ReportWire

Tag: SETI

  • Aliens Might Not Do Physics Like We Do—and That’s a Problem

    At Gizmodo, we love a good story about aliens—especially if it gives us a headache. Personally, I reward extra points for bonus dad jokes.

    Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner’s upcoming book, Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality presents the best combination of all these things. The book imagines what it would be like to discuss physics with aliens, drawing from a diverse array of experts in the history and philosophy of science—accompanied by Warner’s delightful illustrations plus physics puns and hypothetical donuts.

    Co-author Daniel Whiteson is a particle physicist at CERN and the University of California, Irvine, as well as a science communicator and host of the podcast Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe. Gizmodo spoke to Whiteson about the philosophical nature of the search for aliens and what it reveals about our own humanity. The following conversation has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

    Gayoung Lee, Gizmodo: Okay, so, do aliens speak physics? What is this question even asking?

    Daniel Whiteson: I don’t know if aliens speak physics! That’s why I wrote this book, to argue both sides of this question. I feel like a lot of physicists assume that the physics we are doing is universal… that the way we’re doing things and our way of life is the only way.

    I wanted to push back on that a little bit and explore and make the opposite argument and suggest that there might be a lot of humanity in the physics that we’re doing—the way we think about it, the questions we’re asking, the answers we accept, and our path into physics.

    Gizmodo: At the very start of your book, you introduce an extended version of something called the Drake equation. What is it, and how have you reimagined it?

    Whiteson: The Drake equation is a fun way to organize your thoughts about whether there are other intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. There have to be stars or planets for them, life that evolved to develop sentience and technology, and they have to do it all roughly within a time window that we can communicate with them.

    It breaks these features apart because they are separate issues. It emphasizes something really crucial: you’ve got to have all the pieces to work. If any of those numbers go to zero, you’re out of luck.

    © Andy Warner
    Whiteson Warner Drake Equation Extended
    © Andy Warner

    But in the book, we’re not just interested in intelligent aliens. We want to find intelligent aliens that do science the way that we do so we can learn from them. Otherwise, it’s just too big a space to explore, and all those things must come together for this intergalactic science conference that is my personal fantasy.

    Gizmodo: Okay, so let’s unpack some of these additions. The first one is about whether aliens do science at all.

    Whiteson: Sure. This was tricky to tackle. I think a lot of people assume that if aliens arrive, they’re technological—because they’ve gotten here. They have some way to cross the vast distances between the stars, so they must have a scientific understanding of how they did that.

    Whiteson Warner Science Technology
    © Andy Warner

    But historians of science and philosophers of science understand that technology doesn’t require science. We’ve been using stone tools for millions of years. We had technology in terms of writing, fermentation, metallurgy, and agriculture. These are technological improvements that have improved our lives without us understanding how they worked.

    Having a scientific mindset is going to accelerate your technology, but it’s not essential. So that’s what we dig into in that question. Is science actually essential? What is science anyway?

    Gizmodo: So assuming aliens are scientific, another element is whether they ask the same questions.

    Whiteson: One motivating piece of philosophy for me was this question of emergence—why is the universe understandable at all? We can use fairly simple mathematical tools to understand the world around us. Instead of the universe just being filled with chaos, somehow this simplicity emerges.

    We don’t know what the fundamental layer of reality is—if it even has one. So, all of our science studies emergent phenomena. It might be that it’s sort of a way we filter the universe. The universe is crazy and filled with all sorts of buzzing noise, but we see certain stories that are of interest to us.

    Whiteson Warner Astronomy Mechanical Eyeballs
    © Andy Warner

    On the other hand, if emergence is something that’s part of the universe—like there’s just some way things average out—then we’ll have that in common with aliens. They’ll study planets the way that we do. They’ll study particles the way that we do. They’ll see the same simple stories. But it’s not something we know the answer to until they show up.

    Gizmodo: Do you think there’s any point in trying to communicate with animals on Earth to prepare for aliens? It can be argued that interspecies communication among animals on Earth has practically zero bearing on how an extraterrestrial, intelligent being might message us.

    Whiteson Warner Alien Communication
    © Andy Warner

    Whiteson: I think I would disagree. I mean, I agree that it’s unlikely that learning dolphin is going to help us communicate with the aliens. But the fact that we’ve failed to communicate with those species tells us that we have a lot to learn about talking to other species and that more practice and more success could set us up for more success in the future.

