The moments that could have accidentally ended humanity
Does SETI not count? Easy to imagine the first received ETI signal being some world-ending infohazard.<p>[edit]: Targeting humans: a viral ideological, philosophical, or religious meme that causes us to self-destruct. A technological gift with insidious Trojan Horse functionality (a biotechnological machine with subtle side effects; a physics device that touches physics we haven&#x27;t discovered). Irresistible instructions on how to join the friendly galactic internet -- which actually route to a paranoid deviant ETI that destroys anything that transmits (ala <i>Dark Forest</i> hypothesis).<p>Targeting machines: exploting a buffer overflow in the Allen Array&#x27;s signal processing pipeline to upload onto this planet a self-replicating superintelligent AI.<p>Targeting the superior chthonic race living in the Earth&#x27;s mantle that we don&#x27;t know about: friendly instructions on how to terraform the terrestrial surface and become a spacefaring species.