METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

METI International, simply known as METI, is a non-profit research organization that creates and transmits interstellar messages to search for extraterrestrial civilizations.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In July 2015, the papers to form METI were filed by its founder and president, Douglas Vakoch.[8] METI is headquartered in San Francisco, California.[2][5]

METI, 100 Pine Street, San Francisco, California 94111

Overview

METI targets nearby stars and also rethinks the nature of the messages to send.[8][9] On October 16, 17, and 18, 2017, METI sent a message consisting of a scientific and mathematical tutorial to the red dwarf Luyten's Star, located just over 12 light years from Earth.[10][11][12] This message was transmitted from a radio transmitter at the EISCAT research facility in Tromsø, Norway.[13] One of the goals of METI is to examine people's views of transmitting messages.[1]

METI builds an interdisciplinary community to design interstellar messages, within the context of the evolution of intelligence and language.[14] In May 2016, METI convened the meeting “The Intelligence Of SETI: Cognition And Communication In Extraterrestrial Intelligence” in Puerto Rico.[1][4] Two years later, in May 2018, METI held the meeting “Language in the Cosmos” in conjunction with the International Space Development Conference.[14][15] This meeting was held in Los Angeles and examined the connection between astrobiology and linguistics.[9] On March 22, 2017, METI held a workshop in Paris to examine the question "What is life?" from an extraterrestrial perspective.[16]

METI also searches for life beyond Earth.[17] Specifically, METI conducts an optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).[1] METI's optical SETI observatory in Panama looks for laser pulses from advanced civilizations, and it has examined anomalous stars like the nearby red dwarf star Ross 128,[18] as well as HD 164595, 94 light years from Earth.[17] None of these searches has yielded evidence of artificial signals from extraterrestrial intelligence.[17][18]

Criticism

David Brin wrote, "whether small groups of zealots should bypass all institutions, peer critique, risk appraisal or public opinion, to shout ‘yoohoo’ into a potentially hazardous cosmos. Ćirković’s book offers plenty of grist for discussion and consensus-seeking, before rushing to force a fait accompli on our children."[19]

Numerous other authors and scientists have expressed similar concerns. These are generally known as the "Dark Forest Theory" of ETI. Of particular interest is Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past which explores in fiction format the theory and some of its implications. An excellent shorter explanation is at https://blog.usejournal.com/the-dark-forest-theory-of-the-universe-a52012529e0f -- see also https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/meti_statement_0.html

Notable members

Notable members of METI's Board of Directors and Advisory Council include:

• Iván Almár, Consultant, Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of Scences, Hungary
• Setsuko Aoki, Professor of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
• Jacques Arnould, Ethics Advisor, Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), France
• Jerome H. Barkow, Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, Canada
• Nelly Ben Hayoun, Designer of Experiences, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios, UK
• Lowry Burgess, Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
• Kerri Chandler, Founder of Madhouse Records, USA
• Nathaniel C. Comfort, Professor of History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
• Paul Davies, Regents' Professor and Director of the Beyond Center, Arizona State University, USA
• Steven J. Dick, Former Chief Historian, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
• David Dunér, Professor of History of Science and Ideas, Lund University, Sweden
• George Dvorsky, Chair of the Board, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Canada
• José Gabriel Funes, Professor of Philosophy of Nature, Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina
• Ellen Howell, Senior Research Astronomer, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, USA
• Chris Impey, Associate Dean, College of Science and Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona, USA
• Mary Lee Jensvold, Director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI), Central Washington University, USA
• James Kasting, Evan Pugh University Professor, Pennsylvania State University, USA
• Guillermo A. Lemarchand, Researcher and Science Policy Consultant, UNESCO, Argentina
• Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities, University of Wyoming, USA
• Roger Malina, Arts and Technology Distinguished Chair and Professor of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas, USA
• Lori Marino, Founder and Executive Director, Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, Inc., USA
• David Messerschmitt, Roger A. Strauch Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Anson Mount, actor, portrays Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, USA
• Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria
• Alexander Ollongren, Professor Emeritus at Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Leiden University, Netherlands
• Serpil Oppermann, Past President, EASCLE (European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture, and the Environment), Turkey
• Irene Pepperberg, Research Associate, Harvard University, USA
• Ted Peters, Research Professor Emeritus in Systematic Theology and Ethics, Graduate Theological Union (GTU), USA
• Stephen G. Post, Director, Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics, Stony Brook University, USA
• Ian Roberts, Professor of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, UK
• Holmes Rolston III, University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Colorado State University, USA
• Vandana Singh, Professor and Chair of Physics and Earth Sciences, Framingham State University, USA
• Susan Stryker, Associate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, University of Arizona, USA
• John Traphagan, Professor of Religious Studies and Anthropology and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow, University of Texas at Austin, USA
• Douglas Vakoch, President of METI, USA
• Ariel Waldman, Global Director, Science Hack Day, USA

See also

• Active SETI — METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
• SETIcon – Public conventions on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

References

1. Osborne, Hannah (2016-02-16). "Meti president Douglas Vakoch: Sending messages to aliens is not dangerous and we could make contact by 2035". International Business Times.
2. Krieger, Lisa (2016-12-27). "Tired of listening, scientists plan to send greetings out to other worlds". The Sydney Morning Herald.
3. Meyer, Guido (2017-02-20). "E.T. - hörst Du mich?". SWR2.
4. Schulze-Makuch, Dirk (2016-06-03). "Conversing with E.T." Air & Space Magazine.
5. Robert, Sanders (2016-12-29). "METI to Send Interstellar Messages in 2018". Futurism.
6. Sabin, Dyani (2017-06-29). "Researchers at METI are Trying New Technology to Contact Aliens". Inverse.
7. Leary, Kyree (2017-09-17). "Despite Opposition, METI Will Still Reach Out to Alien Life in 2018". Futurism.
8. Johnson, Steven (2017-06-23). "Greetings, E.T. (Please Don't Murder Us.)". The New York Times Magazine.
9. Castelvecchi, Davide (2018-06-01). "The researchers who study alien linguistics". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-05310-x. ISSN 0028-0836.
10. "How to send a message to another planet". The Economist. 2017-11-16.
11. Schughart, Anna (2017-11-16). "Hallo, GJ 273b! Außerirdische zu Hause?". WIRED.DE.
12. "Qué contiene el último mensaje enviado al espacio en busca de vida alienígena". BBC. 2017-11-20.
13. Patton, Paul (2018-06-05). "Language in the Cosmos II: Hello There GJ273b". Universe Today.
14. Patton, Paul (2018-06-04). "Language in the Cosmos I: Is Universal Grammar Really Universal?". Universe Today.
15. Klesman, Alison (2018-05-29). "What would an alien language sound like?". Astronomy Magazine.
16. Rozieres, Gregory (2017-03-26). "Des chercheurs se sont sérieusement posé la question de l'intelligence des extraterrestres". Huffington Post (French edition).
17. Griffiths, James (2016-08-30). "Hear me now? 'Strong signal' from sun-like star sparks alien speculation". CNN.
18. Wall, Mike (2017-07-18). "Astronomers Detect Strange Signals from Red Dwarf Star". Scientific American.
19. David Brin, G. (2018). "The Great Silence: The Science and Philosophy of Fermi's Paradox". American Journal of Physics. 86 (11): 878–879. Bibcode:2018AmJPh..86..878D. doi:10.1119/1.5053112.

External links

• METI Website
• METI GuideStar Profile
• METI JustGiving Profile
• METI VolunteerMatch Profile
• METI Crunchbase Profile