If we ever meet intelligent extraterrestrials, will we even be able to talk about physics?

We'll discuss this week on Planetary Radio.

I'm Sarah al-Ahmed of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond.

Physicist Daniel Whiteson and cartoonist Andy Warner have teamed up to explore one of sciences,

strangest and most profound questions.

If alien civilizations exist, would their understanding of the universe look anything like ours? Their new book,

called Do Aliens Speak Physics, unpacks the nature of knowledge itself, asking whether human

math and physics are truly universal, or whether even our most objective truths are shaped by our

homo sapien perspective. We'll talk about what it might take to communicate with an alien intelligence,

what that might reveal about our own limitations, and how humor and illustrations can make these big questions feel surprisingly down to Earth.

Then we'll wrap up with What's Up with Bruce Betz, our chief scientist, as we discuss some of the hardest concepts in physics and planetary science to explain to humans, let alone extraterrestrial life.

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In classic science fiction, first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials often hinges on one very hopeful idea.

That math and physics are universal languages. And of course, all of this is purely speculative because scientists have

never confirmed life off of Earth, let alone intelligent life. But that doesn't stop us from

asking these questions or telling these stories. In contact, scientists decode a

message of prime numbers from the stars. In close encounters of the third kind, light and sound

become a bridge between our species built on shared physical principles. And in the day the Earth

stood still, an alien demonstrates mastery of electromagnetic forces and advanced technology to make his message understood.

But then there are stories like the three-body problem and Project Hail Mary that remind us that even shared physics can't guarantee true connection.

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