The Australian scientist who has been handed the task of finding signs of aliens on other planets has warned that humans should probably think twice before making contact with aliens.

Professor Matthew Bailes warns if aliens contact us we should think twice before replying, saying any creature from outer space capable of sending out a signal would most likely be more intelligent than us — and possibly dangerous.

Bailes will be leading the Australian team as part of the world’s biggest search for extraterrestrial life. The Breakthrough Prize Foundation project is being funded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking to the tune of $100 million and will involve some of the greatest minds devising a supercomputer capable of detecting signs of life in deep space.

The Independent reports: The team working on the project will use the Parkes radio telescope – one of the largest in the world – to scan the universe in what has been described as bringing a "Silicon Valley approach to the search for intelligent life”.