First Contact & the One-Hundred Years Since Then

First Contact & the One-Hundred Years Since Then

July 18, 2042: the day the Earth was silent. That day, at approximately 9:23 PM, we heard the first alien signal and every television, every radio station, every person with a cell phone waited in silence to learn the latest updates. Now this week, on Wednesday July 18, 2142, we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the first contact made, and all of us here on earth will be remembering the years leading up to this point.

Before Contact

Before contact was ever made, the idea of life in outer space, for many people, was more of a science-fiction idea than a real possibility. Others believed they were being abducted by aliens on a regular basis, and still other people believed there was no possibility of life elsewhere, and especially not intelligent life. Thousands of reports were made of spotting of an alien spacecraft, or that the Government was hiding aliens, or hiding their existence.

A fairly common depiction of an alien and their spacecraft, (commonly called an UFO, or Unidentified Flying Object, or a Flying Saucer) looked like this:

An alien spacecraft abducting a bull cow.

An illustration of an alien species.

Many people during this time period had hope that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was launched in 2018 by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), would find life elsewhere in our galaxy. It had capabilities to detect planets around stars as wells as signatures from their atmospheres that would indicate industrial processes, thus indicating intelligent life. However, due to a depression that had begun in 2019, the United States was unable to continue funding NASA. Instead of letting this amazing opportunity to study space go to waste, ESA (European Space Agency), and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) signed an agreement that they would jointly share the costs of maintaining the JWST, and would jointly share the discoveries made by it. (It wasn’t until 2037 that the International Space Agency was formed, combining all of these agencies.)

The Discoveries

The first discovery made did not come from JWST as the United States expected, but instead came from the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission, launched in 2022, as a part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision plan to study Jupiter’s icy moons. The JUICE mission reached Jupiter’s moon Ganymede in 2031 and sent back signs of bacterial life beneath the surface of the icy crust. The bacteria found were almost identical to types of bacteria found on the earth. The bacteria had similar structures, and used RNA and DNA as a part of their genetic sequencing. There were several differences however, including the way they harvested their energy, due to the fact that they live in water beneath an icy crust, receiving little to no light from the sun.

This discovery sparked a renewed interest in finding life elsewhere. After the 2^nd Great Depression ended in the United States in 2025, and in the rest of the world in 2026, there was a major push to stop using fossil fuels and continue to develop alternate energy sources to prevent the dwindling oil supplies that were predicted to be gone by 2035. As the economies around the world began to build themselves up again, money began to be pumped more heavily into researching life on other planets around other stars. With Alpha Centauri being the nearest star system, most money was funding projects that focused on finding planets there. ISA (International Space Agency) was formed in 2037, and with combined funding from many different countries more and more effort was put into finding life around Alpha Centauri.

ISA was not disappointed. Knowing already of one planet within its habitable zone of the Alpha Centauri star system, Albertus Alauda, ISA began to look for any indicators in the atmosphere that would signify industrial processes, like having unnaturally high levels of CO_2. The JWST would catch little glimpses of indications, but wasn’t advanced enough to see what we really wanted to see. A new telescope, the GST (Galileo Space Telescope), was built for this purpose alone. It was launched in 2039, and was able to get a read on Albertus Alauda’s atmospheric anomalies within a few hours of being online and ready to go. Once we knew there were industrial processes happening we began sending the signals. We sent one radio signal and one laser signal every day twice a day, one set of signals at noon, and one set of signals at midnight. It takes four light years to reach Alpha Centauri, so we didn’t expect any reply for at least four years.

Contact          

Finally, the time had passed and it was getting to be within a week since we had sent the first signal. People were anticipating news, yet it didn’t come, or at least it didn’t come for a few more months. A message came back at 9:23 PM Mountain Time, on the night of July 18, 2044. It read, once decoded, “We are here, we understand, we will send more.” This was followed a week later by another message that showed how their basic written language and numerical system worked. An interview with an ISA interpreter, Charlotte Hendricks, was taken after this second message was decoded.

Reporter: What kinds of concepts do the aliens share with us in terms of a written language?

