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QOTW: If aliens made themselves known to us, what is the first thing you introduce to them?

Technorama

Mad Marv:

If aliens showed up, I’d show them the War of the Worlds.  The audio drama, not the movie.  I’d pitch it to them by saying how this story always leads to mass hysteria whenever it is broadcast.  Even decades after it was revealed as a hoax.  Even when the story is translated to other languages.  And even when somebody says “It couldn’t happen again in this day and age”.  I’d bet them that it would work on their home world with just a little bit of localization.

ChatGPT:

As a language model AI, I don’t have personal experiences or emotions, but if I were to introduce something to aliens, I would introduce the concept of communication and language, as a means of establishing a common understanding and facilitate further exchange of information.

On This Day In History for February 8, 2023

This is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 326 days remaining in 2023.

It was on this date in 1817, that Las Heras completed his crossing of the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.

Delaware refused to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was outlawed in the United States, including Delaware, when the Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 6, 1865. Delaware ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 12, 1901, which was the ninety-second anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln on this date in 1865

It was also this date in 1879 that Sandford Fleming first proposed adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute

It was 108 years ago today that D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles.

On February 8, 1922, United States President Warren G. Harding introduced the first radio set in the White House

77 years ago today, The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version, was published

February 8, 1960, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor

On February 8, 1960, The Hollywood Walk of Fame was established.

52 years ago today, The NASDAQ stock market index opened for the first time

That same date in 1974, After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returned to Earth

40 years ago today, The Melbourne dust storm hit Australia’s second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 meters (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night

General Motors sued NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day on this date in 1993

Happy birthday goes out on this date to:

Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (probable; d. 175), Vettius Valens, born on this date in 120.

Also turning 1611 today is Greek mathematician and philosopher (probable; d. 485) Proclus.

Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist, Daniel Bernoulli, born on this date in 1700.