DISCOVER Magazine. Science, Technology and The Future
Current Issue
Subscribe Today »
  • Renew
  • Give a Gift
  • Archives
  • Customer Service
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Newsletter
  • Health & Medicine
  • Mind & Brain
  • Technology
  • Space
  • Human Origins
  • Living World
  • Environment
  • Physics & Math
  • Video
  • Photos
  • Podcast
  • RSS
Discoblog
« Weekly Science Blog Roundup
Jurassic Footprints Reveal Dinosaur Dance Party »

Chatting With Aliens? Researcher Aims to Create Alien Translator

aliens.jpgThe thought of deciphering alien gossip might sound straight out of sci-fi, but at least one scientist sees it as a reality—that is, if a computer program can translate alien chatter into something we can understand. Researchers know how to tell whether an interstellar message picked up from space was coming from a language, image or music, and now John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University is taking the interpretation a bit further: He says he has the tools to start deciphering alien languages into words and sentences.

Elliott, the academic leader for Artificial Intelligence in the School of Computing, is hoping to use the power of the computer to decode unknown languages (from Earth or beyond) so he can “aid the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.” Elliot developed a computer program that analyzes 60 languages around the world, pulled from raw text samples available on the web. He hopes that finding a trend in human expression will help us understand language structure better. There’s a distinct pattern in the way people talk, determined by how much information our minds can understand at a time.

Elliot hopes that amassing human phrases will give us clues to figuring out how an alien language might be patterned. That is of course, assuming they use grammar at all. Or if they even exist. While Elliot thinks alien tongues would be very different than English and other human languages, at least his program might give us a chance of breaking up any extra-terrestrial messages into nouns and verbs.

Related Content:

Discoblog: Astrobiology Rap Song
DISCOVER: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About…Aliens
Bad Astronomy: Are We Aliens?
Reality Base: Forget Al-Qaeda; Apparently It’s the Aliens We Need to Worry About
DISCOVER: SETI….. Listen For Yourself
DISCOVER: Aliens Among US

Image: flickr/ Frederik Hilmer

Share

October 20th, 2008 10:30 AM Tags: aliens, language
by Boonsri Dickinson in Space & Aliens Therefrom | 8 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

  • http://www.conspirama.com/story/title/Chatting_With_Aliens_Researcher_Aims_to_Create_Alien_Translator/ Conspirama

    Chatting With Aliens? Researcher Aims to Create Alien Translator

    The thought of deciphering alien gossip might sound straight out of sci-fi, but at least one scientist sees it as a reality—that is, if a computer program can translate alien chatter into something we can understand. …

  • http://www.bulker.net/2008/10/20/how-to-talk-like-an-alien/ How to Talk Like an Alien | Bulk Email

    [...] and sentences. How can he do this when no aliens have ever given voiceover samples? A blog from Discover Magazine explains that Elliott developed a computer program that analyizes 60 languages from around the [...]

  • http://orange.sc/2008/10/21/how-to-talk-like-an-alien/ How to Talk Like an Alien | The Orange Portal

    [...] and sentences. How can he do this when no aliens have ever given voiceover samples? A blog from Discover Magazine explains that Elliott developed a computer program that analyizes 60 languages from around the [...]

  • http://toyotamoto.net/2008/10/21/how-to-talk-like-an-alien/ How to Talk Like an Alien :Toyota Motor

    [...] and sentences. How can he do this when no aliens have ever given voiceover samples? A blog from Discover Magazine explains that Elliott developed a computer program that analyizes 60 languages from around the [...]

