If there was a confirmed evidence of an advance alien civilization on a planet only 4 light years away, how would we communicate with them?
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answers:
Ronald 7 say: Going Old School with good old Radio
It travels at the Speed of light after all
It would help of course if we could pinpoint where they are so we could concentrate the beam into as narrow as possible window
If they do have any kind of radio receivers they would probably pick up our TV signals and have a clue that we are there
Deciphering their reply may be a challenge unless it is mathematical
But we wait, Absence of Proof does not mean Proof of Absence
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Raymond say: We could beam a radio signal (and repeat until we get some kind of an answer, even if no answer can come faster than 2 times 4 = 8 years). The message would be sent at a slightly different wavelength each time and we already can listen to hundreds of wavelengths at a time -- it was developped for the SETI program (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence).
Ditto, but using very strong laser beam. This is trickier if only we would have to pick a wavelength that falls into one of the gaps in sunlight... and HOPE someone is watching on that wavelength. We would have to watch on THAT wavelength PLUS on whatever wavelengths fall in the major gaps in their starlight.
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bubby say: Just call them using the 300,000 digit area code before the main number.
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paul h say: Some people believe that quantum entanglement (QE) methods would allow for instantaneous or faster than light speed communications while others think it's not possible. You would still need a means to create a communications system on the far planet using nano-technology which may also be possible with QE methods at the atomic level and some sort of universal translation architecture. Since information has no mass, it may be possible to communicate faster than lightspeed in the near future. A piece of paper that has a paragraph/story written on it it weighs no different than the same letters/punctuation arranged in jibberish so the information of the arranged letters, paragraph, grammar, etc.. has no mass in and of itself.
https://edgy.app/according-to-a-new-quan...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKPBHuj...
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Jeffrey K say: We probably couldn't. But we would try sending radio signals with mathematical patterns to catch their attention. There is no guarantee that they even use radio signals.
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Clive say: Very very slowly, as it would take 4 years to get a message there and another 4 years for them to send something back. And that's assuming we've already worked out how their language works or they've worked out ours, so we have a language to communicate in.
It would have to be by radio or other electromagnetic radiation as that's the fastest thing in the universe - still takes 4 years each way. And what frequency would they be using? If we aren't both tuned to the same one, of course we can send all we like but they won't be listening.
Better have something more substantial to say than "hello", then, once we've got the dictionary.
Just for more off the wall thinking, what if their language can't be translated into radio form? I am reminded of "Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death", which was made for the Comic Relief telethon. The Doctor and the Master meet on Tersurus, a planet where the inhabitants communicated by farting. They all died when they discovered fire. But imagine, what if they communicated by a non-flammable gas?
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Paula say: It would be a problem for us.
We have no way of sending a probe there.
Well - we could send one - but in the thousand or more years it would take to get there, the probe would have no power supply.
We would send radio signals in that direction and wait to see if we got a response. At least 8 years would elapse before a response could arrive. And, we would listen for any signal that they might be directing in our direction.
I expect we would get busy on building a probe that could remain functional after traveling there. And in fact, we are almost certain to build such a probe, or many of them, so trhat we can "explore" nearby star systems.
It would seem to me that building such probes is currently beyond our ability.
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gregory_dittman say: First, both sides would have to know that they made contact. The second problem would be to set up communication so that computers could read each other's messages. Then both sides would electronically send information to each other in a constant stream. The information would be 4 years old and full of corrupt information since radiation would destroy much of the information.
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JazSinc say: The same way that you confirmed the evidence.
But you know what? You might not want to.
Read
The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino
and
The Forge of God by Greg Bear
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say: With telepathy.
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ngc7331 say: Very similar to the way the post office used to work. You write a letter (coherent sentences with appropriate punctuation describing events occurring around you), place the letter in an envelope, affix a stamp with the correct postage and place it in a mailbox. However, the "letter" would be some form of agreed upon language and the "mailbox" would be a transceiver (either radio, microwave or laser) to broadcast the signal to the star system. Just like the post office, you now have to hope your message arrives and that they decide to write you a letter back and that their post office works at least as good as ours.
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Dan say: Laser signaling. It would be quite easy to point a powerful laser in their direction and we'd light up brightly.
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Jake No Chat say: If they are so advanced, then we invite them to visit here so we can communicate with them face-to-face.
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poldi2 say: The only way would be using light or radio - but it would still take 4 years each way.
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Nyx say: You need to figure out if this civilization has something like radio.
Could be that they are in our equivalent of the 18th century, and simply haven't invented it yet.
Sending probes may not be a good idea since our current technological level isn't yet good enough to have a fast moving craft, with a long lasting power supply, and electronics.
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Davros say: Semaphore!
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