Repeating signal from space.

[Phyrebrat]

I thought this might be of interest to you super-nerds. I won’t have an opinion about this till @Venusian Broon tells me what to think.


Mysterious radio signal from space is repeating every 16 days

pH

 

[mosaix]

Fascinating.

 

[Matteo]

Thank you earthling. So that's where I left my phone.

Been looking everywhere for it!

 

[JJ Maier]

I only recently learned of the existence of FRB's (Fast Radio Bursts) from a documentary and then BOOM within days it was headline news.

The scientist from the documentary was actually discussing the fact that they are so few and far between and they hadn't been able to detect any patterns as of yet. Or even properly pin point locations.

I was impressed, and perhaps my facts are wrong, to find that we could actually mimic such intense energy bursts ourselves. That begs the question then: is this some form of communication or merely a shadow of a natural process?

Edit: A few quick google searches informed me that I am years behind the times. But my imagination would still like to entertain the idea we're evesdropping on aliens.

 

[Parson]

Interesting. I'm sure a reasonable hypothesis is just around the corner. Until then I'm considering how we will say "Hi, how are you?"

 

[Venusian Broon]

Sorry no, not alien. If it was beating out the first 100 primes with spaces then that be a signal, or some other weird and wacky tattoo.

But this is something that appears to have a regular period. Lots of natural things in the universe have such periodicity (we're on the surface of one ). Or such as neutron stars in orbit around other bodies, as the article suggests as a possible avenue for explanation

The mystery is that we don't have a hypothesis on what sort of system might produce such phenomena. It doesn't help that we haven't found that many of them, so really data is a bit lacking on them.

Reminds me very much of when the first pulsars were found.

Plus if we exhaust all hypothesis of what it is as a natural signal (pretty sure we won't) and we start to think that it is alien...half a billion light years away. That's a tad distant

 

[Elckerlyc]

...and we start to think that it is alien...half a billion light years away. That's a tad distant

It's no use replying. By now they're likely to have forgotten about sending that signal.

 

[Venusian Broon]

It's no use replying. By now they're likely to have forgotten about sending that signal.

Such is the dynamics of inter-galactic signalling! Original signal might be forgottten, the beings who sent it evolved into something else or just plain extinct.

If we sent a signal to something half a billion light years away what would be here on Earth when the signal arrived? By some models of the sun's ageing and solar system dynamics, the Earth could be uninhabitable to any life - perhaps some bacteria deep in the crust of the planet.

 

[JJ Maier]

Sorry no, not alien.

Aww bummer. Still increadibly interesting though! I'm curious to find out what the definitive answer is.

Original signal might be forgottten, the beings who sent it evolved into something else or just plain extinct.

I will take 'long dead civilization' for 500 please.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Aww bummer. Still increadibly interesting though! I'm curious to find out what the definitive answer is.

I must point out, I am no expert on such matters! Just my opinion on the data we have on them. (And as the old saying goes, opinions are just like arseholes, everyone has one. )

Like you I would love to see more evidence on what they might be. I have vague memories that they must be incredibly powerful, hence the speculation that black holes/pulsars/neutron stars/supernovas etc. being the main power source interacting in some strange manner/geometry with something else.

When I was looking for an energetic value I found this quote on them (from Fast Radio Bursts - Dunlap Institute):

"Because they appear randomly over the sky and because of the relatively narrow field of view of most radio telescopes, only a couple of dozen have been observed since the initial discovery. The task of spotting them is akin to spotting fireflies in a dark forest while looking through a drinking straw."

 

[JJ Maier]

I must point out, I am no expert on such matters! Just my opinion on the data we have on them. (And as the old saying goes, opinions are just like arseholes, everyone has one. )

Well, your opinion sounds more well informed then mine.

"Because they appear randomly over the sky and because of the relatively narrow field of view of most radio telescopes, only a couple of dozen have been observed since the initial discovery. The task of spotting them is akin to spotting fireflies in a dark forest while looking through a drinking straw."

How poetic!


On a silly side note 'magnetars' certainly sound like they should be a conscious entity of some sort. Beware the rise of the Magnetars!

perhaps FRB's are star speech.

 

[Starbeast]

I thought this might be of interest to you super-nerds.

*runs in. trips. gets an ow-wee* "Drat. No intelligent life any where but here. Mostly intelligent. Mostly."

 

[Danny McG]

I think we should fortify and tool up.
They gonna be here soon and we gotta make sure we kill them first.

 

[Triceratops]

We sure keep picking up some strange things in space, even lately. I just hope we pick up any mass asteroid or meteor headed our way...in time to do something about it.