Latest news with #SETIInstitute
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Your Local Airport Might Be Attracting Alien Attention
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The SETI Institute's goal is to lead a science-based mission to find evidence of intelligent life beyond our own planet. A new study shows what aliens within 200 light-years might see if they trained their own powerful radio telescopes on our planet. It turns out the aviation radar—both civilian and military—would create a repeatable Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) pattern due to the distribution of radar equipment across the Earth's surface. Professional outfits like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute scan the skies with radio telescopes for any sign of extraterrestrial life. They're especially tuned in to potential presence of technosignatures—electromagnetic radiation emitted by an advanced society's technology. While that effort has produced some exciting close calls, humanity most likely has yet to find any sign of alien life. Of course, there's another way to look at this problem. If an alien civilization in our galactic neighbor also had their own SETI-esque programs—similarly probing the skies in search for an answer to that ever-elusive 'Are we alone?' question—could they hear us? Well, as it turns out, the answer is an emphatic 'yes'—not, however, because we're purposefully shooting some kind of high-powered radio beam into the cosmos that's acting like a galactic flare gun. No, aliens could hear us just from our everyday airport and military radar systems. In a new study—the preliminary results of which were revealed at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, U.K.—lead researcher Ramiro Caisse Saide from the University of Manchester concluded that an alien civilization within 200 light-years of Earth could likely spot our planet's radar signals using an advanced radio telescope similar to the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The study concluded that worldwide airport radar alone outputs a radio signal of roughly 2×10¹⁵ watts, while military radar outputs distinctive directional radio beams up to 1×10¹⁴ watts. At first, 200 light-years may not seem like a lot—after all, the Milky Way stretches some 100,000 light-years across. But even a distance this short (at cosmic scales, at least) includes some 120,000 stars, which very likely host plenty of candidates capable of sustaining life. 'This would look clearly artificial to anyone watching from interstellar distances with powerful radio telescopes,' Caisse Saide said in a press statement. 'In fact, these military signals can appear up to a hundred times stronger from certain points in space, depending on where an observer is located.' The authors looked at this 'hidden electromagnetic leakage' from the perspective of six stellar systems: Barnard star (6 light-years away), HD 48948 (55 light-years away), HD 40307 (42 light-years away), HD 216520 (64 light-years away), LHS 475 (40 light-years away), and AU Microscopii (32 light-years away). To help others understand what the 'leakage' might look like, the researchers published a video showing the mean distribution of Earth's Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) over a 24-hour period as it would appear on AU Microscopii. A distinct pattern emerges based on the distribution of radio equipment across the planet. So, if some alien civilization took a keen interest in a particular rocky planet located in the Origin-Cygnus arm of the galaxy, this clearly artificial EIRP signature might just raise an eyebrow (or whatever aliens would do to show confusion). 'Our findings suggest that radar signals—produced unintentionally by any planet with advanced technology and complex aviation system—could act as a universal sign of intelligent life,' Caisse Saide said in a press statement. 'In this way, our work supports both the scientific quest to answer the question 'Are we alone?' and practical efforts to manage the influence of technology on our world and beyond.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mirror
18-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mirror
'Rare' planet like Jupiter discovered 400 light years away
The discovered gaseous planet, named TOI-4465 b, is located around 400 light-years from Earth and is around the same size as Jupiter, but with a much smaller orbit A planet has been spotted roughly 400 light years away from Earth. Dubbed TOI-4465 b, this colossal, gas-filled world bears striking similarities to Jupiter. The breakthrough came courtesy of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission alongside Unistellar's network of amateur astronomers. Franck Marchis, a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer at Unistellar, explained: "This planet is scientifically significant because it helps bridge a gap in our understanding of planetary systems. "So far, we mostly detect hot Jupiters orbiting very close to their stars, unlike the cold gas giants in our own solar system", reports the Express. "TOI-4465 b falls somewhere in between - a 'temperate' Jupiter, offering a valuable case study of gas giants that bridge the gap between the most prolific gas giants and those in our solar neighbourhood." TOI-4465 b stands out as an unusual specimen - a massive, compact world that completes its stellar orbit every 102 days. Being a long-period exoplanet made confirming its presence exceptionally challenging, as spotting another transit was highly unlikely. A long-period giant refers to a substantial planet, similar to Jupiter, which requires considerable time to circle its host star. Research leader and University of Mexico scientist Zahra Essack noted: "This discovery is important because long-period exoplanets, defined as having orbital periods longer than 100 days, are difficult to detect and