How do you talk to an alien?
Chris Ledgard explores our efforts to communicate with extra-terrestrial intelligence and the debate about the kind of messages we send, and whether we should say anything at all.
For more than fifty years, scientists with radio telescopes have been trying to make contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence. Nothing has been found, but recent discoveries of new solar systems and their planets give the astronomical explorers hope. In the first of a new series of Word of Mouth, Chris Ledgard examines some of the questions surrounding inter-stellar discourse - the response we might make if we detect a message, the usefulness of human language in this kind of communication, and whether it might be wiser to say nothing at all.
Producer: Chris Ledgard.
Last on
Clip
![]()
Is anyone listening to us?
Duration: 01:23
Broadcasts
- Tue 16 Jul 201316:00BBC Radio 4
- Mon 22 Jul 201323:00BBC Radio 4
Listen to Michael Rosen in conversation with The Open University
Hear Michael reveal his own language journey.
Idioms Quiz
Explore why languages have idioms with The Open University’s quiz.
Explore the OU’s Cultural Idioms Guide
Explore how some cultural idioms entered the English Language.
From blunk to brickfielder: our wonderful words for weather
Exploring creative descriptions for wind, rainfall and sunny spells from around the world
Digital body language – how to communicate better online
We need to find new ways of talking to each other “virtually”.
Coinages that changed the world – and some that tried to...
Exploring the hidden histories of obscure words, and common buzz phrases.
Ittibitium, borborygmus, and Ba humbugi – 14 wonderful science words you’ve never heard of
Michael Rosen puts the language of science under the microscope.
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.
Keywords for Our Time
Series of programmes examining key phrases in public debate.
Smiley face: Seven things you didn't know about emoji
Some facts about emoji - possibly the world's first truly global form of communication.
The funny words that kids invent
Have a look at some of the fantastic words that children invent and reimagine.
Podcast
![]()
Word of Mouth
Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them
