The problem lies in the planned "beacon in the galaxy" (BITG), which is the data broadcast by the research team led by NASA, with the purpose of welcoming "alien intelligence". NASA hopes to transmit signals from Allen Telescope Array of SETI Institute in California and China 500-meter Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). It will include the biochemical composition of life on earth, the time stamp position of the solar system in the Milky Way, the digital images of human beings and the invitation of aliens to respond.
Anders Sandberg, a senior researcher at the Institute for the Future of Humanity (FHI) in Oxford University, believes that such broadcasting may be risky. He said that if an alien civilization receives this message, the response may be more than just a friendly greeting.
Sandberg told the British Telegraph in an article published on Sunday that the search for extraterrestrial life was a "joke". "Many people refuse to take anything related to it seriously, which is a pity, because this is the most important thing."
Toby ·Ord, another FHI scientist at Oxford University, suggested that there should be an open discussion before sending signals to aliens. He added that even listening to the received information can be dangerous, because they may be used to trap people on earth. "These risks are small, but people know little about them and they are not well managed," he said.
Ord insists that there is no scientific knowledge about the ratio of peaceful civilization to hostile civilization around the Milky Way. "As the disadvantages may far outweigh the benefits, it doesn't sound like a good situation for me to take active measures to get in touch," he said.
In the past, weak signals were broadcast into space using early technologies, such as the message sent by Arecibo at 1974. Russian scientists conducted a series of such broadcasts in 1999 and 2003, which were called cosmic call. Sandberg speculated that "poor aliens may have received all kinds of information for various reasons."
Scientists in BITG's team speculate that alien species advanced enough to communicate through the universe "have probably achieved a high level of cooperation between them, so they will understand the importance of peace and cooperation." George Dvorsky, a Canadian futurist, dismissed this theory as an "old routine", saying that he could imagine "many scenes" in which aliens with malicious tendencies continued to exist.