Physicist Paul Davies suggests looking for messages from extraterrestrials in our DNA. For those of you chuckling, "sounds like a Star Trek episode", it was an episode of Star Trek.
Reader comments
Aug 10, 2004 at 3:15PM
The characterization of SETI as a "project has been running for 40 years" in which "the silence has been deafening" is certainly unfair. The first twenty-five years consisted of a handful of attempts at listening to one point in space at one frequency for something like an hour with the probability of one-in-a-gajillion ( -- significantly higher than zero, however) at finding anything. Even with current efforts, a rediculously small fraction of the available listening options have been explored.
Aug 11, 2004 at 11:31AM
It was also a big part of the mythology of The X-Files.
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.
Mike DAug 10, 2004 at 1:38PM
The DNA process itself developed and evolved on this planet, so his idea of aliens sending info-laden virii into the cosmos probably doesn't fly. It would be a great way for a visitor to leave a message, though.
(I love that episode of Star Trek)