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Physicists Call For Alien Messaging Protocol

Posted by timothy on from the don't-they-still-use-macs? dept.

schliz writes "Researchers have called for the development of a messaging framework that could increase the probability that our interplanetary messages are detected and deciphered – assuming Orson Scott Card's vision of telepathic buggers doesn't come true. The trio of postgraduate astrophysicists suggest a Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence protocol (METI — PDF) for signal encoding, message length, information content, transmission method and periodicity. The protocol could be tested via a website that allows users to create, retrieve and decrypt sample messages that conform to the protocol — which also demonstrates communication across human cultural boundaries, they say."

7 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. There is just one difficulty by Kupfernigk · · Score: 4, Funny
    To develop this as a proper standard, the "aliens" also need to be on the standards committee. So first of all we need a pre-protocol to identify aliens suitably qualified to participate in the standards process.

    Also, should this start off as an IEEE exercise, or should it go straight to ISO? If the latter, we'll have to rename it the "Interplanetary Standards Organisation". And then we might find that one already exists and it will be us asking if we can send delegates.

    Truly this is a can of worms.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
    1. Re:There is just one difficulty by shish · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wouldn't bother with ISO; microsoft would just buy all the voters so that they can have an obfuscated binary blob as the standard "hello world" packet

      --
      I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
  2. Re:Try this on Earth first, noobie. by dintech · · Score: 4, Funny

    telepathic buggers

    Let's not get ahead of ourselves now

    Don't get behind me either!

  3. Re:Orson Scott Card? Give me a break. by guyminuslife · · Score: 4, Funny

    But he did write one or two good books.

    I mean, Hitler's book was *terrible*.

    --
    I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
  4. Re:Try this on Earth first, noobie. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cats had this figured out years ago. Despite not speaking a word of any human language they have no trouble communicating their demands to their staff^W owners.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  5. Re:ShutUpShutUpShutUpShutUp by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    But due to a terrible misjudgement of scale their relativistic bombs are studied as cosmic rays.

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  6. Re:It's not by Wagoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't they communicate by breaking legs and doing jigsaws?