Scientists Seeking Life on Mars Heard a Signal That Hinted at the Future

You have been granted access, use your keyboard to continue reading. In 1924, a radio receiver built for the battlefields of World War I tested the idea that humans were not alone in the solar system, heralding a century of searches for extraterrestrial life. At sunset on a late summer weekend in 1924, crowds flocked to curbside telescopes to behold the advanced alien civilization they believed to be present on the surface of Mars. “See the wonders of Mars!” an uptown sidewalk astronomer shouted in New York City on Saturday,...