International attempt to look for aliens have so far been gather with radio silence .   Despite challenging signals ( that on occasion   turn out to be frommicrowave ovens in observatory tea elbow room ) , so far no likely candidates for intelligent life contacting Earth have been identified , nor any signs of sophisticated aliens mind their own business . Yes , that let in Boyajian ’s star .

Aliens , it ’s fair to say , have not been chatty .

If noncitizen were to be discover , however , it ’s not clear what we would wish to happen next . A raw survey in the UK carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford sought to get hold out what the British public would like to happen in the consequence E.T. did get in touch . In what come tight to thecursed 48 - 52 per centum splitthat has haunted British politics for the retiring three years , they ground that just over half ( 53.6 percent ) of people would want us to respond to communication from aliens .

The poll , which was conducted on 2,000 masses in the UK , discover that Isle of Man were more likely to need to tint al-Qaeda with extraterrestrials than women ( 55 pct of men vs 47 percent of cleaning woman ) . Because " why not " , the survey also compared its result with how people vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum . Theyfound a fair split between the two groups of voters ,   with 66 percent of remain voters order that they would vote to broach middleman with aliens , whilst only 54 percent of leave voters order they ’d do the same , if a worldwide referendum on the issue was held .

However , after several class of Brexit pandemonium , it appears the UK has memorize its lesson : Do not put complex questions with many unsettled outcomes to a public yes / no vote in the first place .

The survey , conducted bySurvation , found that just 11 percent of UK participants think there should be a referendum on the topic , should we experience a substance from the skies . Of the options pose , themost pop choicewas to put a team of scientist in charge of this vital determination - making , with 39.3 per centum of participant saying they favored it , much more than the 14.8 percent of hoi polloi who thought the decision should be made by elected representatives .

“ It is a bit surprising the pick that nominally give the fair voter the most influence in the physical process was one of the least popular , ” tell Dr Leah Trueblood , who commissioned the survey along with astrophysicist Dr Peter Hatfield , discussing their results at the British Science Festival this week , the Guardian reports .

“ referendum are of course particularly controversial in the UK mightily now . It would be interesting to try this in other country to see if the results are about the same . ”

Were it to be put to a referendum ( oh god ) they found that 56.3 percent would vote in favor of inter-group communication , with just 13 percent saying they would vote against it . Weirdly , 9.2 per centum said they would not vote in the referendum .

“ It ’s a little poll but it ’s reassuring that people feel they can trust scientists to make these grownup decisions , " Dr Hatfield said . Although mayhap , after years of Brexit mess , they just do n’t trust   how the public would vote ?

[ H / T : The Guardian ]