    There are definitely some assumptions we’re making and some barriers we haven’t pushed through. So, we can’t understand why or how whales are singing to each other and how bats are clicking to each other, but there’s definitely something going on there.

    Gizmodo: The extended Drake equation isn’t a yes-or-no question on whether aliens exist. It’s an ideal scenario in which we could have a meaningful, intellectual exchange with them.

    Whiteson: Yeah.

    Gizmodo: I’m sensing that makes it even harder for us to encounter the “ideal” alien civilization. In your view, what is the worst-case scenario that doesn’t end with everyone on Earth dying?

    Whiteson: (Laughs) Yeah, well, one amazing outcome is that we have everything aligned with them. They just tell us the answers, and we’re catapulted into the future of science—incredible!

    More frustrating, what you might call a worst-case scenario, is that there is nobody else out there doing science the way that we are. They’re not interested in our questions. They’re looking for different answers. They see a different slice of the universe—we’re alone at the table at the Intergalactic Science Conference. That would be unfortunate.

    Whiteson Warner Alien Communication Bad Ending
    © Andy Warner

    From a philosophical point of view, it might be more fun if the aliens don’t satisfy any of our requirements, because that’s when we learn about our own peculiarities. Like, “Oh, wow, that is interesting that we do this science this one way, and everybody else is doing it that way. What does that mean about being human?”

    So I think the philosophers would be more excited if we were the only ones in the galaxy doing science this particular way. But the physicists would be frustrated for sure.

    Gizmodo: On that note, is the search for intelligent alien life really humanity’s own ego search?

    Whiteson: Oh, for sure. Definitely. On one hand, we want to find aliens similar to us, because it validates us. On the other hand, that discovery, finding lots of human-like aliens, would make us less special.

    My favorite thing about searching for aliens is that any answer is mind-blowing and wonderful in its own way. So, I’m definitely pro-aliens, no matter what. Even if the aliens show up and do send us to the hydrogen mines, I still think that would be interesting. I’m that much pro-alien visitation—I’ll take the risk!

    Whiteson Warner First Alien Contact Outcome
    © Andy Warner

    Gizmodo: The book presents an impressive union of philosophy and science, but you’re a physicist at heart. So, having written this book, doing the research for it… How has the process changed the way that you approach your own work as a scientist?

    Whiteson: Good question. You know, I’ve always been interested in philosophy at an amateur level. But I realized that particle physics is filled with people who have strong philosophical opinions but think philosophy is a waste of time. They have this [Richard] Feynman attitude that physicists need philosophers the way birds need ornithologists.

    If you ask them, is the top quark real? Was it there before we discovered it? They’ll say, “Of course, what are you, an idiot? Of course it is. It’s physical; it’s there. We found it; we didn’t create it.”

    … I found those two things in conflict. Yeah, we didn’t create these particles, but we never see them, we don’t hold them in our hands, and we don’t interact with them. We’re telling stories about the way the universe works. But in the end, those are stories, and they’re stories that satisfy us. We don’t know if the same stories would satisfy other people, so it definitely shines a light on my own work and makes me wonder what it means.

    But even if physics isn’t universal, it doesn’t make me less interested in doing physics. I still think it’s a super fun puzzle to try to unravel the universe. We’re in this intimate relationship with the universe, and it matters what matters to us. It’s part of being human.

    Do Aliens Speak Physics? is being published by W. W. Norton & Company and will be available online or in hardcover on November 4, 2025.

    Gayoung Lee

    Source link

  • Where Are the Aliens? New Study Suggests They’re Stuck Like Us

    In 1950, famed astrophysicist Enrico Fermi posed a profound question during a casual lunch with colleagues: Where is everybody? In other words, if there’s an extremely high probability that advanced alien civilizations exist somewhere, why haven’t we found evidence of them?

    That’s how the story goes, at least. But regardless of the circumstances surrounding its utterance, that question—known today as the Fermi paradox—has captured the minds of researchers ever since. In a new paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed, astrophysicist Robin Cordet proposes “radical mundanity” as one possible explanation.

    Cordet, a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who is based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, suggests the galaxy is home to a modest number of alien civilizations that aren’t that much more advanced than our own. Because their technology is similarly limited, neither civilization can detect the other.

    “The idea is that they’re more advanced, but not much more advanced. It’s like having an iPhone 42 rather than an iPhone 17,” Corbet told The Guardian. “This feels more possible, more natural, because it’s not proposing anything very extreme.”

