Mysterious Signals From 1000 Light Years Away

2 Sep, 2004 at 2:38pm ET Article published in Tech

The SETI@Home project is excited about what could be radio contact from a distant constellation.

In February 2003, astronomers involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) pointed the massive radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, at around 200 sections of the sky. The same telescope had previously detected unexplained radio signals at least twice from each of these regions, and the astronomers were trying to reconfirm the findings. The team has now finished analysing the data, and all the signals seem to have disappeared. Except one, which has got stronger. This radio signal, now seen on three separate occasions, is an enigma. It could be generated by a previously unknown astronomical phenomenon. Or it could be something much more mundane, maybe an artefact of the telescope itself. But it also happens to be the best candidate yet for a contact by intelligent aliens in the nearly six-year history of the SETI@home project, which uses programs running as screensavers on millions of personal computers worldwide to sift through signals picked up by the Arecibo telescope.

WTG Seti 🙂 -KF

Source: NewScientist.com

Comments

2 Sep 2004 ~ 2:41pm Geeky1 Not that it matters. Even if it is a signal from an intelligent ET, which I doubt, at 1000ly away, it's basically of no consequence to anything. In the 1000 years since they sent the signal, they could have gone extinct. And in the time it takes us to figure out what they're saying and send a response, you know, you're looking at a total response time of in excess of 2000 years. So basically, even if they did find something, it doesn't make a bit of difference to anything.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 2:57pm bothered Confirmation of ET would be very exciting for lots of people.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 2:57pm primesuspect If it IS a signal from ET, it doesn't matter how far away it is. The world will change, mark my words. It will be a whole new way of seeing ourselves and our place in the universe. And believe me, if they know that there's something out there 1000 ly away, humanity will find a way to get to it.

It doesn't really matter if we can get to them. The point is, we would no longer be alone. And that would change so many things. Talk to the catholic church about ET.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 3:04pm a2jfreak /me doesn't really care.

Ask not what you can do for E.T., but what E.T. can do for you!
2 Sep 2004 ~ 3:27pm madmat I just wonder if some hacker (or group of them) hasn't figured out a way to play games with SETI via SETI@home or something.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 3:42pm S_Wilson It starts with a radio signal

Then ends with this:
2 Sep 2004 ~ 3:42pm drasnor Even if we can't communicate with extraterrestrials, if the knowledge that life exists in some place else would mark a fundamental shift in our understanding of life. If we can show that life exists somewhere else in the universe, then life and intelligence are not unique to Earth. Hence, if 'it' happens twice, it can happen as many times as there exist places with the proper sets of conditions in the universe. The universe is a big place.

On the downside, it would prove that we are all just cosmic chemical coincidences and not divinely-inspired masterpiece works. Things like gene therapy would just be better life through chemistry.

-drasnor
2 Sep 2004 ~ 3:48pm TheBaron it might also cause the us government to start putting more money into the space program. same thing applies for other countries
2 Sep 2004 ~ 4:13pm Nomad Geeky, you have no idea what a profound effect this would have on religion, philosophy and the likes, regardless of if we could communicate.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 4:17pm BlackHawk http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3621608.stm
2 Sep 2004 ~ 4:49pm CyrixInstead I'm not particularly religious, but why would it disprove God? Maybe God made lots of 'Earths', there's no reason why we should be told about it.

We are perhaps advancing to a stage where we can detect other versions of God's master plan, but there's no reason why religion should disappear. It proves/disproves nothing.

Religion may change but it certainly won't go away.

~Cyrix
2 Sep 2004 ~ 4:56pm drasnor

CyrixInstead wrote:

I'm not particularly religious, but why would it disprove God? Maybe God made lots of 'Earths', there's no reason why we should be told about it.

We are perhaps advancing to a stage where we can detect other versions of God's master plan, but there's no reason why religion should disappear. It proves/disproves nothing.

Religion may change but it certainly won't go away.

~Cyrix

The short answer is that it doesn't, because everyone believes something different about religion. What you choose to believe is your own business, but certain beliefs held by some many people might be more challenging to keep with hard evidence to the contrary (I haven't met too many people nowadays that REALLY believe that the Earth was made in 7 days, though many people I know including myself believe Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior).

-drasnor
2 Sep 2004 ~ 5:12pm primesuspect The catholic church would have to backtrack AGAIN (see previous examples of "earth as center of universe" and other such things), which would cause no end of debate, discussion, and upheaval. It would be a major world event, Geeky.

Cyrix, it would not at all disprove god, but it would definitely directly prove the catholic stance wrong.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 5:14pm Thrax It'd be cool if this was real. I'm not expecting it to be real.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 5:21pm primesuspect BH, that BBC article you linked: I call it panic control.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 6:15pm CB

primesuspect wrote:

BH, that BBC article you linked: I call it panic control.

Sure, but the picture that goes with the story tells a whole different tale!

Look in the upper left hand corner!

If that's not a flying saucer, then I'm not addicted to caffeine!
2 Sep 2004 ~ 6:28pm S_Wilson

CBDroege wrote:

Sure, but the picture that goes with the story tells a whole different tale!

Look in the upper left hand corner!

If that's not a flying saucer, then I'm not addicted to caffeine!

