Letter: Other worlds

From Michael Dowling

Further to calls to boost the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) which looks for artificial radio signals, so it can check exoplanets (11 February, p 28): it is reasonable to assume radio communication will eventually be superseded by a technically superior system.

If sentient alien species do exist, they are likely to be either far ahead of us technologically or just taming fire – not at exactly the same stage as us. The odds of detecting an artificial radio signal would be slim.

The editor writes:

• SETI’s Jill Tarter did describe a targeted search of appropriate exoplanets as a long shot.

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada