Humans have been looking for evidence that we are not alone in the universe ever since we started looking at the stars overhead. While most of the investigations have been speculation abut events and objects we don't understand, or else wishful thinking like science fiction, large scale projects like SETI are seriously scanning distance space to intercept any signals that might come from some cosmic intelligence. At the same time, we have beamed signals out into the cosmos, hoping that someday, intelligent extraterrestrials will find them. There have been at least a dozen such programs so far.
They started with the Soviet Union sending Morse code signals to Venus in 1962. It continued with the plaques on the Pioneer space probes and later the Voyager probes that are now in interstellar space. The image above is the Arecibo message, send from the (now defunct) Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico in 1974. The messages got more sophisticated over time, although no one knows if they will ever be found or deciphered by anyone. Even SETI is sending out signals now. Read about 12 projects that aim to communicate with extraterrestrials we don't yet know of at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: Arne Nordmann (norro))
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