How Humanity First Finds Extraterrestrial Life Could Be Signatures Of Alien Technology
If an alien were to look at Earth, many human technologies – from cell towers to fluorescent light bulbs – could be a beacon signifying the presence of life.
We are two astronomers who work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence – or SETI. In our research, we try to characterize and detect signs of technology originating from beyond Earth. These are called technosignatures. While scanning the sky for a TV broadcast of some extraterrestrial Olympics may sound straightforward, searching for signs of distant, advanced civilizations is a much more nuanced and difficult task than it might seem.
Saying ‘hello’ with radios and lasers
A laser – like the one seen here – or beam of radio waves pointed intentionally at Earth would be a strong sign of extraterrestrial life. G. Hüdepohl/ESO, ...