We’re alone? This is a question that human beings have been asking for thousands of years. Is there someone else in the sky that we look up to? For decades, scientists have been trying to shed light on this issue by putting the latest technology of each historical era at the service of space exploration and analysis.
Perhaps those who have come closest have been the researchers of the SETI project, which began investigating deep space in the 1960s. However, the first foray into the search for extraterrestrial intelligence caused a growing interest and an increase in efforts to try to contact other intelligent creatures among the stars. And now, with recent discoveries in astronomy, new technologies, and a flood of private investment, the old SETI project is in full swing.
Find life beyond the stars
Larger and more powerful telescopes than just a few years ago are probing deeply into the night sky. More sophisticated computational tools are analyzing massive data sets across an ever-increasing number of stars and at a wider variety of frequencies. Observatories around the world are conducting regular observations to conduct the most exhaustive and comprehensive search for aliens ever conducted.
So far, scientists on the SETI project have found nothing but silence and radio interference. Still, they are not discouraged. They have surveyed only a tiny fraction of the galaxy, and the collective observing power of SETI will make scientists 1,000 times more likely to find extraterrestrial life this decade than in the past.
eyes on the sky
For decades, the search for aliens was shelved by lack of government funding and conflicts like the Cold War. But now that is changing as our understanding of the universe evolves. To find very advanced civilizations you have to scrutinize the sky very well, and many experts speculate on the possibility that some extraterrestrials may be very technologically advanced and manage to go unnoticed by our precarious technology.
To find alien civilizations that work with more modest radio equipment comparable to our own, scientists are looking at nearby stars, which are in positions relative to Earth and would allow any extraterrestrial to see Earth orbiting the sun in the same way. way that ground-based telescopes detect new planets. Therefore, those aliens could discover the presence of Earth and try to contact us with some kind of message.
Unfortunately, at the moment no indication has been found that points to the real possibility that intelligent life exists beyond our planet. In the SETI project, the constant challenge is to devise techniques to better distinguish potential alien signals from radio interference produced by terrestrial technology itself. Scientists generally look for the same kind of tight, well-defined radio transmissions that human electronics produce.
REFERENCIAS:
Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project.