    An alternative explanation for “the great silence”

    Calculations using the Drake Equation—a formula that estimates the number of civilizations in the Milky Way that are capable of transmitting radio signals—suggest a fair few should exist. Our civilization has been bleeding radio signals for decades, so we know the answer to the Drake Equation must be at least one. More radically, astrophysicists have proposed that it would take a relatively short amount of time, on astronomical timescales, for advanced civilizations to spread across the entire galaxy.

    If aliens accomplished this feat, humanity should be able to detect their presence through a number of different technosignatures. These might include an artificial electromagnetic beacon, signs of astro-engineering such as heat emanating from Dyson spheres (hypothetical energy-harvesting megastructures built around stars), or extraterrestrial artifacts on Earth. So far, however, we haven’t found any of these.

    Astrophysicists have come up with many different hypotheses to explain this lack of evidence, also known as “the great silence.” Maybe intelligent extraterrestrials are just too advanced for humanity to detect them, or perhaps they choose to stay away from Earth? Maybe we really are alone in the galaxy after all? Or more pessimistically, maybe all sufficiently advanced civilizations end up destroying themselves.

    To Corbet, these possibilities seemed extreme, so he decided to ask a different question: What if civilizations have a natural technological limit that stops them from becoming advanced enough to create detectable technosignatures or to detect us?

    The galaxy may be more boring than we think

    According to Corbet’s hypothesis, humanity may be near the upper limit of technological progress. Alien civilizations could hit a similar plateau, never advancing far enough to easily detect or contact others.

    This idea, known as the radical mundanity principle, suggests that alien societies aren’t building massive space structures or traveling at light speed. Instead, they’re probably a lot like us—and just as limited in their ability to find others in the galaxy. And they stay that way, eventually losing interest in cosmic exploration over time.

    Even if this hypothesis is correct, that doesn’t mean we’ll never find evidence of an alien civilization. In his paper, Corbet explains that a technologically mundane world may still be detectable via leakage radiation, and such a discovery “may not be too far off” if radio telescopes continue to advance.

    But don’t get too excited. “Although this would have profound implications in many ways, it may not lead to a huge gain in our technology level, and could leave us somewhat disappointed,” Corbet concludes.

    Ellyn Lapointe

    Source link

  • Reinventing SETI: Why Our Alien-Hunting Playbook Needs an Upgrade

    In this excerpt from his new book, John Gertz argues it’s time to ditch SETI’s old dogmas and rethink how we prepare for first contact.

    John Gertz

    Source link

  • Scientists Propose a Smarter Way to Hunt for Alien Radio Signals

    The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has yet to detect alien technosignatures like radio waves, but the cosmos is vast, and there are plenty of places left to look. New research suggests refining our search parameters by using our own broadcasts into deep space as a helpful guide.

    Research published earlier this week in Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests we search for alien signals by studying how we beam strong, directed transmissions during two-way communication with our deep space missions.

    The research team, which included scientists from Penn State and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), studied how alien observers might detect our deep space radio transmissions. They reasoned that if extraterrestrials engage in similar space-faring activities, their signals are most likely to appear under the same conditions, thereby narrowing where and when we should look.

    SETI has been sniffing around for extraterrestrial radio signals since the 1960s but has so far come up empty. Part of the challenge is that we’re not entirely sure what we’re looking for, aside from something discernibly artificial in origin.

    That could mean a deliberate, focused signal beamed out to grab our attention, or it might be unintentional: residual transmissions bleeding out from a civilization just going about its business. In fact, our own civilization has been leaking radio signals for over a century. We haven’t exactly been quiet—our airports, for example, are particularly leaky when it comes to radio waves.

    Finding patterns in our own habits

    In an effort to improve our chances of detecting extraterrestrial radio signals, the researchers, including astronomer Pinchen Fan from Penn State, investigated NASA’s deep space transmissions as a way to predict how alien civilizations might use radio themselves.

    “Humans are predominantly communicating with the spacecraft and probes we have sent to study other planets like Mars,” Fan explained in a statement. “But a planet like Mars does not block the entire transmission, so a distant spacecraft or planet positioned along the path of these interplanetary communications could potentially detect the spillover; that would occur when Earth and another solar system planet align from their perspective.”

