Time
“[O]ur premise was, ‘what if we’ve already detected a signal but missed it because of our preconceptions’”
The odds of a discovery with Walkowicz’s project may be long, but the search technique is quite straightforward. “Our premise,” she says, “is that up until now, we’ve had a preconceived idea of what a SETI signal would look like.” It would basically be the sort of signal we know how to create, and understandably so, since searching for a signal from some entirely unknown technology would be kind of difficult.
If aliens were so advanced that they could cause their star to appear to flicker, however, it wouldn’t matter how they did it, and it would be easy enough to see with existing technology. In fact, says Walkowicz, “our premise was, ‘what if we’ve already detected a signal but missed it because of our preconceptions.’”
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ET, phone home – mother’s getting desperate!
OldEnglish on November 28, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Yes…what else can it be?
A civilization so advanced they decided the best way to “get the message out” would be to send some sort of Morse Code by making a star flicker.
Uh…..sure.
BobMbx on November 28, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Didn’t Ripley respond to a signal like that?
RINOs are people too on November 28, 2012 at 5:43 PM
I don’t care. I only care who’s gonna be woman of the year.
wolly4321 on November 28, 2012 at 6:01 PM
Dumb idea, as they would need to cover all 720 degrees of a star and make it flicker. Do you know what the surface area of the star is? Additionally, it still uses light as the communication medium.
It would actually be far easier to find a rocky planet, ala mercury, but not that close to a star. Feed it with 10-20 fusion reactors, and then continuously broadcast a repeating set of signals on traditional radio frequencies.
If civilizations are looking to communicate, finding a big S/N ratio in traditional radio frequencies would be something their scientists should be looking for.
And you know what? They’re already doing it with the other SETI project.
Nethicus on November 28, 2012 at 6:06 PM
“What if, like, the solar system, or like, the whole galaxy, like, the Milky Waaay, was a, like a molecule, or an atom in a giant’s body, like in his toe nail man…(bong noise….)?”
Akzed on November 28, 2012 at 6:13 PM
well, actually how do we know that advanced civilizations aren’t sending us thought waves?…and..they’ve been sending us these thought waves since Roswell?
pretty profound stuff…now…souls be answer back?
/
r keller on November 28, 2012 at 6:17 PM
They can ‘flicker’ stars.
Okay.
So it’s Morse Code we should looking for.
Because — you know — not everyone who can control-flicker an entire star to send messages to alien races on distant undiscovered planets can afford transmitters powerful enough to send signals through space.
Right.
Got it.
I guess the whole ‘atmospheric refracted light waves’ and ‘heat waves emanating from earth’s crust’ causing stars to flicker to our eyes is just — old hat.
FlatFoot on November 28, 2012 at 6:24 PM
Flickering their sun could be how they decided to fix global warming. Could also be super slow spinning quasar. Or a star in a death spiral circling a black hole. Might also mean it’s time to put another quarter in the telescope.
RINOs are people too on November 28, 2012 at 7:40 PM
If you put the Global Warmists on this, they will quickly develop a “concensus of scientists” …which will claim that the absence of evidence of a signal is proof that we missed the signal.
…and of course any laughter and derision of this silly position can only come from “SETI deniers”!!
NEXT: The usual suspects will propose enormous increases in “Universal Service Fees.” They will also try to extend the fees to every possible attempt at communication. The new fee revenue will go to fund an “Alien Advocacy” cabinet-level Department, which will become even more annoying and unconstitutionally intrusive than EPA and Homeland Security combined.
landlines on November 28, 2012 at 8:01 PM
Duude…what if this all just a dream and we’re like already dead and junk?
Mimzey on November 28, 2012 at 8:11 PM
Flicker a star? And they’re going to fund that? Why can’t I get funding for my worm-hole-creating-way-back-machine? I only need a few billion.
InterestedObserver on November 28, 2012 at 8:11 PM
The worst shock of all would be if they discovered that God has been sending messages through spiritual channels all along, and they dismissed them. Our brains have a lot of capabilities that we don’t need or use merely for survival. Perhaps we ought to be researching the quantum capabilities of our our neurons, instead of assuming that near death experiences are just artifacts of a dying brain.
flataffect on November 29, 2012 at 11:47 AM