Communications

Communication through space is a long way from perfect and NASA works on improving contact with its astronauts every day. Despite this, some people still fully expect to hear radio signals from a form of extra-terrestial intelligence, just like in the movie Contact.

This is not as crack-pot as it may sound. History has proved that some of the strangest ideas from science fiction writers have, in fact, proved to be an inspired insight to the future and scientists often study the ideas of their fictional counterparts with interest.

For instance, Polish writer Stanislaw Lem predicted the birth of the Internet long before it happened. But one of the greatest visionaries was Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote about satellite communication as far back as 1945. Clarke wrote the article Extra-terrestrial Relays for British publication Wireless World, describing the beginnings of satellite communication, including information on satellites orbiting the earth, 25 years prior to it becoming reality. In 1954, he suggested to the US Department of Meteorology that they use satellites for climatic purposes. His contribution went beyond the scope of science fiction.

Another significant figure in the field of communication was John Pierce, a scientist who also dabbled in writing. He enjoyed writing science-inspired short stories, essays, articles and poems, which he signed as J.J. Coupling. Pierce was instrumental in the development of satellite communication and musical digitalisation. He also made history as the person who named the “transistor”. The transistor, a compact electronic device made of semi-conductor material that controls current flow, revolutionised the electronics world with miniature circuits, creating enormous communications possibilities. He also made a great contribution to the development of satellite telephones and is recognised as one of the first people to record synthesised music in computers. In 1962, Pierce made history as the engineer behind the first live international transmission from the Telstar I satellite.

Recently, mathematicians have discovered the concept of the existence of a ‘sub-space’ within continuous space, and science fiction writers have claimed it as the key to communication across the universe. Maybe they are predicting the future and one day we really will be using telephones to talk to aliens.