According to theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku, we could make contact by the end of the century.
He was responding to a question about alien civilizations on his AMA Reddit.
Kaku wasn’t sure whether we would be able to communicate with the extraterrestrial society directly.
Talking to them would be rather difficult, since they would be tens of light years away. But, during that time we could decipher their language to understand their level of technology.
We could find whether they are Type 1, 2, or 3, on the Kardashev scale. This measures the technological achievement in civilization based on their level of energy use for communication.
We are sitting by the phone.
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