Watch this space for signs of alien life

The surest indication that intelligent life is out there is that they have not tried to contact us. We, on the other hand, have been trying for decades to contact them - whoever, or whatever, they may be.

In 1977, the US sent a space probe called Voyager into the deep, dark radiated unknown. It was packed full of goodies, like a message from Jimmy Carter.

If I happened to inhabit the control tower at the edge of the Milky Way and heard this voice say, "Hi, I'm Jimmy Carter. Let me tell you about Plains, Georgia," I think I'd let it pass. Now if the probe had a message from Sophia Loren, who looked good in 1977, and looks even better now, I might just respond.