FAST RADIO BURSTS: UNKNOWN ASTROPHYSICS? OR MESSAGES?
This one you may not have heard about, and yet, given the news trends I've been blogging about this week, and following the patterns of what all of you are sending and sharing in terms of articles, this has certainly been a "space and technology" week. In any case, Mr. S.D. shared this article concerning possible transmissions coming from deep space, which scientists are calling Fast Radio Bursts. As one might guess, I have my own high octane speculations about it, but before we get to those, one must first have a glimpse of what's causing all the fuss behind the scenes:
Are aliens trying to contact us? Mathematical radio waves from deep space baffle scientists
The essence of the story is very simple:
The signals have been given a name: fast radio bursts, or FRBs. They last just a few milliseconds but they're incredibly powerful, with the energy equivalent to what the sun releases in a month. Ten of these bursts have been detected since 2001, the most recent of which was captured live in 2014 at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.
The brevity of the bursts is particularly unusual because it means their source has to be extremely small, hundreds of kilometers across at most. And because they exhibit such a high pulse dispersion — a measure of the distance between the arrival of higher frequency waves within the signal compared to lower frequency waves — scientists believe they come from very far away, possibly another galaxy entirely.
All 10 of the bursts detected so far have dispersion measures that are multiples of a single number: 187.5. That's the mathematical regularity that is hard to shake off. The breakdown of the pattern implies five sources for the bursts all at regularly spaced distances from Earth, billions of light-years away. Scientists have calculated this to be a five in 10,000 probability of a coincidence. In other words, not likely.
So either these radio waves represent some yet undiscovered celestial event, or they are being produced by some kind of technology. In other words, if they do have a technological origin and they aren't being generated by us, that means they could be signals from an extraterrestrial intelligence. Yep, that's right: aliens.
If the radio bursts do turn out to be beacons from extraterrestrials, which is a possibility that can't be ruled out, then there are some exciting but scary scenarios to consider. FRBs would not be easy messages to send. The amount of energy required to send such powerful bursts from another galaxy is hard to fathom. Such alien technology would be far more advanced than anything we can imagine, with the ability to harness power equivalent to the sun.
In other words, any face-to-face encounter with such a civilization may not end well for us, if they turn out to be hostile.
Ultimately, scientists will need more evidence before any firmer conclusions can be drawn about the origin of these FRBs. More of the signals will need to be detected, for instance, just to establish that they do all represent a consistent pattern. With only 10 signals to work with currently, the sample size isn't very large. It's difficult not to be electrified by the possibilities, however.
"There is something really interesting we need to understand. This will either be new physics, like a new kind of pulsar, or, in the end, if we can exclude everything else, an ET," said Michael Hippke of the Institute for Data Analysis in Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany. "When you set out to search for something new you might find something unexpected."
13 Comments
Help the Community Grow
Please understand a donation is a gift and does not confer membership or license to audiobooks. To become a paid member, visit member registration.
The problem with returning a signal is that some other nation or organization may contact this radio source first and reap the dividends (or disaster)from establishing first contact. I say go for it,if the aliens find us tasty well so be it, those are the chances you take if you want to go to the stars in our lifetime. If they’re really advanced from us we are no threat but if they’re only a century or so ahead of us they’ll never reach us,,, so no worries.
Joseph, thank you for bringing this news to my attention. I will pass this message along to my family and friends.
I must say, the present state of scientific journalism is as dumbed-down as the rest of sludge passed off as “news.”
I found this a fascinating subject and wanted to read more about it in-depth beofre making any judgments, so I searched about but all the articles were ridiculous fluff pieces that plaigerised each other shamelessly under different bylines. Pathetic, really.
More serious damage is being purposed to the integrity of science, as it becomes more & more commercialized & thereby privately owned; subject to proprietary secrets to be kept from the public, who financed them to begin with.
If you live inside a computer like we do in our universe, inevitably the internal sounds of the computer, the beeps and hums, will manifest. I chuckle at all the meditators who attempt resonance with the predominant hum of the computer’s electronic circuitry by chanting “om.”
But lets assume it is a signal from a distant galaxy. Could it be a wireless transfer of power akin to Tesla’s wireless towers? Could this then be a trap as we build towers to receive the seemingly free power transmissions only to one day be confronted with a hefty bill by some alien electric combine?
As far as “our” technology goes, is a far as “we” can go.
I’ve like the way a Zen proverb put it/A wise man hears what has no sound & sees what has no shape. Now, the “Breakaway” Boys have the technology to take Et home; so perhaps they have the technology to call and say he’s coming home with the goodies – chocolate/peanut butter cups. Yet, I can’t shake that Von Braun’s latest bogey-men, coming to a theater of operations near you: the aliens. So perhaps a little more publicity to amp up the suspense.
And then there’s those alien’s that already invaded the Earth. Do “they” know? Are there even good guys & bad guys/aliens? Or, are our actions simply going to be mirrored? [Fire/Aim/Ready]
A few bursts from a galaxy far away … intriguing and good for public consumption. New Scientist magazine is the cutting edge!
Well this is very interesting your first thought is this is some weapon to ‘burb out Sol’ the local star such fanciful notions, if that was the case then in the line that signal came from then 10,000 stars on the would have gone and fizzled out as the light would have got here before the signal yes so that is not the case.
Now what else do we have the poor excuse for the search for other life out there what do we know from here SETI those mighty experts as one person said look for signals that are no more than background noise pathetic and quiet pointless any message sent would want to be distinguished as such therefore only a fool would think such well no one said SETI are really looking just make it look like they were yes. Surely this is a plain fact by most perhaps not people still quote that source well then and believe it to be so really think about it for one moment.
