Phoning ET? Hawking frets about dangerous aliens; others, including NASA, have already called

Should we phone ET? Hawking says no; NASA’s tried

WASHINGTON — Stephen Hawking may think it’s too risky to try to talk to space aliens. But NASA and plenty of other groups have been trying to communicate with other worlds for years.

Hawking’s comment earlier this week that it would be dangerous to contact space aliens reopened a long-running debate. Should astronomers ban purposeful messages into the universe for fear of attracting dangerous aliens?

Many space scientists meeting in Houston this week think that’s the wrong attitude. Cornell University planetary scientist Steve Squyres says the search for life is central to space exploration.