Repeated signals from the center of the Milky Way could be aliens saying hello, new study claims

An illustration of a metallic, orblike alien craft blasting twin beams of blue light into space
A hypothetical alien craft transmits radio signals into space. Scientists are on the hunt for signals like these. (Image credit: Breakthrough Listen / Danielle Futselaar)

Could intelligent aliens be lurking at the heart of the Milky Way

A new search for extraterrestrial life aims to find out by listening for radio pulses from the center of our galaxy. Narrow-frequency pulses are naturally emitted by stars called pulsars, but they're also used deliberately by humans in technology such as radar. Because these pulses stand out against the background radio noise of space, they're an effective way of communicating across long distances — and an appealing target to listen for when searching for alien civilizations. 

Scientists described the alien-hunting strategy in a new study, published May 30 in The Astronomical Journal. Researchers led by Cornell University graduate student Akshay Suresh developed software to detect these repetitive frequency patterns and tested it on known pulsars to be sure it could pick up the narrow frequencies. These frequency ranges are very small, at about a tenth of the width of frequencies used by a typical FM radio station. The researchers then searched data from the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia using the method. 

Related: Are aliens real?

"Until now, radio SETI has primarily dedicated its efforts to the search for continuous signals," study coauthor Vishal Gajjar of the SETI Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the search for intelligent life in the universe, said in a statement. "Our study sheds light on the remarkable energy efficiency of a train of pulses as a means of interstellar communication across vast distances. Notably, this study marks the first-ever comprehensive endeavor to conduct in-depth searches for these signals."

The researchers are listening in to the middle of the Milky Way because it is dense with stars and potentially habitable exoplanets. What's more, if intelligent aliens at the core of the Milky Way wanted to reach out to the rest of the galaxy, they could send signals sweeping across a wide array of planets, given their privileged position at the center of the galaxy. Using narrow bandwidths and repeated patterns would be a prime way for aliens to reveal themselves, as such a combination is extremely unlikely to occur naturally, study co-author Steve Croft, a project scientist with the Breakthrough Listen program, said in a separate statement

The method uses an algorithm that can search through 1.5 million telescope data samples in 30 minutes. Though researchers did not find any telltale signs in their first search, they say that the speed of the algorithm will help improve searches in the future.  

"Breakthrough Listen captures huge volumes of data, and Akshay’s technique provides a new method to help us search that haystack for needles that could provide tantalizing evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life forms," Croft said. 

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

  • 7%solution
    Still not sure if advertising our existence and location is such a good idea. We know from SciFi movies that there are bad aliens out there. If we can imagine them, they probably exist. Isn't it enough we know zero about the observed UAP's crowding our skies? Do we really need to lure in more technologically superior creatures from outer space? Let's just focus on advancing us to a technologically superior civilization so other civilized alien worlds have to worry about us. If some outer space civilization has the means to visit us, we would almost certainly be toast.
    Reply
  • tomarnall
    In order for a signal to be identified as an attempt to communicate, it must have a pulse which is irregular just as a telegraph message has an irregular pulse, i.e., one of long and short pulses. Where does the article speak to this issue?
    Reply
  • Giovani
    Careful, that is too rational for those responsible for announcing our existence.
    I've been harping on this for years. The late great Carl Sagan and associates thought in their superior mindsets that a proper roadmap including human genetic makeup and precise directions to earth was a sane thing to do. Advanced stupidity.
    Sagan was entertaining but lethally naive, as was the team who planned with him to advertise our place in the cosmos. Now if they really believed in extraterrestrial life and the imperfect state of creation, especially us, they wouldn't have done this. In other words, these types of "scientists" are supremely dangerous, not deserving the respect they garnish.
    The objects and other discoveries are in most cases light years away and indeed, have long ago existed and are in themselves little relevant. Humans live in the moment, and these discoveries are considered by many to be in real time.
    They happened millions of years before humanity existed. Attention should be paid to the energies close to earth knowing how precarious knowledge of the things which can affect us can be fatal for our species.
    Reply
  • outlander
    admin said:
    A new search for extraterrestrial life has scientists looking inward — toward the center of our galaxy.