confirm due to limited observational opportunities and resources. "As a result, they are underrepresented in our current catalogue of exoplanets. Studying these long-period planets gives us insights into how planetary systems form and evolve under more moderate conditions." A global team of 24 observers from the UK, US, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Austria contributed data, with 21 being amateur stargazers. The elusive transit signature of the planet was detected just once in TESS observations. A transit signature is the slight dimming of a star caused by a planet crossing in front of it, hinting at the presence of an orbiting planet. Prompted by TOI-4465 b's transit signature, the study's lead researcher collected radial velocity measurements to determine the star's motion towards or away from Earth, often influenced by the gravitational pull of a planet. Armed with this information, they forecasted the next transit event and alerted astronomers at the SETI Institute. Guided by SETI experts, Unistellar's network of citizen astronomers successfully recorded what has been termed a "long and challenging" transit. Despite the transit enduring around 12 hours, the international scope of the network allowed for coordinated observation throughout the entire occurrence. Given the uncertainty surrounding the precise timing of the planet's journey across its star, astronomers kept watch over a span of three days. Mr Marchis revealed: "TOI-4465 b is the most massive, long-period giant to transit a sub-solar metallicity star." This refers to a star with fewer elements other than hydrogen and helium when compared to our sun. He continued: "It's a great candidate for follow-up observations of its atmosphere, so there's a good chance JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) will be looking at this planet at some point in the future." Mr Marchis highlighted that individuals with a digital smart telescope can now spot and confirm exoplanets from their own gardens, aiding NASA in charting planetary systems identified by the TESS mission. He added: "The likelihood of TESS observing another transit of a planet like TOI-4465 b, which happens only every 102 days, is low. So the SETI-Unistellar network is essential for these discoveries."
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Humpback Whales Are Blowing ‘Bubble Rings' at Boats. Are They Trying to Communicate?
Humpback whales are known for their extensive use of bubbles—from powerful, aggressive bursts that prove their prowess during courtship to the bubble-net 'curtains' they produce to round up prey in a spectacle that often draws tourists from around the world. Now a new study published in Marine Mammal Science explores rare instances when humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) create dramatic, doughnut-shaped vortex bubbles that look like a rolling underwater smoke ring. Video credit: Simon Hilbourne, Molly Gaughan, Karime Nicholas [Sign up for Today in Science, a free daily newsletter] Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and their colleagues at other institutions—including the SETI Institute, which is known for focusing on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) but is also interested in nonhuman intelligences on Earth—were looking for examples of whales' general bubble behavior when they uncovered a striking video taken by videographer Dan Knaub in 1988. In the footage, a humpback called 'Thorn' blows 19 bubble structures—including 11 rings—over a 10-minute period. 'We were just gobsmacked—like, 'What the hell is going on?'' says Fred Sharpe, a whale biologist at U.C. Davis. 'For a team that's interested in assisting astrobiologists parse unusual signals coming from deep space, it just fell real neatly into our paradigm.... It's so bizarre.' Sharpe and his colleagues soon found more examples on social media and from other researchers. Study co-author Jodi Frediani, a wildlife photographer who is also at U.C. Davis, even noticed a telltale circle in a photograph a friend showed during a presentation about humpback whales. With this phenomenon on her mind, she says, 'I went, 'Gee, there's a bubble ring!'' For the study, the team recorded 12 events across the North and South Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans in which 11 individual humpbacks were seen blowing bubble rings. The researchers described 39 rings in total. 'It's not a lot in the world of whales but enough—and in multiple oceans,' Frediani says. 'It's a really fun paper,' says Syracuse University biologist Susan E. Parks, who studies bubble-net feeding in humpbacks and wasn't involved in the new study. 'It reads like a detective story that's trying to piece together information about something that's not widely studied and happens rarely.' Parks hasn't observed any bubble rings herself—as far as she knows, she says, 'I may have seen them before and never really thought anything of them.' Despite compiling so many examples of the rings, Sharpe still doesn't know what to think about their purpose. 'My guess is that this is what it's going to feel like when we first make contact with aliens,' he says. The researchers speculate that the behavior could be playful. One whale would blow a bubble ring and then swim through it or 'do a spy hop right through the middle of it,' Frediani says—when performing such a spy hop, the whale would peep its head vertically above the surface, right through the bubble ring. Or perhaps the animals' behavior could respresent curiosity toward humans: of the 12 recorded events, nine involved whales that approached the human observers more closely before they blew rings. Humpback communication quote Could the whales be trying to communicate with us? Sharpe doesn't rule this out as a possibility. He posits that the presence of humans seems to trigger bubble blowing and that humpbacks improve with practice. 