Could Aliens Contact Us By Text Message?

The smart and tech-savvy kid characters of Earth to Echo, opening in theaters July 2, establish contact with an alien robot via texts. Smartphones and other consumer gadgets play a major role throughout the movie. Is the premise any more plausible than, say, Will Smith outwitting otherworldly hordes in Independence Day? We asked a man who’d know: Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, an alien hunter by trade and an informal consultant to Hollywood.