    Repeated signals from the center of the Milky Way could be aliens saying hello, new study claims : Read more
    we are still caveman compared to those far ahead of us , we wouldn't have a chance in a fight if we had to mix it up with them. don't reply just yet.
    Reply
  • Stephan Gunther
    7%solution said:
    Still not sure if advertising our existence and location is such a good idea. We know from SciFi movies that there are bad aliens out there. If we can imagine them, they probably exist. Isn't it enough we know zero about the observed UAP's crowding our skies? Do we really need to lure in more technologically superior creatures from outer space? Let's just focus on advancing us to a technologically superior civilization so other civilized alien worlds have to worry about us. If some outer space civilization has the means to visit us, we would almost certainly be toast.
    Did you read the article ? Breakthrough Listen created an algorithm to listen for aliens broadcasting their existence and are aiming it at the galactic center. It isn't a transmitter. Also, there is 0 evidence that any uap = aliens.
    Reply
  • Bluetailedfly
    THis is all rubbish In 1947 a yet unexplained event occurred at Rosswell and a young alien escaped the crash. The aliens who sent that ship are now concerned that the child alien may now be grown and want to go home. That alien child is now Joe Biden and they want him back. Tell them he is here and ready for return Tell them the rest of the White House Aliens want to go with him so send a big ship that can accommodate the entire Democrat Party.
    Reply
  • Bonzadog
    7%solution said:
    Still not sure if advertising our existence and location is such a good idea. We know from SciFi movies that there are bad aliens out there. If we can imagine them, they probably exist. Isn't it enough we know zero about the observed UAP's crowding our skies? Do we really need to lure in more technologically superior creatures from outer space? Let's just focus on advancing us to a technologically superior civilization so other civilized alien worlds have to worry about us. If some outer space civilization has the means to visit us, we would almost certainly be toast.
    Bluetailedfly said:
    THis is all rubbish In 1947 a yet unexplained event occurred at Rosswell and a young alien escaped the crash. The aliens who sent that ship are now concerned that the child alien may now be grown and want to go home. That alien child is now Joe Biden and they want him back. Tell them he is here and ready for return Tell them the rest of the White House Aliens want to go with him so send a big ship that can accommodate the entire Democrat Party.
    It is not the Democratic Party that need to be exiled, it is the republicans with Trump lying and deliberate misinformation that needs to be removed. 37 Republican Senators actually believe the crap QAON is putting out...this clearly shows the reduced level of the Republicans.^ QED.
    Reply
  • 7%solution
    Stephan Gunther said:
    Did you read the article ? Breakthrough Listen created an algorithm to listen for aliens broadcasting their existence and are aiming it at the galactic center. It isn't a transmitter. Also, there is 0 evidence that any uap = aliens.
    The aliens we could find with our technology are no more advanced than us. If we have to communicate via a medium that takes lightyears years to reach the target audience, then we're dealing with a civilization as incapable as we are. What good would that do? It is a much better strategy to advance our capabilities to the point where we could be equal to an advanced alien civilization, before we try to reach out to any of them. If there is such a thing, they're ignoring us because to them we're like helpless infants.
    Reply
  • Bonzadog
    outlander said:
    we are still caveman compared to those far ahead of us , we wouldn't have a chance in a fight if we had to mix it up with them. don't reply just yet.
    We have no idea what is out there. This is pure speculation and not fact based.
    Reply
  • 7%solution
    tomarnall said:
    In order for a signal to be identified as an attempt to communicate, it must have a pulse which is irregular just as a telegraph message has an irregular pulse, i.e., one of long and short pulses. Where does the article speak to this issue?
    In our limited imagination we assume that the only way to communicate is the way we know it. If there are alien civilizations overcoming distances measured in lightyears within an earthly lifetime, they'd possess communication skills that are vastly faster than what we're capable of. Earthlings make the same mistakes when we imagine catching up to an alien civilization. We assume that they're as technologically limited as we are. That's a paradox to our own presumption. We expect an alien civilization to be more advanced than us, but at the same time, we impose our technological limitations on them. If that were the case, they wouldn't be
    Bonzadog said:
    We have no idea what is out there. This is pure speculation and not fact based.

    advanced. It's a fact that we're technologically advanced over the founders of the US. Do you think they could imagine that we would fly people into earth's orbit, use space based telescopes, and watch whatever content we wish on a flat screen at home? That's only about 250 years' worth technological advancement. Imagine what a few 1000 years of technological advancement at the current increasing pace could do for us. That could mean you wouldn't be able to recognize the world around you if you were teleported 100 years into the future. Our technology may be advanced from our linear perspective looking into the past. The relevant question is, how much more could we advance if progress continues at the same pattern into the future? It's worth thinking about that, because somewhere in there is the advanced alien civilization we expect to make contact with.
    Bonzadog said:
    We have no idea what is out there. This is pure speculation and not fact based.
    The fact no alien advanced civilization contacted us could be proof they exist. If there were such a civilization, they wouldn't just be observing us, they'd be observing other emerging civilizations and compare them to each other. If you were one of these aliens, what kind of civilization would you first contact? One you could learn from, or one that wants to learn from you?
    Reply