Saving energy and saving the planet go hand in hand, but now a report from NASA and Pennsylvania State University suggests that caring for our planet may well save us from... alien invasion!

It’s true! It’s a proper report and everything! By boffins! It’s called "Would contact with extraterrestrials benefit or harm humanity? A scenario analysis" by Seth D. Baum, Jacob D. Haqq-Misra, & Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman*.

It’s 33 pages long and I haven’t read it (at) all. I’m just using it as an excuse to encourage us all to cut back on our carbon emissions.

Here’s how the alien attack works: the Martians see our world from afar; they see our crazy atmosphere, out of control; to save themselves and the rest of the Universe they zap us with (environmentally friendly) ray-guns.

This could happen.

Here’s the proof, from the report: "ETI that place intrinsic value on civilisations may ideally wish that our civilisation changes its ways, so we can survive along with all the other civilisations. But if ETI doubt that our course can be changed, then they may seek to pre-emptively destroy our civilisation in order to protect other civilisations from us."

The I (by the way) is for intelligence. The ET you know.

So, we can carry on destroying our planet, risking the wrath of the Mogalogodons (I’ve made them up), or we can start caring for our planet, thus making friends of the long-fingered Fenutarians (made up).

If you choose the latter (and, to be on the safe side, you should) then BigGreenSmile is a great place to start saving the planet.

We have energy saving and water saving goodies, and we also stock a wide range of eco-friendly cleaning products that will make your home suitable for any visiting alien, regardless of how fussy they are.

*(They all have middle names beginning with D. Sinister. Can you hear The Twilight Zone music tinkle in your head?)

[Image: pasukaru76]