Tag: radio signals

Astronomers’ New Way of Searching for Alien Worlds in the Stars

Article by Cody Fenwick                                       March 5, 2021                                     (salon.com)

• A group of astronomers at UCLA have published findings on a new method of searching for signs of technological civilizations in the stars using radio signals. Radio signals are easy to create. The universe is naturally filled with radio signals. They can encode detailed information within its signal, and they can travel long distances between solar systems. So the key is to detect those signals that appear to be artificial. But almost all of the artificial radio signals that we detect in space actually came from the Earth.

• In order to clear away the clutter and pinpoint radio signals coming from a star out in the galaxy, the UCLA researchers developed an algorithm to weed out extraneous signals in the data coming from the Earth. The researchers applied a concept known as ‘topographical prominence’ that is used when mapping a particular mountain relative to the terrain around it. The algorithm is able to find a particular narrow radio signal among other signals.

• Utilizing the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and applying the algorithm, the researchers were able to identify 26 million signals – about 200 times as many candidate radio signals than would be found using standard search methods. The algorithm then screened out more than 99% of those signals as human-made. After that, 4,539 unique radio signals were left over. Going through them one-by-one, the researchers were able to conclude these, too, were from human sources and not evidence of alien technology. A disappointment, to be sure — but the real point was to hone the technique.

• They further honed their technology by injecting fake signals into their raw data. The computer algorithm was able to correctly identify 99.73% of the detected signals as ‘technosignature’ candidates, and illuminate imperfections in the technology that could ultimately be used to calibrate the signals for prevalence of other civilizations.

• Through this process, the UCLA researchers were able to narrow rogue radio signals down to 31 Sun-like stars whose properties are similar to the only star currently known to harbor a planet with life – the Earth’s Sun.

 

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars last month in a mission to, in part, search for signs of ancient microbial life on our

    Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia

neighboring planet. If any evidence of such extraterrestrial organisms — likely long dead — is found, it will be a massive development in astrobiology and humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe. But when people are honest, they tend to admit that fossilized remains of ancient microorganisms aren’t what gets them excited in the search for alien life. What really fires the imagination is the search for intelligent alien life and extraterrestrial civilizations.

A recent paper, though, flagged by astronomer and writer Phil Plait at SyFy, offers surprisingly promising developments in that branch of space exploration. Working at UCLA, a group of astronomers published findings on a new method of searching for signs of technological civilizations in the stars.

“We selected 31 Sun-like stars,” they explain, “because their properties are similar to the only star currently known to harbor a planet with life.”

And to be upfront about it, they unequivocally found no sign of civilization. But Plait argued that they showcased a promising method for pursuing the search.

Basically, the technique entailed using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to scan for radio signals. Many scientists hopeful about searching for intelligent alien life think that the most likely way we’ll uncover it is by receiving radio transmissions from non-human sources. Radio signals are easy to create, they can travel the long distances between solar systems, and they can encode detailed information. And if there are any civilizations out there listening, they may have already picked up many of our own transmissions.

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Scientists Show Our Place in the Galaxy

Article by Natasha Kumar                            June 16, 2020                           (thetimeshub.in)

• Despite the fact that we persistently listen to heaven through sensitive antennas, we still have not received any signal from an extraterrestrial civilization and none of them have responded to our messages. Adam Grossman from The Dark Sky Company has created a map of our Milky Way galaxy, illustrating the full extent of its huge size. A radio signal issued on one side of the galaxy would take 100 thousand light-years to reach the other side.

• On Grossman’s map (above), the little blue circle with a diameter of 200 light years around the Earth represents the maximum distance that the first radio signals have traveled from Earth over the past 100 years, since the radio was invented. In this radius of 200 light years around the Earth, there are no known habitable exoplanets, with liquid water and oxygen in the atmosphere.

• SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is constantly listening to radio signals from space. But considering the size of our galaxy, we’d have to listen for signals for tens of thousands of years before humanity had a chance to establish contact with another civilization. Then double this time to receive a reply.

