Aliens never answer us

Are you among those who wonder if aliens never answer us? So scientists will answer that question for you.

Paul Sutter is an astrophysicist at Ohio State University and also a principal scientist at the COSI Science Center. Besides, celestial physicist Sutter is also the owner of the site: Ask a Spaceman, RealSpace and COSI Science Now.

You may have heard recent news about strange or mysterious radio signals coming from outer space. Almost all radio signals from aerospace are in daily news. About 6 months or longer, an excitement and lively discussion around the world as reports come from a number of telescopes or probes and observations of unexplained natural phenomena. .

The SETI Institute uses the telescope array of the Alien Telescope Array in California to confirm an attractive radio signal coming from the star HD 164,595, located about 94 light-years from Earth.(Photo source: SETI Institute).

An incredible strong signal comes from the Sun-like star. A repeat pattern seems too obvious in nature. " Beep " and " boop " sounds from unidentified sources with cryptic symbols. Sure, there are tons of tools in space that can produce those signals, but can also . by itself? Is this an important proof to answer one of the deciding questions? Is it just us?

Will never seriously astronomer blurted out: " Hey people, I have found aliens already ". However, they all have a strong yearning to be named in the history book. So when these signals pop up, you'll get a lot of " shrug " and "clear your throat " saying: " Look, we're pretty sure it's natural, but we don't Eliminate aliens ".

Let me tell you a few stories:

Punxa (source of galaxy emission)

In the late 1960s, astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell worked with her mentor - Antony Hewish, and used a new telescope near Cambridge, England. After sweeping a special position in the sky, they recorded an unusual signal: " A source in the sky regularly sends, repeated explosions, a time gap apart. exactly bizarre 1.33 seconds ".

Signals are very frequent and very accurate. When referring to it, they boldly signaled these signals as " LGM" , short for " Little Green Men " meaning " Green tiny people ". They don't think they found an advanced civilization ET, but . that you never know it. Be careful. Depending on the case.

The LGM hypothesis begins to weaken when they find another source, another source and another source. Then there are many other sources. Eventually, the doctrine awakened, beginning to notice and realize that: Signals are not caused by " blue elves ", but quite a few white neutron stars are encased in extremely strong magnetic fields, lighting radiation rays into space like lighthouses. Today we call it Punxa ( Pulsars ).

Signal "Wow!"

A printed radio signal in space was discovered on August 15, 1977, known as "Wow!"after astronomer Jerry Ehman wrote that comment right next to the data cluster, expressing his surprise at this strange discovery.(Image source: Ohio State University Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical Observatory Observatory).

In 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman listened to " Big Ear ", a radio astronomical machine conducted by Ohio State University. Complete its scientific mission, telescope dedicated to SETI observations ( search for extraterrestrial intelligence ). One night, a huge, bright, long-lasting signal fell into a narrow corner of the telescope's magnetic field. Within 72 seconds, the source signal " shouted " into the Big Ear device with a special frequency: 1,420 Mhz (megahertz), the frequency at which neutral hydrogen naturally emitted through the spin island conversion of electrons. . It is an unmistakable frequency, a universal phone card.

Astronomer Jerry Ehman looked at a computer print from the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio, USA, and found an increase in the activity of radio waves. After that, he wrote "Wow!" on the piece of paper and this word has become the name of the signal range as we know it today.

Perytons

In 1998, the Parkes radio telescopes in Australia began to receive a strange signal: Sometimes a " chirp " jumps from one frequency to another, lasting only a few milliseconds and apparently like no where from. Chirping, chirping, chirping, small signals - called " perytons " - are obscured by astronomical machines and astronomers around the world for decades.

Until 2015, that's when graduate student Emily Petroff and collaborators found the cause: the microwave in the visitor center. Have you ever lost patience and opened the microwave before everything was completed? In particular, their models do not turn off immediately and leak a little bit of the electromagnetic wave that the telescope has collected.

Aliens are never the answer

In all these cases, and more, speculation may exceed evidence - not necessarily related to astronomers, but most often lie in discussions around the findings. show. The public is the premise for alien transmission: We are talking about radio and if SETI or other groups get a strange radio signal, it is possible that the planet is speaking. Talk to us, we guess.

Here is a guess: The hypothesis that aliens cause a secret radio signal is almost "useless" because smart organisms can create any signal it wants. Hear the sound " bleep-bleep-bloop" ? Probably because aliens do it. It means " bloop-bloop-bleep" . Yes, aliens can do that. The hypothesis is not certain that " aliens have done so ." But we cannot reject it.

When a natural astrophysics explanation is weak or not convincing enough, there is often a " temptation " to wonder that aliens have done it. After that, we can't rule out aliens because smart actors are capable of doing many things, whatever. We cannot exclude that case, so it is a " useless science " position.

It was a very, very big leap to go from " We don't know what causes these signals " to " Aliens cause these signals ".

Astronomers appreciate radio telescopes because they help a lot when doing science. However, there are always phenomena in the universe that we cannot explain. That's why astronomers still have to continue to study - there are many things, we simply don't understand. Signals, creatures, observations and buildings. This is a huge universe to be able to get out of there.

I do not say " it is alien " but does not claim that " it is not an alien ".