Current Events > Radio signals from deep space being sent out to us

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/mysterious-deep-space-radio-burst-sends-signals-every-157-days/ar-BB15fMXi?ocid=uxbndlbing

Astronomers announced this weekend that they've detected a mysterious fast radio burst coming from a dwarf galaxy three billion light-years away. The burst known as an FRB appears to be transmitting signals that reach Earth in a repeating, 157-day pattern, the group said.

The discovery marks just the second time ever that scientists have identified an FRB that repeats in a pattern. In February, scientists revealed that an object 500 million light-years away appeared to be transmitting signals every 16 days.

FRBs are bursts of radio waves in space that last just a millisecond. Some have been traced back to their home galaxies, but astronomers have yet to figure out what causes them.

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The signals have mystified scientists ever since the first FRB was found in 2007. Some have wondered if FRB's could be a message from aliens and without more research, there's no way to know. Hundreds have been spotted, but only a handful have ever repeated themselves and they appear to come from locations all over the universe.

Theres a lot going on right now but maybe we can squeeze in an alien invasion before the years end.

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iPhone_7 posted...

Theres a lot going on right now but maybe we can squeeze in an alien invasion before the years end.

Even if we assume those were sent by intelligent life, which I wouldn't even doubt, it was sent 3 billion years ago. They're likely long gone.

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Sometimes I think long distance space travel is just too hard for any species to figure out, at least before they die out somehow. Therefore, intelligent species will never find each other. Even if one does find a way, the distance to the next world with intelligent life could be unfathomable even with said long distance travel method.

Part of the reason why I think Earth hasn't been visited by extraterrestrial life.

Itachi157 posted...

Sometimes I think long distance space travel is just too hard for any species to figure out, at least before they die out somehow. Therefore, intelligent species will never find each other. Even if one does find a way, the distance to the next world with intelligent life could be unfathomable even with said long distance travel method.

Distance plus age of the Universe means that even if the Universe was littered with intelligent life, we'd almost never interact.

This is talking about a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away. Between the Milky Way and Andromeda, we're dealing with about 1.5 trillion stars. Even if there was tons of intelligent between these two galaxies, it takes too much time to travel in between stars in the Milky Way, let alone the 2.5 million years to Andromeda.

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GregShmedley posted...

That is so fascinating.

Yeah, tbh, stuff like that is so sobering in how insignificant we truly are. Really helps you cope with the reality on Earth.

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InfinityMonster posted...

Even if we assume those were sent by intelligent life, which I wouldn't even doubt, it was sent 3 billion years ago. They're likely long gone.

I wonder if there is a way to send a signal with a variable that changes with distance traveled, so that the recipient reads "We're coming, we'll be there in [x]" and the date is a week after the message is read.

But I guess since time is a human construct, even if you could do that, it wouldn't matter. One day for us could be twelve years for them. It's really depressing thinking how disconnected we would be, tbh.

BallroomBetch posted...

But I guess since time is a human construct

Er, what? You meant, time measurement is a human construction, right? We inventeded clocks and calendars, but we didn't invent what they measure or track.

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Thompson posted...

Er, what? You meant, time measurement is a human construction, right? We inventeded clocks and calendars, but we didn't invent what they measure or track.

What does a clock measure

BallroomBetch posted...

What does a clock measure

The passing of time?

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BallroomBetch posted...

What does a clock measure

"One second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom."

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You have to imagine that the night sky would look a lot different if, over the last billions of years, civilizations that got their start before us began reconfiguring star systems to suit their ever growing needs for computational power and resources.

If FRBs are a message from another species, maybe it's a dangerous message containing blueprints that cause the recipient world to destroy itself. 2007 matches up pretty well with the advent of the iPhone and the modern era of social media.

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InfinityMonster posted...

Distance plus age of the Universe means that even if the Universe was littered with intelligent life, we'd almost never interact.

This is talking about a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away. Between the Milky Way and Andromeda, we're dealing with about 1.5 trillion stars. Even if there was tons of intelligent between these two galaxies, it takes too much time to travel in between stars in the Milky Way, let alone the 2.5 million years to Andromeda.

This isn't exactly accurate. I mean, it certainly wouldn't happen overnight. But a single civilization could hypothetically colonize a significant portion of its home galaxy within a matter of millions of years. Compared to the age of the universe, that's the blink of an eye. And the effects of the colonization would more than likely be visible to an outside observer long before that.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/294051-scientists-simulate-human-colonization-of-the-milky-way
"JPL found that it took around 90 million years for the teams to occupy large swaths of the Milky Way."

