From The Sunday Times<\/p>\n
December 16, 2007<\/p>\n
Tony Allen-Mills in New York<\/p>\n
FOR decades it has been a staple of science fiction, somewhere out in the galaxy, a highly developed alien race picks up a radio signal from Earth, and decides to eat us for lunch.<\/p>\n
In a world plagued by war, hunger and disease, a possible attack by little green men may not rank high among most nations concerns. Yet for a small group of scientists who are harnessing increasingly powerful technologies in a trans-galactic search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, the prospect of catastrophe has stirred an angry debate.<\/p>\n
Two senior scientists have resigned from an elite international study group in protest over a lack of public discussion about the possible consequences of attracting the attention of aliens by sending signals deep into space.<\/p>\n
We'[re talking about initiating communication with other civilizations, but we know nothing of their goals, capabilities or intent,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d warned John Billingham, a former Nasa scientist who has quit an extraterrestrial study group set up by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).<\/p>\n
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