Psychologists predict humans will welcome ET

Science fiction treatments about encounters with aliens often suggest they should be feared.

But alien life will be welcomed by humanity when – or if – we finally make first contact, research suggests.  

People will be ‘pretty upbeat’ on discovering extra-terrestrials also live in our universe, it was claimed. 

This is despite warnings from scientists such as Professor Stephen Hawking who say we should ‘be wary’ about answering alien signals.

 

Alien life will be welcomed by humanity when – or if – we finally make first contact, research suggests. Psychologists looked at media coverage of ‘alien announcements’, including the appearance of the ‘alien’ interstellar asteroid Oumuamua (pictured) in December

As yet, no conclusive proof of encountering little green men – or women – has been found.

So to test how humanity would react to discovering we are not alone, researchers analysed media reports that suggest the potential for alien life in our solar system.

And overall, reactions are expected to be largely positive, an academic claims.

Arizona State University Assistant Professor of Psychology Michael Varnum told the AAAS conference in Austin Texas yesterday: ‘If we came face to face with life outside of Earth, we would actually be pretty upbeat about it.

‘So far, there’s been a lot of speculation about how we might respond to this kind of news, but until now, almost no systematic empirical research.’ 

Professor Varnum and colleagues used a computer programme to analyse language in newspaper articles about past reports of potential extraterrestrial life discoveries.

Potential examples of discovering extraterrestrial life included reports in 1996 of finds of microbes on Mars and in 2015 reports of periodic dimming around a star which might indicate alien life as well as a 2017 report of earth-like planets.

Potential examples of discovering aliens included reports in 1996 of finds of microbes on Mars and in 2015 reports of periodic dimming around a star which might indicate alien life as well as a 2017 report of earth-like planets oribiting in the distant star Trappist-1 (artist's impression)

Potential examples of discovering aliens included reports in 1996 of finds of microbes on Mars and in 2015 reports of periodic dimming around a star which might indicate alien life as well as a 2017 report of earth-like planets oribiting in the distant star Trappist-1 (artist’s impression)

They also analysed the media coverage that claimed Oumuamua, an asteroid from outside our solar system, was a spaceship.

The study found that language in the coverage of these events showed significantly more positive than negative emotions.

In a separate study, the team asked more than 500 different participants to write about their own hypothetical reactions and humanity’s hypothetical reaction to an announcement that extraterrestrial microbial life had been discovered.

Participants’ responses also showed significantly more positive than negative emotions, both when contemplating their own reactions and those of humanity as a whole.

‘I would have some excitement about the news,’ one participant said.

‘It would be exciting even if it was a primitive form.’

In another study, Varnum’s group presented an additional sample of more than 500 people with past news coverage of scientific discoveries and asked them to write about their reactions.

The study found that language in the coverage of these events showed significantly more positive than negative emotions. British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was the first person to discover a pulsar in 1967  (artist's impression) which some thought could be alien life

The study found that language in the coverage of these events showed significantly more positive than negative emotions. British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was the first person to discover a pulsar in 1967 (artist’s impression) which some thought could be alien life

The participants were divided into two groups. In one group, participants read a past article from The New York Times describing possible evidence of ancient microbial life on a Mars meteorite.

The second group of participants read an article from the Times describing the claimed creation of synthetic human life in a lab.

Here too, the team found evidence of significantly more positive than negative emotions in responses to the claimed discovery of extraterrestrial life.

This effect was stronger in response to reading about extraterrestrial life than human-made synthetic life.

‘This discovery shows that other planets have the ability to have life on them,’ a participant said.

‘It’s a very interesting and exciting finding that could be only the beginning.’

WHAT ARE THE KEY DISCOVERIES HUMANITY HAS MADE IN ITS SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE?

Discovery of pulsars

British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was the first person to discover a pulsar in 1967 when she spotted a radio pulsar.

Since then other types of pulsars that emit x-rays and gamma rays have also been spotted.

Pulsars are essentially rotating, highly magnatised neutron stars but when they were first discovered it was believed they could come from aliens.

‘Wow!’ radio signal

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the nigh sky above Ohio spotted a powerful radio signal so strong that he excitedly wrote ‘Wow!’ next to his data.

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the nigh sky above Ohio spotted a powerful radio signal so strong that he excitedly wrote 'Wow!' next to his data

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the nigh sky above Ohio spotted a powerful radio signal so strong that he excitedly wrote ‘Wow!’ next to his data

The 72-second blast, spotted by Dr Jerry Ehman through a radio telescope, came from Sagittarius but matched no known celestial object.

Conspiracy theorists have since claimed that the ‘Wow! signal’, which was 30 times stronger than background radiation, was a message from intelligent extraterrestrials.

Fossilised martian microbes

In 1996 Nasa and the White House made the explosive announcement that the rock contained traces of Martian bugs.

The meteorite, catalogued as Allen Hills (ALH) 84001, crashed onto the frozen wastes of Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984. 

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike.

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike (pictured)

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike (pictured)

However, the excitement did not last long. Other scientists questioned whether the meteorite samples were contaminated. 

They also argued that heat generated when the rock was blasted into space may have created mineral structures that could be mistaken for microfossils. 

Behaviour of Tabby’s Star in 2005 

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astonomers since being discovered in 2015.

It dims at a much faster rate than other stars, which some experts have suggested is a sign of aliens harnessing the energy of a star.

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astonomers since being discovered in 2015 (artist's impression)

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astonomers since being discovered in 2015 (artist’s impression)

Recent studies have ‘eliminated the possibility of an alien megastructure’, and instead, suggests that a ring of dust could be causing the strange signals.

Exoplanets in the Goldilocks zone in 2015 

In February this year astronomers announced they had spotted a star system with planets that could support life just 39 light years away.

Seven Earth-like planets were discovered orbiting nearby dwarf star ‘Trappist-1’, and all of them could have water at their surface, one of the key components of life.

Three of the planets have such good conditions, that scientists say life may have already evolved on them. 

Researchers claim that they will know whether or not there is life on any of the planets within a decade, and said ‘this is just the beginning.’ 

His colleague at Arizona State University, Professor Paul Davies, spoke at the same conference about why we have yet to encounter extraterrestrial life.

He noted that ‘habitable’ is very different to ‘inhabited’ and that because nobody knows how non-life transitioned to life on Earth, it is impossible to estimate the odds of it springing forth elsewhere in the universe.

‘During my career, opinion has shifted from life’s origin being a bizarre fluke unique in the universe (‘almost a miracle’ in the words of Francis Crick), to the belief that the universe is teeming with life (‘a cosmic imperative’ in the words of Christian de Duve),’ Professor Davies said.

‘How can we settle the matter? For several decades astronomers have been sweeping the skies with radio telescopes hoping to stumble across a message from ET. 

‘So far they have been met by an “eerie silence”.’



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