A team of scientists are hoping to attract aliens by sending a racy image into space.
While sending unsolicited images of one's genitals is set to become a crime in the UK under a new 'Cyberflashing' law, the issue has yet to be raised in space.
In a bid to connect with alien life - attempts of which have proven unsuccessful for over 150 years - NASA scientists are now looking to thirst trap any ulterior life forms out of hiding with the help of a saucy snap.
The group hope to send a cartoon of two nude people out of Earth's atmosphere to peak potential alien's curiosity and encourage communication.
The project, called the 'Beacon in the Galaxy' (BITG), shows the figures of a man and woman, fully naked, with their hands raised in a wave.
Advert
On the project's website, the scientists detail: "The proposed message includes basic mathematical and physical concepts to establish a universal means of communication followed by information on the biochemical composition of life on Earth, the Solar System’s time-stamped position in the Milky Way relative to known globular clusters, as well as digitized depictions of the Solar System, and Earth’s surface.
"The message concludes with digitized images of the human form, along with an invitation for
any receiving intelligences to respond."
The code the scientists are using to send the message is called a binary code, which is thought to be as much of a universal language as possible, using a lot of 1s and 0s.
The group explained: "Though the concept of mathematics in human terms is potentially unrecognisable to [extraterrestrial intelligence], binary is likely universal across all intelligence.
"Binary is the simplest form of mathematics as it involves only two opposing states: zero and one, yes or no, black or white, mass or empty space. Hence, the transmission of the code as binary would very likely be understandable to all ETI and is the basis of the BITG message."
The research team explained that the message's 'ultimate goal is to start a dialogue with ETI — no matter how far in the future that might occur'.
They noted: "As this message is meant as an introduction to humans and sent towards what we believe to be an optimal region of the Milky Way for life to flourish, other teams wishing to compose a message of their own can send such to that same region with more complex information."
The group suggested that future messages could contain music 'such as the symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart or Bach,' or scientific discussions.
They said: "Humanity has, we contend, a compelling story to share and the desire to know of others’—and now has the means to do so."
While many might contest the 21 Century's preoccupation with nudes as being a 'compelling story to share,' the BITG's message is certainly eye-catching.
The article is called 'A Beacon in the Galaxy: Updated Arecibo Message for Potential FAST and SETI Projects,' and is published in the MDPI Journal.
Poppy Bilderbeck