EVEN IF THEY HAVE CANDY: Stephen Hawking: Don’t Talk To Aliens. “The aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking. He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist — but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact.”

I also recommend this piece by Gregg Easterbrook, if you’re interested in the subject.

UPDATE: Fausta Wertz brings the inevitable allusion.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader John McCray writes:

From Charles Pelligrino’s The Killing Star,

“Three Laws of Alien Behavior: 1) Their survival will be more important than our survival. 2) Wimps don’t become top dogs. 3) They will assume that the first two laws apply to us.”

Sounds plausible to me.