Hendricks: Actually, they have a very similar form of written language to us. There are small symbols that represent words, and words form together to create ideas. We are unsure still if what makes up the words are individual letters due to the more pictographic nature of the symbols, but other than that it seems very similar to ours.

Reporter: What about their numerical system? How does it compare to ours?

Hendricks: Their numerical system actually seems to be basically identical to ours. They have symbols that represent a 1, 2, 3… and so on. They also had representation of negative numbers and zero.

Messages from these others came about once a week for the next four years after that, with us responding each week. After those four years we began to see them replying to our messages and we began to have an extremely lagged conversation going on. We learned many things about their societies, their knowledge, and their biology. Our knowledge of our universe has been deepened greatly due to their experiences as a culture. For them, this was the second time an alien species had contacted them in the last 100 years, yet they say this other species wanted to know very little and soon stopped contacting them. They still have no idea why this happened.

Effects On Society

Short Term Effects

Immediately after news of the first arriving message there was an uproar. It seemed almost instantaneous that hundreds of stories of aliens already living among us were reported, and millions of alien talismans, alien dust, alien stones and other strange alien objects began to be sold online for various reasons. Some bought them for protection, and others for communication. One person was able to become a billionaire within a week by selling “Alien Radios.”

This fear of aliens led to a witch hunt for aliens among us. There was a blog published online about how to tell if a person was from outer space including things like, “… do their eyes flash unexpectedly up and down?” or, “How many times do they blink? If they blink excessively 40-60 times in a minute they are most likely going to be tested positively as half alien, half human.” Conspiracy theorists proclaimed that the government had an Alien Relocation Act, which allowed aliens from Albertus Alauda’s to come to Earth to live among us.

The public was very over taken with a fear of aliens coming to attack us and there was a general panic for the next few weeks after contact. Many people began to go offline, or in other words, completely abandon technology and move to more rural areas because they believed that the Earth would soon be attacked by alien invaders here to harvest our bodies for fuel. Grocery store shelves were emptied within three days of most of these predictions that we were going to be invaded, and many homes were left abandoned.

The pseudo-science that had begun to be pushed back and out of people’s minds, like fortune tellers, black magic, ghosts, and demons, now was taking over full force. However, this frenzy did not last too long as the uneducated citizens began to be educated on more aspects of physics and how we still do not have the technology to travel through space at a high enough speed to reach Albertus Alauda.

Long Term Effects

The long term effects of this contact have been much more serious. While we have learned a lot from this species from Albertus Alauda, there has been a great rift in our society. Many of those people who were religious before we made contact, are no longer so. This is due to a belief that we are unique and special and a higher deity had created just us. Since we are no longer alone in the Universe, many people decided that religion could no longer work for them. Those that remained religious were split into two groups: one believes all of this is a hoax, and the other believes that there is a higher purpose in life and there will always be a God even if there are countless other intelligent species out there. These three groups for whatever reason will not tolerate any other the other groups, causing a great shift in government power, and in society as a whole.

Worries

After the last message was received from Albertus Alauda, with no indication of an end to communication, there are worries about why they stopped trying to reach us. There are worries that perhaps another alien species wiped them out, or that disease overtook them, or perhaps they are coming to invade our planet. Whatever the situation, it has caused many experts to look back over the last hundred years and wonder why they would suddenly stop.

Today as a society we have grown a lot since 2018 when the JWST was launched. We have learned to accept the fact that we are not alone, and that we are not unique. We have gathered more information on science, and have been able to advance tremendously on technology. While we still have a long way to go in terms of knowledge, we have come this far, and we might just make it.

The Letter Einstein Would Have Written

To Past Scientists, Philosophers, and other Scholars:

If this letter is now being read, though I believe that will never happen, that means time travel has become a reality. I am writing from the year 1905, around 2,300 years after you are currently reading this, unless the letter was sent back to the incorrect time. In that case, I will be unable to estimate how far into the future I am from you, unless you know who Plato is. If you know who he is, the letter should reach a time during which Plato was in his 30s, and you can calibrate the years off of that. I am hoping that whoever is reading this is someone who wishes to learn more of the world around them and can teach and influence others to be equally curious. If I were to pick the perfect person to pick this letter up, it would indeed be Plato, thus the reason for the date in time the letter shall be sent to. If by chance you can deliver this letter to him it is imperative that you do just that.

