10/11/2022
A new international research hub has been developed at the University of St Andrews. Researchers from all over the world will work together to figure out how humanity should respond to any such event.
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Post-Detection Hub is hosted by the institution's Centre for Exoplanet Science and the Centre for Global Law and Governance. It will serve as a coordination ground for combined efforts to plan out protocols, procedures as well as treaties. They have one goal: "Designing a responsible response to alien contact."
Dr John Elliott, Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science of the University of St Andrews, said in a university release that science fiction was full of ideas where humans encounter intelligence from outer space.
Shockingly, humanity has not updated its contact policy in three decades. We still have the same rules that we had 30 years ago which is a "long-time policy gap". This is the gap that the SETI Post-Detection Hub will address. Since authorities have given very little attention to the topic, it is now high time to take action.