by Sean Martin March 15, 2018 (express.co.uk)
• Astronomic researchers at the University of California Berkeley SETI Research Center created the ‘Breakthrough Listen’ project, a $100M initiative utilizing some of the world’s the most powerful telescopes to scan alien radio waves coming from stars that are billions of light years away. Begun in January 2016, the project has detected 33 alien radio signals to date.
• In March 2018, three new signals were detected. On March 1st and 13th, astronomers at the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia identified typically weak signals emanating from deep space. On March 9th however, it detected the strongest ‘fast radio burst’ ever received.
• Fast radio bursts (FRBs) can emit as much energy in a second as the sun does in 10,000 years. Scientists don’t know what causes them and they are exceptionally difficult to study. They can last as little as a millisecond and there is no way to predict when they are coming. Some experts say that these FRBs are caused by natural phenomenon, such as exploding neutron stars and enormous cataclysmic events. Others believe they may be caused by extraterrestrial interstellar travel, or are intentionally sent to Earth by extraterrestrials.
Astronomers have detected the strongest-ever radio signal coming from deep space and are completely baffled by the burst’s origin – leading to theories aliens could be responsible.
Researchers working on Breakthrough Listen – a major project which is scanning the stars in search of intelligent life – announced they have found three more deep space signals, with one being the strongest ever detected.
The mysterious and rare signals are what is known as ‘fast radio bursts’ or FRBs but scientists are still unsure what causes them.
However, the experts know these bursts can emit as much energy in a second than the sun does in 10,000 years.
They are exceptionally difficult to study as they can last as little as a millisecond and there is no way to predict when they are coming.
On March 9, astronomers working at the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia picked up the strongest FRB – dubbed FRB 180301 – ever received.
Just eight days earlier on March 1 a weaker signal was intercepted, while another FRB was detected on March 13, taking the total discovery count to 33.
Breakthrough Listen researchers wrote on a Berkley University blog: “While astronomers don’t know all that much about FRBs – only tens of bursts have ever been detected – we can infer some intriguing details about them.
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