I am writing this letter, not to speak of the amazing and vast amounts of knowledge we possess of the world now, but to instead instruct you on how to help the future reach this point sooner using something called the scientific method. During your time, philosophers and scholars of all different fields look at the world around them and try to make sense of it by thinking about it, and drawing their own conclusions. This is a fine method when used for things that are hard to test such as what is moral and what is not, and what morals are in general. However, when used on other fields of study like the forces of the Universe, for instance why objects fall to the ground, the scientific method is a more useful tool.

The scientific method is a way to approach observations of the world around you and be able to make definitive conclusions about those observations. The scientific method has a few different steps to it.

1. Observation/Question
2. Form a Hypothesis
3. Test the Hypothesis
4. Analyze the Results
5. Conclude
   1. Supports hypothesis (or)
   2. Form new hypothesis and return to step 3

The first part is that a person must make an observation of some sort, say you observe that a young child is not eating the apple they are supposed to eat at school and is instead eating an orange. After eating the orange, the child has a very good memory of the lesson they had learned the day before. You may wonder why this is so, and ask a question about the observations.

The next step in the scientific method would then be to come up with a well thought out idea of why you think that might be. This is called a hypothesis and might sound something like this: the young child had improved memory after eating the orange. This next step is when the scientific method becomes harder, but more useful at the same time.

The next step is to test that hypothesis in an experiment. Experiments must be designed with a lot of care so that it is very easy to see what is causing what. Experiments will have two types of tests happening. In one, a single variable will be changed, and in the other nothing will be changed and then those results will be compared to see if changing the variable affected any of the results. All tests conducted must be exactly the same except for the one variable changed. Another important part of an experiment is that there is a large sample size so that there is a lot of data to compare. The more data there is, the more likely it is that is inaccurate. In the example with the children the experiment would look something like this. All of the children involved would learn the exact same lesson. After one day, a large group of children would eat the usual apple for lunch, and the other large group of children would eat the orange. Then all of the children would be quizzed on what they had learned the previous day. The only thing changing within the experiment is what type of food is eaten.

The next step of the scientific method is to analyze these results and see if the changed variable had any effect. The results of the children’s quizzes would be compared to see if those who ate the orange had higher test scores than those that did not. These results will either validate the hypothesis made at the beginning, thus giving you an answer to the original question, or it will invalidate your hypothesis and you must try to find another answer to the observations. By doing this, another hypothesis will be formed that must be tested, and will start the process over.

You may be asking why I don’t just explain many of the discoveries made in the next 2,300 or so years. It is because I believe that the human race needs to make those discoveries for itself, because we have grown stronger by working through those experiments and gaining that knowledge through hard work and determination. However, by teaching the scientific method earlier, I believe the human race will make discoveries sooner, and become more and more advanced.

Thank you for reading this letter and please make use of my instructions.

Good Luck,

Albert Einstein

Kepler’s Journal

A journal was found recently in an archaeological dig located in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. This journal, found in a time capsule along with several papers containing observations of the planet Mars, is said to be authored by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), an astronomer who discovered many of the secrets of our solar system.

This discovery has excited not only historians, but also scientists who are eager to get a look inside Kepler’s mind, and examine his inner thoughts, emotions, and fears as he discovered breakthrough ideas and theories. One scientist quoted from Charles University, located in Prague, said, “There were plenty of men back in the day of Kepler, and before him, that probably had many breakthroughs, theories, and ideas that could have made them famous. However, the difference between these men who are lost to history and Kepler, is that Kepler had his work published. The fact that Kepler kept a personal journal, and then put it in a time capsule, intending it to be read by future generations, is an exciting prospect.”

