerous and we could make contact by 2035". International Business Times.
- ^ Meyer, Guido (2017-02-20). "E.T. - hörst Du mich?". SWR2.
- ^ a b Schulze-Makuch, Dirk (2016-06-03). "Conversing with E.T." Air & Space Magazine.
- ^ a b Robert, Sanders (2016-12-29). "METI to Send Interstellar Messages in 2018". Futurism.
- ^ Leary, Kyree (2017-09-17). "Despite Opposition, METI Will Still Reach Out to Alien Life in 2018". Futurism.
- ^ Krieger, Lisa (2016-12-27). "Tired of listening, scientists plan to send greetings out to other worlds". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ a b Castelvecchi, Davide (2018-06-01). "The researchers who study alien linguistics". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-05310-x. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 165649983.
- ^ "How to send a message to another planet". The Economist. 2017-11-16.
- ^ Schughart, Anna (2017-11-16). "Hallo, GJ 273b! Außerirdische zu Hause?". WIRED.DE.
- ^ "Qué contiene el último mensaje enviado al espacio en busca de vida alienígena". BBC. 2017-11-20.
- ^ Patton, Paul (2018-06-05). "Language in the Cosmos II: Hello There GJ273b". Universe Today.
- ^ a b Patton, Paul (2018-06-04). "Language in the Cosmos I: Is Universal Grammar Really Universal?". Universe Today.
- ^ Klesman, Alison (2018-05-29). "What would an alien language sound like?". Astronomy Magazine.
- ^ Rozieres, Gregory (2017-03-26). "Des chercheurs se sont sérieusement posé la question de l'intelligence des extraterrestres". Huffington Post (French edition).
- ^ a b c Griffiths, James (2016-08-30). "Hear me now? 'Strong signal' from sun-like star sparks alien speculation". CNN.
- ^ a b Wall, Mike (2017-07-18). "Astronomers Detect Strange Signals from Red Dwarf Star". Scientific American.
- ^ David Brin, G. (2018). "The Great Silence: The Science and Philosophy of Fermi's Paradox". American Journal of Physics. 86 (11): 878–879. Bibcode:2018AmJPh..86..878D. doi:10.1119/1.5053112.
- ^ "Is Stephen Hawking right about aliens?". the Guardian. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
- ^ "Why these scientists fear contact with space aliens". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
- ^ Alderson, Ella (2020-07-20). "The Dark Forest Theory of the Universe". Medium. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
- ^ "Statement Regarding METI/Active SETI". setiathome.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
- ^ "Dr Douglas Vakoch on sending messages into space for aliens". www.sciencefocus.com. Retrieved 2024-05-29.