Astronomers Detect 15 Atypical Signals From Distant Galaxy (www.cbc.ca)

Freshly Exhumed writes: Researchers using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia have announced in the Astronomers Telegram that they have detected 15 fast radio bursts -- poorly understood phenomena that are milliseconds-long pulses of radio emission believed to be coming from rapidly spinning neutron stars or black holes in distant galaxies. Of note is their frequency range, seen to be well above typical phenomena. In particular, fast radio burst (FRB) 121102, discovered by a McGill University researcher in 2016, is the only known one to be repeating, an observation that is quite challenging for theorists and dreamers alike.

Comments

Re:Can't be aliens

[hey!]

You're assuming that if we see radio bursts from point A and point B 180 degrees apart it's A and B exchanging messages. It could be one set of aliens at A communicating with another set near A, and we're just catching some stray signals. B could be another unconnected civilization; or it could be a different, natural phenomenon that emits radio bursts.

So I don't think we can say it can't be aliens. But I think the fact we can't explain some unusual signal is weak evidence for aliens, because statistically unusual events are inevitable if you run enough trials. If you flip a coin enough times you'll get a run of a hundred heads. If you comb the entire sky with enough precision and for long enough you will find startling signals.

If intelligent life is a natural phenomenon, looking for signals from a civilization is simply looking for a particular statistically rare event. I suspect we'll eventually find what we're looking for, but the challenge will be confirming we're looking at that particular kind of event and not some other rare event.

The situation we're in is like being a blind man searching for a needle in a haystack. Eventually we get our finger pricked. It's exciting, but it's not anything close to proof until we've eliminated other pointy things, like thorns.