The Alien Contacts  that aliens might contact humanity may seem out of this world, but it’s one that serious scientists consider. While discussion of this topic sometimes veers into irresponsible territory, it’s important to include consideration of the effects of alien contact on Earth and the many ways in which it might change science, religion, politics, culture, technology, and more. The study of these implications is often called anthropology of the extraterrestrial, or simply a cultural anthropology of ETs and their impact on humans. It’s an important extension of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, which focuses on locating the presence of intelligent life.

Out of This World: Alien Contacts for Extraterrestrial Looks

Since 1960, astronomers have tried to detect signs of life in the universe. They started with a simple technique: listening for the distinctive frequency of hydrogen, which is abundant in our galaxy’s stars. They’ve also been sending powerful radio signals to space with the intention of alerting any civilizations that might be out there. These efforts are known as METI, or messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence, and forward/active SETI.

The messages sent to the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, for example, contained greetings in 55 languages and a wide variety of other information about our planet. A similar effort is being undertaken by the Breakthrough Initiatives, a philanthropic organization funded by billionaire tech mogul Yuri Milner. It’s working on composing a message that will reach the most stars as possible, and is asking for ideas from around the world.