Communicating With Aliens

[Mysterion]

Math really isn't a Universal language due to the fact that alien species might translates a math differently. Advanced species wouldn't even our modern day math as it would be severely outdated.
An alien really wouldn't understand what 1 + 1 meant because they would have no idea what 1 represented. Besides, if the alien didn't breathe oxygen, the BPM would be completely different based on how the alien life collected and used the non-oxygen gas. which would throw any mathematic similarities off.

Not quite. You just have to clearly define terms and symbols first. See the first few images of the Voyager message which do exactly that, and then further images begin to apply those definitions to things that a spacefaring species would recognize. This is very much less complicated than what you are suggesting.

 

[publiusr]

I wonder if we got some big dishes out past the heliopause or the Oort—if that might make a difference

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Perhaps, but if one is going out that far it might be expedient to include some gravitational-lensing imaging capability to view planets in other systems. Using the Sun as the lens means a trip out to beyond 550 AU or over nine times farther than New Horizons has reached. Alternatively, to use the Earth as the lens, which has some advantages, requires a journey out to 15,375 AU. That's just shy of a quarter of a light year.

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2016/04/26/gravitational-lensing-with-planets/

 

[StarCruiser]

You DO realize that you are trying to turn a Dryson thread into an actual science thread...right?

 

[Silvercrest]

If he succeeds, will it finally explain the dips in KIC 8462852?

 

[Dryson]

From what I have been reading about how SETI conducts it's messages sent into space, perhaps they are going about their comms in the incorrect manner.

Most comms on Earth revolve around two points, A and B, being used to send a signal back and forth to. But in space a single signal really wouldn't be viewed as much more than noise. But if two radio emitters broadcast a signal two degrees apart into space, an alien species would be more likely of discovering the signal.

As the two signals travel through space, the distance between each signal gets greater over time the signal travels. Both signals are the same and one day alien species XYZ comes across one and then discoveries the same signal 1,000 light years away. Fascinated, the alien species begins to work the signal back to its location based on the distance between both signals reducing until the a point when the signals are are very strong and less than 1 light year in distance. Just like cattle in a funnel chute, at first the aliens will turn and twist trying to make an escape if you will, but as the chute gets narrower the thoughts of the cattle and aliens would be more aligned with what was in front of it due to the chutes or signals on both sides not allowing the cow to turn around very easily.

Basically, finding aliens is very much like herding cattle to get a vaccine. First you start with a large pen where the cattle are kept. The taper then gradually reduces for allowing five cows into the chute to only one. From my experience, you can never funnel cattle to get their vaccine shots by using only one set of gates on one side, which in this case would be the signals sent from SETI.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Sounds like the Battle of the Beams from WW2. I do hope the aliens don't want to bomb us.

 

[BillJ]

As the two signals travel through space, the distance between each signal gets greater over time the signal travels. Both signals are the same and one day alien species XYZ comes across one and then discoveries the same signal 1,000 light years away. Fascinated, the alien species begins to work the signal back to its location based on the distance between both signals reducing until the a point when the signals are are very strong and less than 1 light year in distance. Just like cattle in a funnel chute, at first the aliens will turn and twist trying to make an escape if you will, but as the chute gets narrower the thoughts of the cattle and aliens would be more aligned with what was in front of it due to the chutes or signals on both sides not allowing the cow to turn around very easily.

Still haven’t worked out that whole “speed of light” thing?

 

[StarCruiser]

What? Don't you know that our signals are better than that? We have magic signals that can travel faster than light! Even faster than faster than light!

 

[Santaman]

We have the bestest and most awesonemous signals there are, even better than alien signals, our signals are shiny and very very very well made.

 

[Silvercrest]

We look for things to make us go.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

We look for things to make us go.

I'm sure we can rustle up some Picolax for you.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

What? Don't you know that our signals are better than that? We have magic signals that can travel faster than light! Even faster than faster than light!

We also have Trump, throw him at the aliens

 

[StarCruiser]

Hmmm.... Kinda want to but... Hmmm...maybe building a REALLY big Trebuchet? I really don't want to waste a perfectly good rocket on him.

 

[Silvercrest]

Oh, we'll build a rocket ... and make him pay for it.

 

[Santaman]

Gauss gun.. mwuhahaha..

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Using mathematical constants is a good way just to let the aliens know our current level of advancement. But of course you'd need to establish context before you can really communicate meaning.

Message 1: 11 111 11111 1111111 11111111111
The first five primes, to give the aliens a hint for the next message.

Message 2: 10 11 101 111 1011
The same five primes in binary since they have the hint from the first message we're talking about primes, now they know we are using binary numbers to communicate.

Message 3:
11 001001000011111101101010100010001000010110100011000010001101001100010011000110011000101000101110000000110111000001110011010001
Pi in binary. They already understand the hint that we use a binary counting system, so they calculate what those numbers might mean, and recognize it as Pi.

Message 4:
(Picture of animal) 0001. (Picture of human) 0001 11. (Picture of building) 110110. (And so on)
They already understand we're using binary numbers to express things. Now they have a hint we're using them as language and sharing them the basic vocabulary.

And so on. A process of first establishing context by showing them something simple they already recognize, then building on what you taught them.

 

[Santaman]

^^ no use if they use decimal computers or character based systems..

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

But isn't the whole "maths is a universal language" thing a myth?

 

[StarCruiser]

Certain basics of mathematics should be universal but, yeah...it's questionable if everyone would approach the subject in exactly the same way.