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NEW RESOURCE GUIDE
ON EXCHANGING MESSAGES WITH
EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS

A new annotated guide on scientific ideas about communicating with alien civilizations is now available on the education web pages of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

As scientists continue to search for radio messages from intelligent life among the stars, serious interdisciplinary work is being done on the form that messages might take between civilizations that may not only have different languages, but even different biology.

In this resource guide, over 50 different books, articles, and web sites help readers examine the issues of extra-terrestrial communication from the perspective of astronomy, linguistics, psychology, and computer programming. Most of the resources are written for non-specialists. Several of the web sites have interactive features for designing and decoding messages.

The resource guide is also available on the web pages of the SETI Institute.

This resource is part of Family ASTRO, a program to develop accessible events, activities, kits, and games to help families enjoy astronomy together. A new series of "Cosmic Decoders" activities helps families understand how radiation and messages from the stars are interpreted by astronomers.

Family ASTRO is a program at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, with support from the National Science Foundation. Founded in 1889, the Society is one of the largest and most active astronomical organizations in the world. One of its main goals is to serve as a clearinghouse for reliable educational resources and materials about the universe

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