Messages received from aliens could ruin life on Earth, scientists warn

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Messages sent by aliens from space could destroy life as we know it on Earth if we're not careful about how we read them, scientists have warned. Researchers suggest that it could be possible to build a "prison", that would constrain the message so that it could safely contained. It could offer us a cure for cancer, for instance, that relied on nanobots – it's probable that we'd build those nanobots, even if we didn't understand them, and they'd quickly become powerful agents on the Earth even if the computer is securely locked up in space. The risk is relatively small and the reward is potentially huge, since such a message could give us a way into networks with aliens that could offer us unimagined new knowledge and resources.