Editing Extraterrestrial intelligence (section)

==Search for extraterrestrial intelligence==
{{Main|Search for extraterrestrial intelligence}}

There has been a search for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence for several decades, with no significant results.<ref name="Henbest">[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729072.000 "The search for ET is a detective story without a body"] by [[Nigel Henbest]], [[New Scientist]], March 9, 2013, p. 53.</ref> [[Active SETI]] (Active Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is the attempt to send messages to intelligent extraterrestrial life. Active SETI messages are usually sent in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the [[Pioneer plaque]] may also be considered an active SETI message.

[[Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence]] (CETI) is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that focuses on composing and deciphering messages that could theoretically be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment was the 1974 [[Arecibo message]] composed by [[Frank Drake]] and [[Carl Sagan]]. There are multiple independent organizations and individuals engaged in CETI research.

The [[U.S. government]]'s position, in line with that of most relevant experts, is that "chances of contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence are extremely small, given the distances involved."<ref name="WhiteHouse">{{Cite web |last=Larson |first=Phil |date=5 November 2011 |title=Searching for ET, But No Evidence Yet |url=https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/searching-et-no-evidence-yet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124052154/https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/Petitions#!/response/searching-et-no-evidence-yet |archive-date=24 November 2011 |access-date=2011-11-06 |publisher=[[White House]]}}</ref><ref name="Atkinson">{{Cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Nancy |date=5 November 2011 |title=No Alien Visits or UFO Coverups, White House Says |url=http://www.universetoday.com/90717/no-alien-visits-or-ufo-coverups-white-house-says/ |access-date=2011-11-06 |publisher=[[UniverseToday]]}}</ref> This line of thinking has led some to conclude that first contact might be made with extraterrestrial artificial intelligence, rather than with biological beings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hollingham |first=Richard |title=What if the aliens we are looking for are AI? |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160922-what-if-the-aliens-we-are-looking-for-are-ai |access-date=2020-11-24 |website=[[BBC.com]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=14 November 2016 |title=Electronic E.T.: Intelligent Aliens Are Likely Machines |url=https://www.space.com/34713-intelligent-aliens-machines-seti-search.html |access-date=2020-11-24 |website=[[Space.com]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-01 |title="Alien Artificial Intelligence is Out There" --And It's Billions of Years Old |url=https://dailygalaxy.com/2019/01/alien-artificial-intelligence-is-out-there-and-its-billions-of-years-old-a-2018-most-viewed/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123090352/https://dailygalaxy.com/2019/01/alien-artificial-intelligence-is-out-there-and-its-billions-of-years-old-a-2018-most-viewed/ |archive-date=2021-01-23 |access-date=2020-11-24 |website=The Daily Galaxy |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Wow! signal]] remains the best candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal ever detected, though the fact that no similar signal has ever been observed again makes attribution of the signal to any cause difficult if not impossible.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was the Wow! Signal Alien? |url=https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4342 |access-date=2019-02-06 |website=Skeptoid}}</ref>

On 14 June 2022 astronomers working with China's [[Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope|FAST telescope]] reported the possibility of having detected artificial (presumably alien) signals, but cautions that further studies are required to determine if some kind of natural radio interference may be the source.<ref name="ES-20220614">{{Cite news |last=Byrd |first=Deborah |date=4 June 2022 |title=Has China's FAST telescope detected alien intelligence? |url=https://earthsky.org/space/did-chinas-fast-telescope-detect-alien-intelligence/ |access-date=15 June 2022 |work=[[Earth & Sky]]}}</ref> On 18 June 2022 [[Dan Werthimer]], chief scientist for several [[SETI]]-related projects, reportedly noted that “These signals are from radio interference; they are due to radio pollution from earthlings, not from E.T.”<ref name="NYT-20220618">{{Cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |date=18 June 2022 |title=A Chinese Telescope Did Not Find an Alien Signal. The Search Continues. China's astronomers have been initiated into the search for extraterrestrial intelligence with the kind of false alarm that others in the field have experienced for decades. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/science/china-alien-signal.html |access-date=19 June 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |authorlink=Dennis Overbye}}</ref>