If aliens are using laser beams to try to communicate with us, we already have a way to detect them. VERITAS can capture nanosecond flashes of light.
For many years, science has been devoted to analyzing thousands of exoplanets to see if there could be evidence of Earth-like life.
There are theories that suggest that aliens try to communicate with us, but we just haven’t figured out how to interpret these signals – at least so far.
If aliens are using laser beams to send us signals, scientists have already found a way to detect them.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a project that aims to constantly search for intelligent life in space and has recently announced that it will start searching for signals from extraterrestrial technology through the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, better known as VERITAS.
With this set of telescopes, scientists will be able to analyze the sky for nanosecond flashes of light. “When it comes to intelligent life beyond Earth, we don’t know where it exists or how it communicates,” explained Yuri Milner, particle physicist who created SETI’s Listen program.
As such, scientists try to search as many places as possible. “VERITAS further expands our range of observation,” added Yuri.
“With VERITAS, we are sensitive to an important new class of signals: fast optical pulses,” said Andrew Siemion, director of SETI’s research center.
This technology is already used by NASA to transmit high definition images directly from the moon to Earth.
VERITAS also lets you pick up signals at a much greater distance than before, thus increasing the likelihood that scientists will pick up weaker signals that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Composed of four 12-meter-high telescopes, “It’s amazing how VERITAS fits this project so well,” says David Williams, a professor of physics at the University of California, quoted by Live Science.
“Somewhere in the cosmos, maybe smart life is watching our lights, aware of what they mean,” said iconic Stephen Hawking at the launch of the Listen program in 2015.
This $100 million funding initiative, It has analyzed more than a thousand stars for extraterrestrial signals, but without the desired success.
Source: Zap.aeiou
