• Question: if we do find new life forms how would we approach them

    Asked by anon-223036 to Sreejita, Sam, Kate, Anastasia, Adam on 21 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Sreejita Ghosh

      Sreejita Ghosh answered on 21 Nov 2019:

      We must first build a ‘safe space’ for them so that they are able to trust us. We should show them kindness and protect them from being commercialized either as ‘pets’ or ‘food’ or ‘zoo items’. We should observe them from a safe distance and learn about their food habits, habitat and possible triggers by other life forms. If they need help we should use our knowledge based on our observation to prevent them from getting extinct.

    • Photo: Anastasia Aliferi

      Anastasia Aliferi answered on 21 Nov 2019: last edited 21 Nov 2019 1:30 pm

      With caution! Both our safety and their safety could be at risk and we should make sure no one gets hurt. I think observation will be key, we should make sure we know as much as we can about their behavior, needs and environment before we initiate any contact.

    • Photo: Adam Wootton

      Adam Wootton answered on 21 Nov 2019:

      This is a question that we’ve had to think about before, as a species. In the past, we made space probes that were sent into space and fitted with special plates that include all sorts of information about us as a species, just in case aliens find the probes. They had to try to explain our biology, maths and culture in a way that could be understood by aliens who may have completely different ways of understanding things. You can see how they approached this at this link, which shows you all of the contents of one of these records:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_Voyager_Golden_Record

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