The radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, along with Jordall Bank in the UK have been searching for such signals as part of the Phoenix Project for the past ten years. The scientists looked at each and every one of the 800 stars closest to us but found no evidence of a radio signal from ET
The Arecibo radio telescope scanned the sky for ET. Right: Peter Backus, director of the Phoenix project
Astronomers have recently completed one of the most sensitive searches for radio signals from intelligent civilizations in space. They believe that the best way to find ET is to look for radio signals capable of traveling enormous distances.
The radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, along with Jordall Bank in the UK have been searching for such signals for the past ten years. The scientists examined each and every one of the 800 nearest stars to us but found no evidence of a radio signal from ET. They say they learned a lot, and they are planning more searches next year.
The last star examined by the Phoenix Project - the most comprehensive study of intelligent life in space ever carried out - is HD 169882, a fairly average star located 88 light years from here. The result is that no signals have been detected indicating that the contacts are of artificial origin from one of his planets, at least not while he was being listened to. So if there are any aliens on a planet orbiting the star they may not be interested in signaling, or are doing so in a way we can't detect.
The conclusion - we are in a quiet neighborhood.
Project Phoenix is so named because it arose from the ashes of a NASA initiative to search for intelligent life in space that lasted one year and was canceled by a special act of Congress in 1993.
Despite the disappointing results, the scientists involved are determined to continue the search. "When the liquidation order came from Washington, most of the equipment was already on the laboratory benches. We faced three challenges: get private funding, force NASA to lend us the equipment and start working." Peter Backus, director of the Phoenix Project told the BBC.
After the initial turmoil, the scientists running the Prokit managed to obtain an Extraterrestrial Intelligent (Eti) search system and they used it at the Perks Radio Observatory in Australia in February 1995, just one month after NASA's original plan.
Most of the Phoenix search was carried out with the largest radio telescope in the world - a 330 meter diameter dish in Arecibo, which took advantage of the natural topology of the mountains of Puerto Rico.
"Over the years we have listened to 800 stars at over a billion radio frequencies with high sensitivity" says Backos. No other study has covered so many frequencies or achieved this sensitivity. It was the only search that could detect ET transmissions with the power of our military radars.
One of the problems with searching for AI signals in space is that signals from Earth can interfere, so scientists must find a reliable way to distinguish terrestrial interference from extraterrestrial transmissions. Therefore, a program of "real-time extraterrestrial monitoring" was developed in Phoenix using a second radio telescope to detect whether suspicious signals really came from space."
No suspicious signal managed to survive the test, but astronomers do not walk around with a broken heart. They know that ET can show up tomorrow, in a thousand years or never. They say that a search with results can be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time and it is worth the effort.
"We learned a lot about the search for ETI, we will carry these lessons and the search system with us to our new telescope array: Allen Telescope Array (ATA)." said Bacchus
"Later this year we will use the ATA with 32 small plates, as the array expands, we will start a focused search involving several hundreds of thousands of stars. Looking back on the last ten years, I am very proud of what we have achieved - the most comprehensive and sensitive search of our galactic neighborhood. The conclusion - we live in a quiet neighborhood." Bacchus concluded.
Zvi Yanai chose to summarize an article in YNET from 15/3/04 that dealt with the discovery of a workshop, specifically referring to the Phoenix project:
"As for me, if I were asked to rank the astronomical news of 2004 in order of importance, I would not put Sedna in first place, but the end of the "Phoenix" project, which began ten years ago with the aim of discovering signs of intelligent life in 700 similar solar systems to ours, in a radius of 150 million light years from us. The "Phoenix" project ended in complete wireless silence. If there are intelligent beings in our galaxy they are not waiting for us around the corner. We were left alone. With the little prince."
For Zvi Yanai's article on YNET
For news at the BBC
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Haim:
I also think that extraterrestrials have not visited us, but I am sure that the probability calculations you made are completely wrong because we lack the knowledge that allows us to make such calculations.
By the way: there are actually pickles.
Theoretically from a scientific point of view, it's all gibberish. Because of the distances in space, it is not biologically possible to travel great distances. Statistically speaking, in the entire cosmos at a distance of up to 13.7 billion light years, there can be no more than 3 to 8 beings similar to us. Any life that is at the level of germs to jellyfish the chance is about one hundred million. I did a calculation.
The chance of receiving radio signals is smaller. Calculation of the energy needed for such communication is unrealistic even on a cosmic scale. The world will not find radio signals and everyone who invests money in the venture, simply throws away their money.
So please, all the "scientists" stop talking nonsense. There are no extraterrestrials and no pickles.