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From Paul Davis, Maidencombe, Devon, UK

In your Editor’s Pick letter titled “Why esoteric science could be overlooked by aliens”, the writer thinks that spacefaring aliens might not know about relativity and quantum mechanics because it is so obscure. I beg to differ (Letters, 28 March).

It is highly likely that advanced species have satellite navigation systems around their planets, which rely on relativistic correction for time dilation. It is also highly likely they would have advanced their medical technology – for example, with MRI body scanning that relies on nuclear spin. Satellite navigation and medical body scanners are hardly “esoteric” in an advanced society.