Event created by Midnight
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The Sky at Night team investigates the controversial world ofalien communication. The search for life on other planets isone of the most fascinating subjects in science. But what isless reported is the work being done around the world todetermine what happens next. If we discover aliens, how wouldwe contact them, what should we say and should we communicatewith them at all?We follow astrobiologist Doug Vakoch on a tripto the UK. Doug runs an organisation aiming to contactextraterrestrials and is here to meet with experts who can helpwith his mission, including Professor Arik Kershenbaum fromthe University of Cambridge. Arik is a zoologist whospecialises in animal communication and xenolinguistics - thelanguage of aliens. He explains how the common patterns in wolfand dolphin vocalisations can help us to form a message to sendto space. Doug also meets Paul Quast, a researcher from theBeyond the Earth Foundation, who is assembling a ‘CompanionGuide to Earth' for future humans and passingaliens.Exoplaneteer George Dransfield travels to the JodrellBank Observatory to meet astrophysicist Professor Tim O'Brien.Tim explains how scientists around the world use radioastronomyto listen for extraterrestrial signals. He demonstrates how wemight identify an alien ‘technosignature' - a sign of anadvanced technological civilisation from anotherplanet.Professor Chris Lintott delves into the history ofscientists trying to send messages to aliens, and he asks ifwe should really be trying to communicate with them at all.