Scientists beam a message to aliens on nearby planets (and we could get an answer by 2042)

Scientists have beamed a message towards two planets near our solar system which are thought to be capable of supporting life.

If there are aliens on planets orbiting GJ 273, a red dwarf star, which is also known as Luyten’s star, we could get a reply by 2042.

The message – composed of zeroes and ones, and including simple mathematical formulas – will take 12 years to arrive at the star.

Not everyone is enamoured of the idea – with experts such as Stephen Hawking warning that it might attract hostile attention from alien worlds.

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But the experts behind the METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project say that the imagery of alien-invasion sci fi films will probably not reflect the reality of what’s out there.

Douglas Vakoch, president of METI said, ‘’It is a prototype for what I think we would most likely need to do 100 times, or 1,000 times, or 1 million times.

‘To me, the big success of the project will come if, 25 years from now, there’s someone who remembers to look [for a response].

‘If we could accomplish that, that would be a radical shift of perspective.’