Kepler’s journal has been translated into many different languages, including English, in order for the general public to study his writings. Here are some of the more notable journal entries made by Kepler:

February 4, 1600

            Today I met with Tycho Brahe, and several of his assistants, just outside of Prague, at the location where Brahe’s observatory is currently being built. I came only after several requests were made by Brahe for my attendance, and these requests only came after one of my publications became well known. I suspect Brahe wants me here simply because my theory differs from his. I believe he wishes that as I study under him I will come to think as he does, and further authenticate his own ideas.

            I plan to stay here for a few more weeks analyzing his observations of Mars, a fortunate opportunity. My wishes are to eventually be able to stay indefinitely to develop my own theories, whereas should I make the trek home to Graz, the high religiosity in that area and connections to the Church may inhibit that development.

            The Church’s belief that man cannot understand the heavens perfectly because God did not intend his creation to do so, is a troublesome one. The Church, I believe, would rather its people remain ignorant rather than question its teachings of God. I believe God intended man to learn, and develop ideas in order to increase the understanding of the world he made for us to live in. The Church would rather us live like the ancients did with no science, astronomy, or math to lead us out of the pit of ignorance, to still believe that God created the Earth by putting mud on a turtle’s back, or that he pulls the sun across the sky with a chariot. Ignorant people are easier to lead.

February 11, 1600

            Having been here a week, I’ve come to realize that although the observations Brahe, and his assistants have made are rather useful, many of them are made using the average position or assumed position of the sun in the center of the orbit, rather than its actual position in the heavens. This slight flaw may limit any accurate results and therefore I must begin producing my own observations.

            I’m beginning to miss my wife, and if I am to return here, I sincerely hope to bring her back with me.

October 24, 1601

            I would be lying if I wrote I felt nothing but sadness towards the death of Brahe. I feel mixed feelings of gratitude towards him for allowing me access to his data, and observatory, and for my job. I feel great sadness at his death. However, I also feel hope and excitement at the prospect of being able to get out from under his watchful gaze, to experiment on my own theories, to gather my own data, and come to my own conclusions. The divine Lord has indeed blessed me by bringing me to Brahe, yet he has blessed me even more by taking him away.

August 13, 1603

            Today as I finished my observations of Mars, I returned my thoughts to Ptolemy’s model, putting the Earth at the center of the heavens and his use of the equant. What Ptolemy referred to as an equant is an imaginary point in which a planet’s center of orbit is located.  Though I believe Ptolemy’s model to be flawed in the fact that he placed the Earth at the center of the heavens rather than the Sun, the idea of the equant continues to intrigue me. I have tossed the idea of the Sun being at the center of the heavens, yet having an equant other than the exact center of the sun, for some time, yet my Ptolemaic model is not yet finished or ready to be tested against the data. Until then, these thoughts must remain unpursued.

August 17, 1603

            The model was finished on the 14^th of August, and since that time I have devoted myself to using various geometrical equations to experiment upon the Ptolemaic model. I found the equant, and having tested this model against Brahe’s data was extremely surprised to see that the data matched up to a very small margin of error. However, though this model seemed to contain the answers of the Universe, I had to continue to test the model in search of error.

After measuring the distance between Mars and the Sun and comparing those observations to the predictions made by the model, I found that there was a margin of error of 14% up to 42%. I began to fix the model to coincide with the observations, yet still found an error of eight minutes, one minute being the width of a pencil led that is held eight feet away. I know I have to keep going. I know I have to be persistent in finding a model that fits the observations with the smallest degree possible of error. The task is daunting.

April 27 1607

            Today is a very momentous day for me, for science, and for future generations who will benefit from the knowledge I have uncovered. The Earth was believed to move at a constant rate in the heavens and along a perfect circle, however using observations of Mars I have disproved that theory. The Earth does not move at a perfect rate, and indeed its orbit is not a circle, but an ellipse. An ellipse is an oval shape and can be seen by cutting an oval and looking at the sections created.  My hard work has paid off.

The journal, along with the pages found with observational notes on them, are going to be displayed later this year at the Kepler Museum in Prague, Czech Republic.