My personal belief when it comes to the Fermi Paradox is the simplest solution. I think we might just be the first. I also think we probably won't be the last.

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InfinityMonster posted...

Even if we assume those were sent by intelligent life, which I wouldn't even doubt, it was sent 3 billion years ago. They're likely long gone.

Imagine if those signals were a distress call. Maybe something was happening to their planet and they just threw up a last chance for help and we're just now getting those messages.

There's no evidence at all these are extraterrestrial in origin.

RustyFerret posted...

There's no evidence at all these are extraterrestrial in origin.

are you saying they come from earth

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iPhone_7 posted...

Theres a lot going on right now but maybe we can squeeze in an alien invasion before the years end.

How about not an invasion and more like a visit. They come down....say whats up dudes we exist. Then they leave

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The Trent posted...

are you saying they come from earth

I'm saying objects in space can cause radio waves, like stars.

157-day pattern could be just some orbit cycle of a planet or star that periodically cover/uncovers a natural radio emission from another star.
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RustyFerret posted...

There's no evidence at all these are extraterrestrial in origin.

That fact that the signals are coming from space is proof that they are extraterrestrial.

Terrestrial = of earth
Extraterrestrial = not of earth

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iPhone_7 posted...

Theres a lot going on right now but maybe we can squeeze in an alien invasion before the years end.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

That fact that the signals are coming from space is proof that they are extraterrestrial.

Terrestrial = of earth
Extraterrestrial = not of earth

I obviously meant aliens because that's what everybody in this thread is jumping to.

RustyFerret posted...

I'm saying objects in space can cause radio waves, like stars.

Yes, they do. But we currently have no idea what could cause these immensely high power radio bursts.

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I just finished reading 2001 A Space Odyssey for like the fiftieth time so this is pretty cool to read

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burns112233 posted...

Imagine if those signals were a distress call. Maybe something was happening to their planet and they just threw up a last chance for help and we're just now getting those messages.

Hopefully some planets closer to them got the message first

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mrgoatthief posted...

What if our ancestors sent them out before Atlantis sank, they hit a giant alien mirror, and came back to us now?

Most likely scenario.

mrgoatthief posted...

What if our ancestors sent them out before Atlantis sank, they hit a giant alien mirror, and came back to us now?

What if that, but it never bounced. We have moved through space since then, and we are picking it up on the other end?
Of course, that would mean that we moved faster than the signal, so what I just said doesn't make a lot of sense...
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They have been translated.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww

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rivers posted...

You have to imagine that the night sky would look a lot different if, over the last billions of years, civilizations that got their start before us began reconfiguring star systems to suit their ever growing needs for computational power and resources.

If FRBs are a message from another species, maybe it's a dangerous message containing blueprints that cause the recipient world to destroy itself. 2007 matches up pretty well with the advent of the iPhone and the modern era of social media.

One minute you're jamming out to some timberland, and maybe some akon

The next minute its all over
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tag
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVlnER8SxfQ

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What if it's a response to The Bloop?

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It's never aliens.
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So are there repeating segments with it the 157 day period or does it not repeat whatsoever within that timeframe?

If so, are any of those repeated segments able to be set up as a mathematical formula?

...though I suppose we would need to be able to format at least some base for the number system.

Hey math goons, is there some way to set up a baseline for a non-base ten number system, or would we have to resort to basic or something?

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RustyFerret posted...

There's no evidence at all these are extraterrestrial in origin.

^That time you try to use a big word and just completely blow it.

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How deep we talkin bby?

InfinityMonster posted...

Even if we assume those were sent by intelligent life, which I wouldn't even doubt, it was sent 3 billion years ago. They're likely long gone.

That's pretty fucking trippy.

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LeperMessiahXX posted...

That's pretty fucking trippy.

Now imagine billions of years from now some alien civilization picks up our signals and we're long gone.

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if it's coming from 500 million light years away, the signal was sent 500 million years ago, if it was sent by anyone

InfinityMonster posted...

Even if we assume those were sent by intelligent life, which I wouldn't even doubt, it was sent 3 billion years ago. They're likely long gone.

Just think right now someone chilling in a spaceship by pluto is catching the premier episode of I Love Lucy.

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We've spent a lot of time trying to find life on other planets, it's just crazy to think about the possibility that the only time we make any sort of a real contact is millions of years after we're all dead.

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

What if it's a response to The Bloop?

Shub n****rath wants to know your location

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