Yesterday, you might recall that I published a story about Kerri Chandler being on the Advisory Council of Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or METI for short. Judging by the reaction that I’ve seen, this came as much of a surprise to you as it did to me.

Well, the Washington Post published an article just a few days ago on the subject of trying to contact aliens. It’s written by a physicist called Mark Buchanan. And much like Stephen Hawking, Buchanan thinks it’s an absolutely terrible idea.

He says “More alarming is the possibility that alien civilizations are remaining out of contact because they know something: that sending out signals is catastrophically risky. Our history on Earth has given us many examples of what can happen when civilizations with unequal technology meet — generally, the technologically more advanced has destroyed or enslaved the other.”.

And he concludes by saying “Both paths — listening for aliens or trying to call them — have reached the stage where they require broader public discussion, with an eye to developing sensible regulation. That’s going to take the efforts of leaders from many nations, presumably coordinated through the United Nations or some similar international body. It should happen now. Or soon. Before it’s too late.”.

You can read the whole thing here – and do, it’s well worth it. You might want to get back to just making music, Kerri…