--- title: "Scientists Worried Humankind Will Descend Into Chaos If We Ever Discover an Alien Signal" description: "Headless Chickens Scientists at the recently opened SETI Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have a daunting task ahead of them: figure out what the hell to do if we were ever to make first contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization. And if aliens were to be in touch tomorrow, humanity […]" date: "2023-01-04" modified: "2023-01-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-worried-humankind-chaos-discovering-alien-signal" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Exobiology" - "Space" tags: - "aliens" - "first contact" - "SETI" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Worried Humankind Will Descend Into Chaos If We Ever Discover an Alien Signal ![If aliens were to be in touch tomorrow, humanity would be ill-prepared, scientists warn — something that needs to change as soon as possible.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Chicken Run Scientists at the recently opened SETI Post-Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews in Scotland have a daunting task ahead of them: figure out what the hell to do if we were ever to make contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization. If aliens got in touch tomorrow, they warn, humanity would be woefully ill-prepared — something they say needs to change as soon as possible. "Look at the mess we made when COVID hit," John Elliott, a computational linguist at the University of St Andrews and coordinator of the Post-Detection Hub, [told *The Guardian*](). "We’d be like headless chickens." "We cannot afford to be ill-prepared, scientifically, socially, and politically rudderless," he added, "for an event that could happen at any time and which we cannot afford to mismanage." ## Link Up Elliott and co are looking beyond our efforts of scanning the skies for extraterrestrial signals and asking the question of what comes next. At the Post-Detection Hub, he'll be tasked with coordinating an international and unified response to any potential alien contact, something that will require an immense amount of paperwork and bureaucracy. "We need strategies and scenarios in place to understand what we need to do and how to do it," he told the *Guardian*. Unlike many of his peers, Elliott isn't afraid to have humanity respond to the calls of an alien civilization. That question alone is an active debate that has experts divided, with many arguing that giving up our location [could end in disaster](). "It’s such an opportunity to link up, if there’s another intelligence out there, which all the indications are that there must be," Elliott told *The Guardian*. "If we have the opportunity, I don’t think we should miss it," he added. **READ MORE:** [If aliens contact humanity, who decides what we do next?]() \[*The Guardian*\] **More on the hub:** *[Scientists Preparing for Alien Contact]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()