Run for the hills, we're not alone!
Well, that's a slight exaggeration. Okay, it's a huge exaggeration — but something interesting did come out of Canada today regarding unusual space phenomena and the possibility for extraterrestrial intelligent life. A paper was published in the British scientific journal Nature by a group of Canadian researchers presenting their discovery of 13 fast radio bursts (FRBs) coming from deep space — one of which was a "repeater."
What Does This Mean?
The broad and fantastical thinkers among us might take this to mean that there is intelligent life out there. After all, a repeating radio signal from the same point in space is not a common occurrence. Hell, according to CTV News' coverage of the story, it has only happened once before — and that one only repeated itself once. One of the FRBs from the Canadian discovery repeated itself six times in a two-month period.
Could this be evidence of space creatures listening to their equivalence of Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh or the best of the 80s, 90s, and today?
Sure, that possibility is always open. However, it is more likely that it is just the residual effects of an astrophysical occurrence — black holes and supernovas, for example.
How Were These Space Radio Signals Detected?
The discovery of the 13 FRBs came by way of the The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope located in British Columbia.
What is impressive, from my point of view, is that the CHIME project is just getting underway. Yes, this discovery came when CHIME was barely getting into gear. Think of it as discovering something truly awesome while you were barely warming up your car.
Once CHIME is in operation 24/7 365 days of the year, it is quite possible that more FRBs will be discovered and that greater light will be shed on how they originate.
In the mean time, don't hold your breath hoping to tune in to space signals which will reward the third caller with front row tickets to the Start Wars Cantina Band concert on some far flung planet. Rather, keep an open mind. Whatever the origin of FRBs may be, it is certain to be amazing.
One Conspiratorial Side Note
Any reporting on the slightest possibility of intelligent life in space would never be complete if one did not add a slight twist. You know, an ancillary occurrence that would have made the late Art Bell hard as a rock.
On the same day that the Canadian FRB findings were published, former U.S. Senator, Harry Reid, did this...
Tah-dah-dum!
image attribution:
(1) Pixabay under Pixabay free for commercial use license
(2) Screenshot from Twitter post @thehill
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