Now if only it would send a radio signal.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 8:09pm ryko this is boring.....call me when we successfully test a warp engine and make first contact with the vulcans.
2 Sep 2004 ~ 8:30pm Thrax Thanks Cochrane.
3 Sep 2004 ~ 2:44am tcith

primesuspect wrote:

If it IS a signal from ET, it doesn't matter how far away it is. The world will change, mark my words. It will be a whole new way of seeing ourselves and our place in the universe. And believe me, if they know that there's something out there 1000 ly away, humanity will find a way to get to it.

.

Yep humanity has a great record there
we either:
rape
plunder
enslave
send in the missionaries
cut it down
Introduce them to modern culture
"Americanise" (note I differentiate beteen Americanise and moder culture )
or all of the above in no particular order
3 Sep 2004 ~ 11:10am Gobbles maybe they are just trying to order take out...

as for religion.. well it may through a wrinkle into those religions that believe they are the chosen ones..

maybe they are just trying to upload their folding at home wu's or maybe they are sending back their data from the seti@home project.

either way it would be cool..

set phasers to stun, get cappin kirk to seduce all their women then beam me the hell up...

Gobbles
3 Sep 2004 ~ 12:05pm GnomeWizardd as A Christian I even have problems with the catholic churchs opinion. In all honesty i think cathlic churchs can hurt more than the help religion sometimes
3 Sep 2004 ~ 3:37pm Justin It was probably just someone's cell phone too close to the tower...
NOt to much to be said about this, even if it is a signal from elsewhere, what it means to us is nothing, other than it is possible to recieve signals from other places than earth. What if it moved faster than the speed of light? What if that was the signal to cancel "Earth: the TV show"? Maybe we should all run and hide, maybe we should break out the Tom Jones records, maybe we should realize that if there is a divine plan, and ET is part of it, and his part is to erase us, that there is nothing that we can dogmaticly do about it. Everyone is wrong and right at the same time. Only spirituality can transcend the impending doom from little green men. If only Kazoo could save us now...
3 Sep 2004 ~ 3:55pm gibbonsl

Justin wrote:

It was probably just someone's cell phone too close to the tower...
NOt to much to be said about this, even if it is a signal from elsewhere, what it means to us is nothing, other than it is possible to recieve signals from other places than earth. What if it moved faster than the speed of light? What if that was the signal to cancel "Earth: the TV show"? Maybe we should all run and hide, maybe we should break out the Tom Jones records, maybe we should realize that if there is a divine plan, and ET is part of it, and his part is to erase us, that there is nothing that we can dogmaticly do about it. Everyone is wrong and right at the same time. Only spirituality can transcend the impending doom from little green men. If only Kazoo could save us now...

hahahaha good one

me like very much :Rocker:
4 Sep 2004 ~ 1:47am Camman http://planetary.org/news/2004/seti_signal_0902.html

posted again cause somebody totally busted me down and showed me their a-thor-a-tye in the OT thread about this
4 Sep 2004 ~ 2:18am primesuspect Respek Mah Athoratah!
4 Sep 2004 ~ 5:33am EyesOnly If a signal would be sent to us let's hope it wouldn't be a signal originally sent from us containing a video of hitler. That would be creapy.

BTW about the time it take to answer "them". Who cares. If we can confirm that they're out there then that's good enough.
4 Sep 2004 ~ 5:45am Thrax

If a signal would be sent to us let's hope it wouldn't be a signal originally sent from us containing a video of hitler.

Hello terrible Jodie Foster film.
4 Sep 2004 ~ 12:27pm RWB I enjoyed Contact very much, more-so in the theater though.

In a thread on another forum where a bud of mine posted about this, and as I stated in my appearent redundant thread, if this is a signal from another race, COOL! That means there could be more out there just waiting. It also means they may look at the other signals they only THINK are not real so are just sitting on some backup tape or something.

Or.. it could be some new anomoly(sp?) that no one has seen before. WHich still gets me excited, maybe more so than alien contact. I would much rather further OUR technology and understanding than get to know some unknown new race which we have no idea if they are friendly or hostile. They could be just like us... if you don't understand it, you destroy it then leave the remains to some scientists to figure out later.

The theory I keep hearing is that the more advanced a civilization is, the more peaceful? I find that statement in complete bull****. It's more like the more advanced you are, the more politics are involved. Unless you live in a dictatorship of some sort, in which fear and death are all you need. In which case, I DO NOT want to get to know the alien race whose own version of Hilter won and took over the world.

Either way, I still think we are at the very least many many years away from finding the so called "truth". Not to sound like some government conspirorist, but I wouldn't be surprised if SETI and whoever else is in on this has been... "ecouraged" to say this isn't a big find.
4 Sep 2004 ~ 2:22pm EyesOnly I'm glad my reference was recognised. I like that movie to, infact i just finished reading the book a few days ago.

I agree with you RWB that encounting a race ruled by a dictator wouldn't be nice, though i disagree that an advanced civilization wouldn't be peacefull. A civilization that has reached many scientific advances would have to be peacefull in order to do so.

Just think how long we could have reached in the past 1000 years if we hadn't been so preoccupied hating and killing each other. Such a civilization would have made peace with itself prolly through quite a lot of politics that doesn't involve people getting hurt. Kinda like what happened in star trek even though i hope we don't have to go through world war 3 before that happens.