LOOKING for alien intelligence? One way might be to keep an eye out for an exoplanet that has been messed up with chemical pollution or is spilling light into space (see “To spot an alien, follow the pollution trail”). If we do discover an alien civilisation this way, we’ll know we aren’t the only dirty denizens of the galaxy. But there’s a flip side to this idea: our own pollution could reveal our presence to extraterrestrials. That provides yet another good reason why we should mend our polluting ways. What’s bad for Earth’s environment could also invite an alien invasion.…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?
Comment
Humans
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
Features
Space
Tiny frozen world unexpectedly appears to have an atmosphere
News
Physics
300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
2
Prebiotic chewing gum could be helpful for gum disease
3
We have figured out a new way to send messages into the past
4
Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?
5
300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector
6
Human heads have changed shape a lot in the past 100 years
7
Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics?
8
Thought-provoking photographs capture what it feels like to have ADHD
9
The greatest David Attenborough documentaries you really need to watch
10
The rings of Uranus are even stranger than we thought
