Forthcoming 2025

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Reinventing SETI clears out the cobwebs of outdated or wrongheaded SETI paradigms such as Fermi’s Paradox, the Drake Equation and METI (i.e., proactively sending signals from Earth to putative aliens). The book makes the case that, whereas most past and current SETI searches assume that aliens are transmitting from their own star systems, Reinventing SETI argues that this would be a highly ineffective strategy for ET. Consequently, the current SETI paradigm--observing stars one by one--is doomed to continue to fail. ET’s much better strategy would be to send physical robotic probes to our own Solar System in order to surveil and possibly to communicate with humankind. Interstellar flight by biological beings is virtually impossible, and therefore these probes cannot be "manned" by little green men and must be robotic. Because ET’s robotic probes are not far away but right here somewhere within our own Solar System, it is imperative that humankind prepare now for a possibly imminent encounter with one rather than in befuddlement of the moment after contact. Such contingency planning should involve international cooperation as well as broad cross-disciplinary expertise. Since the stakes will be paramount for all of humankind, an international treaty governing SETI, METI, post-detection protocols, and relations with ET should be adopted. A draft treaty is proffered by the author.