NASA scientists aim to send naked human pictures into space in the hopes of attracting alien attention.
The scientists believe that by sending a pixelated illustration of a naked woman and man waving “hello” in an attempt to appear inviting, they can establish proper contact with another life form.
The move is part of the ‘Beacon in the Galaxy’ (BITG) project. It intends to send a message to other space civilizations encouraging them to communicate with humans.
The scientists have included a representation of gravity and DNA in addition to the pixelated illustrations.
Aliens are most likely to understand a binary-coded message, according to scientists.
Not the first NASA attempt to send naked human pictures
“Though the concept of mathematics in human terms is potentially unrecognizable to extra-terrestrial intelligence, binary is likely universal across all intelligence,” the scientists said in their official project document.
“Binary is the simplest form of mathematics as it involves only two opposing states: zero and one, yes or no, black or white, mass or empty space.”
They added, “The proposed message includes basic mathematical and physical concepts to establish a universal means of communication followed by information on the biochemical composition of life on Earth, the Solar System’s time-stamped position in the Milky Way relative to known globular clusters, as well as digitized depictions of the Solar System, and Earth’s surface.”
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time scientists have attempted to send naked images of humans into space.
Both the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 missions were launched in 1972 and 1973 respectively; they included images of naked humans hooked to their antennas. They were likewise ready to have a peek at any aliens who would have an interest.