The hope that one day we will come into contact with alien intelligence never fades. Humanity, one might say, is living this dream. Astronomers and hobbyists alike are looking to capture signals from space that have signs of artificial origin. And it cannot be said that they do not succeed …
Knockin 'on Heaven
On July 23, the scientific world was alarmed by a message from NASA about the discovery of the planet Kepler 452b in the constellation Cygnus, which is very similar to Earth. Although at today's level of technology it will take 550 million years to fly to it, many greeted the news with great enthusiasm.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Program runs the Breakthrough Message Initiative. Its participants are invited to compose a message intended for our alien brothers in mind. The prize for the best, from the point of view of the jury, the message will be a million dollars.
This is far from the first attempt to "reach out" to aliens. So, there is a project "Active SETI", which involves sending radio messages into space from Earth. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to reach third space velocity and photograph the planet Jupiter. It was launched on March 2, 1972. An anodized plate made of durable aluminum alloy was installed on the body of the device, it depicts a message to potential extraterrestrial civilizations: a molecule of neutral hydrogen, two human figures against the background of the outline of an aircraft, a diagram of the solar system, etc.
NASA recently posted greetings in 58 languages to the SoundCloud for the inhabitants of other planets. They were all recorded on gold records attached to the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977 to explore the solar system and its surroundings. In addition to greetings, the records also contain crying of a child, sounds of nature, human activity, mechanisms and Morse code …
On July 6, 2003, with the help of the RT-70 radio telescope located in Yevpatoria, a collective radio message from the inhabitants of the Earth to extraterrestrial civilizations was transmitted. The project was named "Cosmic Call" ("Cosmic call"). It was decided to send the "letter" to five stars of the solar type, whose age lies in the interval from 4 to 7 billion years and which have their own planets, which increases the chances of the existence of intelligent life there. The content of sent messages is a short summary of a person's knowledge of the world around him. Also, everyone could add their messages to the message on a commercial basis. It should be delivered to its destination in May 2044.
The Breakthrough Message Initiative prize fund was established by the Russian internet entrepreneur Yuri Milner. A whole team of scientists, philosophers and linguists from Britain, involved in the UK SETI project, is currently working on the content of the next messages into space.
Why are we aliens?
We are sure that sooner or later contact with representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations will be established in one form or another.
Meanwhile, Professor Matthew Bailes from Swinburne University in Melbourne, who recently received a grant from the aforementioned BreakthroughPrize Foundation funded by Milner, has a different opinion: if some other civilization is so powerfully developed that it will be able to send response signals over a distance of tens of thousands of light years, interaction with it can lead humanity to disaster.
Indeed, if you look at it: why might one civilization need another? In the best case, for the exchange of resources and technologies. And at worst, for the colonization of the planet …
And it will be extremely difficult to calculate the signals that the aliens can send us, says Bales:
- The difficulty is to establish what kind of signals we are looking for, we need to get an idea of what kind of signal transmission can be used by an alien civilization.
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There is a signal
Recently, a mysterious signal coming from the Milky Way was captured by both German and American researchers. It is assumed that the radio pulse is of artificial origin. Its duration is estimated at a thousandth of a second.
However, in order to send one such impulse using technological means, energy would be required, comparable to the amount of solar radiation per day, experts say. So the aliens are convinced that we will decode the message?
Scientists were surprised by the fact that the pulses were sent at regular intervals. John Lerndom of the University of Hawaii (USA) and Michael Hipsteck of the Institute for Data Analysis in Neukirchen (Germany) are now decoding the signal and trying to figure out where it was sent from. We managed to find out something. After all, the Milky Way has 200 billion stars and covers 100 thousand light years in diameter. If the signal path were longer, then it would scatter, and the reason for this would be cosmic dust … In any case, according to researchers, the signal source is outside the solar system, but within the boundaries of our galaxy.
What prompted experts to think about the artificial origin of signals? The so-called "scattering factor", which constantly has the same multiplicity, equal to 187.5. It is unlikely that this is a coincidence. Most likely, the signals are either sent by intelligent beings or generated by an appropriate device.
An underwater transmitter?
In 2011, a curious signal was received by the staff of the American military base. They could not decipher the impulse, but it arrived at a frequency of exactly once a month. Suspicion immediately fell on the Russians, especially since the source was somewhere in the area of the islands in the Arctic Ocean. The Americans made a request, but their Russian colleagues just threw up their hands.
The location of the source was found with the help of a bathyscaphe. The signal emitted a metal object in the form of an oblate capsule, literally embedded in an underwater rock. The mysterious capsule was measured. Its length was about 60 meters, width 15 meters. The surface of the capsule was absolutely smooth. The alloy or metal from which the object was made is unknown to science. Attempts to open the vessel were unsuccessful. True, during his research, the frequency and type of signals changed …
It looks like the capsule has been underwater for 8 to 10 thousand years. This is indicated by studies of the rocky rock around it. And during all this time, the metal did not corrode, was not scratched, did not undergo any destruction … But most of all the researchers were surprised that the capsule literally "melted" into the rock. It looks like the mysterious object flew into the rock at fantastic speed, probably causing a powerful blast wave.
The capsule did not have a protective shell, but remained intact. Unfortunately, it is not technically possible to extract it from the rock now.
The object was discovered only thanks to the impulses emanating from it, and they appeared quite recently. The researchers believe that some kind of transmission system has been activated. It is hardly an accident … Probably, someone's mind managed to program the device for 10 thousand years in advance, in the confidence that the object will not collapse and will be able to receive energy on its own …
It turned out that the impulses do not go further than the solar system. Apparently, the recipient of the space mail is within its limits.
Probably, the capsule has collected various information about our planet over the past millennia. Perhaps those who discovered or themselves sowed the seeds of intelligent life on Earth are constantly monitoring its development. Apparently, they were able to calculate the period when human civilization will develop enough to enter into a cosmic dialogue …
But what does this mean for us? Who are the creatures who sent the mysterious capsule to Earth - friends or enemies? In the event of colonization of the planet, the future of humanity becomes highly doubtful. Either we start working for more advanced aliens, or we simply won't be …
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №44. Author: Elena Gimadieva, Irina Shlionskaya