“are we alone in the cosmos?” This is the question haunting not only the scientific community, also the human civilisation for hundreds of years. People have watched the skies and pondered whether they are the domains of Gods, daemons, fairies or someone like us. Coming down to Earth, the third planet from the Sun, we can observe tremendous biodiversity. Ranging from bacteria to blue whales to human beings. However, we can see two very interesting behaviour patterns among the living organisms, precisely more so in animals.
First, animals try to become the supreme and expand their territory of dominance. The second characteristic is more exclusive to human beings. We cannot live in isolation. We try to communicate, to socialise, cooperate and live in harmony with our neighbours. This sole spirit has helped us to be what we are at present; the rulers of the Earth. (Although dolphins, chimpanzees and other intelligent creatures also show this characteristic). However, human beings have been able to master behaviour to its full extent. The ‘Voyager 1 & 2’ spacecraft dedicated to the exploration of the ‘outer planets’ of our solar system have been among the greatest technological achievements of mankind in the field of space exploration. The Voyagers have recently passed the limits of our solar system, starting a journey towards our nearest star Proxima Centauri and further deeper into the darkness of cosmos.Truly, when we talk about communicating with an extraterrestrial civilisation we realise that the concept of human beings being unique in the whole cosmos is just a mirage. We imagine ourselves to be holding some privileged seat in the Universe. Our illusion will no longer hold once we make the long awaited ‘contact’.
It will be the greatest event in the history of human race and will initiate a new era of interstellar communication. Needless to say that the ‘contact’ will instantly answer the question “Are we alone in this universe?
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