All the time i have heard people complaining that no advanced civilization would use radio then one designed for you to pick comes in and it puzzles you interesting you cannot pick up normal signals which are beyond your scope and understand right so one was sent 12 times not 10 in that which could be picked up and in this Galaxy not another.
Now you think you just got lucky to have picked up the same signal the five in ten thousand need to be looked at more closely for it to have hit here once or twice well that is the fluke 10 or 12 times that is no happen stance at all logic use that if nothing else at the 187,5 expedential factor where you would be after moving and traveling even in between bursts is some calculations why do they bother if this is your grand speculations then let us just assume for a moment that the odds of three time is excuse the pun here but needed astronomical let alone four five six seven and yet more each time the number multiply is that not stated as having occurred so not speculation but fact known and quantifiable already just work it out simple basic maths surly here.
The code is simple to work out well it would need for this planet as we can see if this is how you treat such a marvel to be yet the science community is once again is at a loss those who could work it out have perhaps not wished to as it was not discovered by those who were looking for these types of messages right as i understood it so they must be embarrassed caught short.
Now it is either a nature event or a message sent on purpose directed for this planet to pick up no other and not a weapon i think we can use logic on that one as nothing else in the path was effected following this so far or is this all above your head then.
Now bringing in factors like myths and legends and ‘want a be fake gods’ well that is just wishful thinking those so called early travelers have no further interest here you still want to be their slaves and work force then that is just sad after all you have had to overcome to have free will back and freedom to choose which you are so intent on throwing away at every opportunity is that not the mess you are in now with home grown elitist controlling from the shadows least we forget right, but why not sure must be someone who knows your current limitations and it seems even that is beyond you here is that the case or do you really want to know.
How about not from so far away at all close enough to send magnetized pellets with much more contained than it seems you can read short and to the point but not in those frequencies the expert expect but one people could find easy to show up as real not blimps squeaks burps or farts but solid messages. Hold the thought to hit here at all was odds on against so not by chance then a wake up call need to be precise and heard but if you still think signals could hit that many times and more to come without being done so with purpose directed with a sense of will behind it as it seems you still not so sure but no matter then leave it to confused mind who do not want to now the answer to the simple puzzle that is enough to get you thinking but why i even bother is another question i only get scorn or ignore here when given out solid proof like candy and no one pays attentions or thinks about such gems.
Take care and all the best with that then.
If these bursts are coded messages, they might not be addressed to the majority of the homo sapiens without sapience species. We don’t know or vaguely remember the waring factions of the “imperial galactic overlords” of our plantation engineered solar system. It could be only a signal of their return to collect their dues and bring us right back under a conveniently low cognitive ceiling to keep us in abject servitude. Another tower of Babel moment maybe? There are so many myths about them getting rid of our typical turbulence keeping us in a dumbfounded state. From the fossil records and ancient texts we found so far, it seems they pretty well succeeded in this kind of astronomically lucrative enterprise. Let us wish it’s not paleohistory repeating itself.
I suspect that the fast radio bursts (FRBs) are not communications at all. Especially if they are extra-galactic, think of the power involved! My money would be more that we are (by chance) in-line-with some form of weapons-discharge. This of itself may be ‘records’ of high-technology conflicts in high antiquity. If you extrapolate the tiny percentage of FRBs by-chance ‘aimed’ in our direction to the overall sphere, it may help explain Fermi’s question…
Back to my references of Dollard and Tesla. Tesla was more interested in Transient electrical spikes, measured in db instead of watts and Hz. Those irregular wave forms came out of counter space and transversed the ether in an instantaneous fashion. So, would it not follow that ET would use the more advanced Teslarian method of signal propagation? I’m guessing advanced comm signals would be sent via nodes in space such as stars or quasars. Where the quantam entanglement of creation could be utilized. Hence, my other hi octane speculations, that CERN using the sun for a galactic communication and possibly teleportation node.
The Great Pyramid was alleged to be a “Star Gate”. Where water from the Nile that flowed East West at the time was sucked up into the passive pumping system of passages, turned into H2 and used for everything from irrigation, teleportation and a weapon of unimaginable power.
Gee, it’s great to research history to find out what is really going on.. Thx Dr. Farrell for the example.
Sub-Space communications of the Federation of the Star Trek anyone. Any self respecting interstellar civilization is going to be using something must faster than radio and laser signals in their communications. This is all part of Earth is the Universe roadshow our elites have been pimping for centuries.
Since mankind’s creation (or engineering) we have not only had to deal with enemies from our own species but “principalities and powers” as well. The stars and planets have often been referred to as living beings placed within the universe to “watch over it”. Hence the story of the “Watchers” who “left their first estate” and descended to earth to interbreed with mankind and create havoc; teaching us all manner of secret technologies which were originally forbidden to us. The resulting progeny being the giants of antiquity “up to 3000 ells” tall; which gives us the myths of the Titans; and who “sinned” against “beasts, birds, and fishes” giving us the weird myths of cross species life forms portrayed in the Egyptian (and others) carvings.
That something like this occurred is most likely a fact due to the large number of skeletons (up to 36 feet tall) in the fossil records which the Smithsonian and other institutions have been destroying as soon as they are found to keep earths actual history suppressed.
It has always been my opinion that “disclosure of extra terrestrial’s” existence has not only already happened, it happened at the very beginning of our species. We have never been alone in the universe and we have always known it. God, Himself, as well as the “gods” have walked among us in high antiquity according to every ancient text.
It should come as no surprise that these beings communicate with themselves; it is the method of that communication which we are unaware of at the present moment. The fact that they are using advanced cosmologies and physics of which we are not (or are no longer) aware should be no surprise either.