Scientific American dwells on the implications of us – inadvertently AND fully intentionally – sending messages out to aliens:
We’ve made a few attempts at METI (messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence, the active counterpart to SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) including the three minute Arecibo message sent in 1974 at a ceremony to mark the remodeling of the Arecibo radio telescope.
Not everyone is comfortable with humans deliberately sending these kinds of messages out into the cosmos. Broadcasting our existence is not necessarily a good idea if we don’t know who we’re broadcasting to. Some people have gone so far as to suggest there should be a moratorium on all METI until an international agreement is reached.
Those people are really not going to be happy….
As reported in Universe Today:
“Lone Signal will be using the recommissioned radio dish at the Jamesburg Earth Station in Carmel, California, one of the dishes used to carry the Apollo Moon landings live to the world.
Lone Signal will be sending two signals: one is a continuous wave (CW) signal, a hailing message that sends a slow binary broadcast to provide basic information about Earth and our Solar System using an encoding system created by astrophysicist and planetary scientist Michael W. Busch. The binary code is based on mathematical “first principles” which reflect established laws that, theoretically, are relatively constant throughout the universe; things like gravity and the structure of the hydrogen atom, etc.”
And the second signal? As of tomorrow, Lone Signal will be accepting tweet-sized messages from the people of Earth to send out to the stars.
Lone Signal is beaming their continuous message at Gliese 526, a star (and maybe planets – we’re not exactly sure) located 17 and a half light years away. That means there’ll be a 34-year gap between, “How’s it going?” and “Not bad – how’re you?”