We don’t know what aliens will be like so it’s hard to know how we will communicate with aliens if we ever find them.
They are very unlikely to speak English or any language we know. They might not even talk or write at all.
Scientists try to think about different ways we can communicate with aliens. Some ideas are to communicate through numbers, shapes or radio waves.
On the 21st February 2022 we sent YOUR voices to space as part of Mission Transmission.
You can listen to Mission Transmission – our radio broadcast to deep space featuring YOUR voices here.
Here are some of the ways we are reaching out to aliens.
Through radio waves
For decades we have been sending out radio waves to space. We hope that if these waves come into contact with intelligent aliens they will know we are trying to send them a message that they are not alone in space.
We are also listening for radio waves from aliens.
Depending how far away a planet is it could take lots of years for a message to reach a planet and then it would take years for them to send us a message back.
Plus if they sent a radio signal in the 1700s, before we had radio, we wouldn’t have known aliens had tried to contact us.
Through numbers
It’s very unlikely that aliens will know language but they might know the difference between having nothing and having something.
That’s why we might be able to communicate with them through binary code which is a special way of using numbers that just uses 1 and 0. It’s a language that computers speak too.
They might also understand maths – even if they write their numbers differently or don’t write at all.
Are aliens communicating with us already?
Have you ever seen a crop circle? It’s the pattern left behind in a field where a UFO has been.
Well that’s what some people think anyway, other people think they are made by humans as a prank.
If you think they are real do you think that aliens leave them to communicate that they’ve visited us?
What we need to think about when we are communicating with aliens
Think about the different ways we communicate. How many can you list? (have a go then look at our answers)
- Speaking
- Writing
- Drawing
- Eye Contact
- Facial Expressions
All of the answers above rely on us being able to do different things such as being able to hear, see, feel and understand information. We don’t know if aliens can do any of these things so we have to think about how we communicate and also having lots of different ways we communicate.
Even if aliens do have a way of communicating that is the same as ours there will probably be many differences.
For example they may be able to speak but it will be in a different language or they may be able to use facial expressions but they could be different to ours – for example a frown could mean they are very happy.
How would you communicate with an alien?
What would you tell them?
Would you tell them through words, art or try and describe your message by acting it out?
On the 21st February 2022 we sent YOUR voices to space as part of Mission Transmission.
You can listen to Mission Transmission – our radio broadcast to deep space featuring YOUR voices here.
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