  • http://yahoo.com gualcer menez

    The so called Alien is a man made term as many refered to as the extra Terrestrial Being.But I dont believe they are Alien for we are all residents of this planet and we were all created as a part of habitants of the universe in general or of the planet earth in particular. It is more proper to say that ” they are here” and not that ” they were here” or ” they are coming ” .In fact they inhabited the earth ahead than us by hundreds of thousand years .Indeed there are lot of creatures other than human, plants or animals as mentioned in the Qouranic texts and even in the biblical texts . They are termed as gins the other are called jud and majud in the Qour’an or gog and magog in christian bible. The jins has the ability to emitate other life forms including animals and humans.The jud and majud is still below ground covered with molten metal which was initiated by one of the great prophet named Dul Carnain.The gins are the unseen being that only God and angels can see. The gins have lunch a furious war to each other both enter territorial and enter planetary war, million of years ago, where Satan was one of them. Human must not be decieved by there physical transformation and pretension of being an Alien.The gins can ride on what are dominant in the human emaginary existense and they can override us from metaphysical to pseudo reality and divert us from the real world then isolate us from our obligatory activities to God.I may sound taboo for the atheist and darwinian advocates but we must be critical also to examine the bridges of history and ancient facts and the Qouranic revealation which science has now proven that what was revealed is really true including the secrets of the earth, the salinity in Gibraltar sill, the constant expansion of the universe, etc. So we must take heed and perform our obligation to God before its too late.Alien concept is only a satanic override, its a waste of time, ignored it and proceed to productive thinking that can save the world from food shortage, environmental degradation,wars, global warming and global depression.God bless us all
    gualcer

  • http://ianparker.g3z.com/ Ian Parker

    In view of the quality of translation from natural languages, particularly Arabic – English I would have thought that researchers should be concentrating on that.

    Google does not seem to know the difference between fighting Israel and pouring concrete at 50C. Translation – The central air battle. Should be the central climatic battle. Article was about the Aswan Dam.

    This was from text, no question about voice recognition. Anyway with aliens I think we should follow the dictum of everyone speking English. Any race capable of traversing interstellar space will have dceveloped an AI system long ago.

  • http://yahoo.com gualcer menez

    Any creature aside from plants and algae have there own language, there sentences so to speak and instinct. But to decipher them , its a waste of time while the world is starving and facing the horrible realities brought by mankind and and there wars !

  • Archibald Guapo

    i saw an alien today at safeway





    • About the Blog

      Discoblog is DISCOVER's compendium of quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe. It's written by Veronique Greenwood and Valerie Ross. Email tips and suggestions to vgreenwood [at] discovermagazine [dot] com.

      Discoblog also includes the daily feature NCBI ROFL, in which two prone-to-distraction grad students post real scientific articles with funny subjects. Email your tips to ncbirofl [at] gmail.com. Follow the ROFL feed here.

    • Twitter

      Follow @discovermag
    • Facebook

    • Twidget

      Add Tweets
    • Archives

      Archives

      • February 2012
      • January 2012
      • December 2011
      • November 2011
      • October 2011
      • September 2011
      • August 2011
      • July 2011
      • June 2011
      • May 2011
      • April 2011
      • March 2011
      • February 2011
      • January 2011
      • December 2010
      • November 2010
      • October 2010
      • September 2010
      • August 2010
      • July 2010
      • June 2010
      • May 2010
      • April 2010
      • March 2010
      • February 2010
      • January 2010
      • December 2009
      • November 2009
      • October 2009
      • September 2009
      • August 2009
      • July 2009
      • June 2009
      • May 2009
      • April 2009
      • March 2009
      • February 2009
      • January 2009
      • December 2008
      • November 2008
      • October 2008
      • September 2008
      • August 2008
      • July 2008
      • June 2008
      • May 2008
      • April 2008
      • March 2008
      • February 2008
      • January 2008
      • December 2007
      • November 2007
      • October 2007
      • September 2007
      • August 2007
      • July 2007
      • June 2007
      • May 2007
      • April 2007
      • February 2007
      • January 2007
      • December 2006
      • November 2006
      • October 2006
      • September 2006


  • Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Copyright © 2012, Kalmbach Publishing Co.

    Privacy - Terms - Reader Services - Subscribe Today - Advertise - About Us