    Artist’s depiction of a DSN signal directed towards Mars and the resulting leakage sent out into deep space. © Zayna Sheikh

    We should therefore focus on these types of key moments, when exoplanets in distant star systems fall into alignment—that’s when SETI should be on the lookout for possible radio signals, Fan said.

    For the study, the researchers analyzed logs from NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), a system of ground-based facilities that track and communicate with human-made objects in space—from satellites in low Earth orbit to far-flung missions like the Voyager probes and the New Horizons spacecraft. As Joseph Lazio, a JPL project scientist and co-author of the study, explained, the DSN “sends some of humanity’s strongest and most persistent radio signals into space.” By matching DSN radio broadcasts with data on spacecraft locations, the team was able to determine both the timing and direction of Earth’s deep space transmissions.

    “Using our own deep space communications as a baseline, we quantified how future searchers for extraterrestrial intelligence could be improved by focusing on systems with particular orientations and planet alignments,” said Jason Wright, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State.

    Look for the alignments

    The researchers found that deep space radio signals are predominantly aimed toward Mars but are also directed at other solar system planets and at telescopes positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange points (the James Webb Space Telescope being a good example). Two decades’ worth of DSN data showed that, if aliens were in a position to observe an Earth-Mars alignment, there’s a 77% chance they’d be in the path of our transmissions, as compared to a 12% chance for other planetary alignments. “When not observing a planet alignment, however, these chances are minuscule,” Fan said.

    The research team says we should apply these insights to SETI, as that’ll likely improve our chances of finding wayward radio signals. Specifically, we should focus on moments when exoplanets fall into alignment with each other or with their host star, as seen from our perspective on Earth.

    Our solar system is relatively flat, with most planets orbiting on the same plane, so most human transmissions travel along that same plane. Aliens are likely to use similar communication strategies, so it makes sense for SETI to target the same kinds of alignments.

    Given the strength of DSN transmissions and assuming aliens use similar communications technology, the study’s co-authors recommend searching within 23 light-years. Importantly, they say we should also focus on nearby systems with orbital planes edge-on to Earth. They also note that these patterns could aid in the search for laser signals, which spill less than radio waves and may be preferred by alien civilizations; and in fact, we are moving in that exact direction.

    This new proposal makes a lot of sense. Hopefully SETI scientists will take note and launch campaigns with these insights in mind. The cosmos has the potential to be a very noisy place—we just have to know when and where to look.

    George Dvorsky

    Source link

  • Scientists talk with whales for first time in practice for meeting aliens

    Scientists talk with whales for first time in practice for meeting aliens

    Scientists may have just had their first conversation with whales while testing software that could one day help them communicate with aliens.

    The team of scientists—from the SETI Institute, the University of California, Davis, and the Alaska Whale Foundation—were studying humpback whale communication off the coast of Alaska when they detected the underwater “greeting signal” from a whale called Twain.

    Whales make underwater noises to communicate with each other. Although we do not know what the sounds mean exactly, scientists believe they use them to socialize with each other, as well as to navigate, find food and avoid predators

    A stock photo shows a humpback whale swimming underwater. A team of researchers recently had a conversation with the species while practicing technology for possibly communicating with extraterrestrial life.
    Craig Lambert/Getty

    The scientists played a previously recorded humpback whale contact call through an underwater speaker, which resulted in Twain approaching the boat. He circled the boat for a while before responding. The conversation lasted for 20 minutes, and during this time the whale made noises in response to each record.

    The team members had been studying these whales to practice the software and develop intelligence filters that may one day be used to communicate with extraterrestrials. The SETI Institute is a nonprofit organization that has a strong focus on the search for extraterrestrial life. The team is focusing on developing the filter to decipher the meaning behind any signals received. Similarly, scientists have studied Antarctica as a way to better understand Mars.

    The scientists believe this is the first exchange between humans and humpback whales, in the “humpback language,” lead author Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis said in a press release detailing the findings.

    “Humpback whales are extremely intelligent, have complex social systems, make tools—nets out of bubbles to catch fish—and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls,” said study co-author Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation.

    Their findings following the conversation were published in the journal Peer J.

    Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute, a co-author of the paper, said in a press release: “Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers. This important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales.”

    The team of researchers, which also included such experts as Josie Hubbard, Lisa Walker, and Jodi Frediani, are looking to publish a second paper shortly.

    This paper will focus on the nonaudio communicative behavior of humpback whales, the press release said. This includes indicators such as bubble rings, which the whales appear to make when near humans.

    Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about humpback whales? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.