'This may be a species-atypical signal that's crafted for people,' he says, 'whales reaching out to humans ... using their own parlance, their own form of communication.' Parks thinks it's plausible that the animals are putting on a display for humans, but she adds that it's too soon to tell with such a small sample size. 'They'd want a lot more [observations] before they could say with certainty,' she says. Because most of the observations were made by people, this could skew the data, she notes, although there were 'two observations from planes, so we know [the whales] do produce them [bubble rings] when people aren't present, too.' Now that more researchers know to look for these bubble rings, Parks says, reported sightings may greatly increase. With more data, Sharpe and his colleagues hope to figure out what the purpose of these swirling doughnuts of air is—and whether the rings could possibly contain information. 'We need the entire human brain trust's help deciphering this,' Sharpe says. 'It's almost like [the whales'] blowhole is a mouth, and the symbols coming out are bubbles, as opposed to sounds.' Sharpe hopes footage from the study will help people feel connected with whales and make them want to protect the animals from human threats such as ship strikes, entanglement, noise and chemical pollution, habitat loss and disruption of the food web. He says that he also wants to find a way to let the whales 'know that they've been heard.' For him, trying to decipher potential messages and find a way to respond puts the team 'in the same place you would be if you were trying to communicate with aliens—and you got a message.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Humpback whales may be trying to communicate with humans
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. Humpback whales are some of the most intelligent creatures humans have ever had the chance to observe. However, researchers have encountered a bit of a conundrum with these massive sea-bound creatures. According to studies published in the past few years, humpback whales may be trying to communicate with humans. Previous research into this phenomenon has shown that the potential for humans to talk to these massive mammals exists. An earlier study shows that scientists with the SETI Institute were able to have a 'conversation' with a humpback whale named Twain by playing whale calls through an underwater speaker. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 Twain responded to the calls in its own fashion. However, that study didn't look at how these creatures might try to communicate with humans voluntarily, as the communication was always previously engineered by researchers. Now, a new study looks at just how likely it is for humpback whales to try to communicate with humans on their own. The research was led by SETI scientists, and it shows that the whales appear to make large rings of bubbles when having friendly encounters with humans, likely in an attempt to communicate with us somehow. These forms of nonverbal communication are important to study, too, because they could one day be key to helping us talk to another species, if space exploration ever leads to the discovery of new lifeforms beyond those on our own planet. You can see evidence of the SETI team's conversation with Twain in the video embedded above. While it's unlikely anything like AI will help us decode the meaning of these messages anytime soon, researchers will no doubt continue to work on uncovering the meaning behind these attempts to communicate. Whether or not we'll ever actually be able to have a conversation with our dogs, or any other animal, for that matter, is still very unlikely, at least based on the technology we have access to today. But that's the thing about the future. We're constantly developing new technology that could one day unlock these capabilities and let whales communicate with humans more openly. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Humpback whales may blow bubble rings to say hi to humans
Humpback whales are known for being pretty smart mammals, and researchers have made a discovery that may tell us even more about them. A team of scientists from the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis have documented humpback whales blowing large bubble rings when interacting with people for the first believe it could be a way in which the whales greet humans, representing either play or communication. Humpback whales blowing bubbles has been seen before, mainly when they're either tracking down their prey or competing for the attention of a female the latest discovery suggests the mammals' bubble rings, which they make by forcing air through their blowholes and mouths, could also be used when it comes to encounters with humans. "We show they are blowing bubble rings in our direction in an apparent attempt to playfully interact, observe our response, and/or engage in some form of communication," said Dr. Fred Sharpe who is a co-lead author on the study which was published in in the journal Marine Mammal part of their research, the team looked at 12 separate instances of bubble production involving 39 rings made by 11 different whales. Out of the twelve episodes reported, ten were collected near a boat or near human swimmers, with eight of the bubble ring blowers actually coming closer. Six of the episodes had more than one whale present and there was no sign of annoyance or aggressive behaviour towards the boats or humans in any of them. "Humpback whales often exhibit inquisitive, friendly behaviour towards boats and human swimmers," said co-lead author Jodi Frediani who is a marine wildlife photographer. "We've now located a dozen whales from populations around the world, the majority of which have voluntarily approached boats and swimmers, blowing bubble rings during these episodes of curious behaviour."
