In what may go down in history as either a silly exercise in futility or the cause of our enslavement to alien overlords, scientists have announced plans to beam signals into space in an attempt to contact ETs.
The project, dubbed 'Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence,' is helmed by Douglas Vakoch, a former member of SETI.
METI aims to send recurring messages to 'Proxima b,' the Earth-like planet discovered earlier this year which is the closest location yet-to-be found where life could possibly exist.
Provided the project find the $1 million dollars in funding it needs to launch, it would be the first time a concerted effort has been made by astronomers to attempt contact with ETs via a repeating signal beamed from Earth.
As one might expect, the concept has been met with some criticism by scientists who aren't particularly thrilled to see METI reaching out to aliens on behalf of the entire planet.
The possibility that aliens could be hostile and that humans are not quite ready to join an interstellar conversation are the two main arguments against getting pro-active in the quest to communicate with ETs.
Scientists at SETI, however, support the concept and say that there's little to be feared from the idea of trying to call out to aliens lurking out there in space.
If all goes as planned, METI is set to being 'broadcasting' in late 2018 and, if all goes to hell, the aliens should be wiping out large portions of our planet sometime around mid-2019.
Source: PhysOrg