 

Are we alone in the Universe or at least in our galaxy? Despite the fact that we persistently listen to heaven your most sensitive antennas, we still have not received any signal from an extraterrestrial civilization and none of them respond to our messages. The Fermi paradox has tried to answer this question, but the answer can be simple, if you look at our milky Way galaxy to scale to rate how vast distances in space and realize that we simply do not hear.

Adam Grossman from The Dark Sky Company has created a map of our galaxy, so you can see the full extent of its huge size. And the milky Way is not the biggest galaxy in the Universe. The diameter of the milky Way is about 100-180 thousand light-years, depending on how you measure. That is, the radio signal issued in one side of the galaxy, you will need at least 100 thousand light-years to reach the other side.

Now, it is worth remembering that our civilization is familiar with the radio only about a century. And the little blue circle with a diameter of 200 light years around the Earth, represents the maximum distance that at the moment overcame the first radio signals from Earth. Below us to hear the alien civilization must be in a tiny radius. It should be noted that in the nearest 200 light years not found any habitable exoplanets, or at least with liquid water and oxygen in the atmosphere.

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Aliens May Discover Us Very Soon, Here’s Why

by Lorraine Lorenzo                  March 19, 2019                     (ibtimes.com)

• Clara Sousa-Silva, a quantum astrochemist, said during a segment in BBC’s online presentation “Ideas”: “We have been sending (television and radio) signals for the past 100 years, and those signals have gone into space and traveled at the speed of light and by now have reached hundreds of stars and hundreds of planets around them” There is a big chance that these aliens now know a lot about human origins, culture and history thanks to all the “material” that we’ve been sending them for years. “If there was an alien civilization then they would have heard the first BBC broadcasts… and have a rough idea of how our humanity works,” said Sousa-Silva.

• Sousa-Silva also said that some prominent scientists actually think that humans are sharing too much to the galaxy, especially since we know nothing about them. “Aliens may not be very kind so we shouldn’t be giving them our position.”

• But even without these television and radio signals, the Earth has a biosphere that basically gives any alien civilization an idea as to what type of species thrive in it. Aliens would be able to use a powerful prism to filter the white lights of our galaxy and separate the colors of the rainbow to determine our position in the universe. The shadows would tell them that this is indeed a lively planet filled with vast oceans and organic life forms.

• By the same principle of using radio signals to find earth, the scientist also believes that we can use alien biospheres to determine if there are extraterrestrials that actually exist in the universe. “At MIT, I develop the tools that try to decipher these potential alien biospheres. Those tools are how I will be listening in to alien messages. Until then I will try to find signs of life from signals aliens didn’t even mean to create,” Sousa-Silva said.

 

If you think that watching your favorite sitcom on Netflix or cable TV is just limited to entertainment, think again. We are also unknowingly sending vast signals to the universe and pretty much letting any possible aliens out in space know how to find us.

In fact, we’ve been sending out so many radio signals for the past 100 years that even if we turn off all satellites today, extraterrestrials from outer space will still be able to find us, Clara Sousa-Silva, a quantum astrochemist, said during a segment in BBC’s “Ideas.”

                      Clara Sousa-Silva

“We have been sending signals for the past 100 years and those signals have gone into space and traveled at the speed of light and by now have reached hundreds of stars and hundreds of planets around them,” Sousa-Silva, who is doing her post-doctorate degree in MIT and is a Ph.D. holder from the University College London, said.

The astrochemist said that the signals are now strong enough to be detected should there be alien civilizations out in the universe. Aside from this, there is also a big chance that these aliens now know a lot about human origins, culture and history thanks to all the “material” that we’ve been sending them for years.

“If there was an alien civilization then they would have heard the first BBC broadcasts and now they would have seen many, many years of Coronation Street and have a rough idea of how our humanity works,” she said.

Sousa-Silva also said that some prominent scientists actually think that it’s silly how humans are sharing too much to the galaxy especially since we know nothing about them.

“Aliens may not be very kind so we shouldn’t be giving them our position.”

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