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Strange messages coming from the stars are probably from aliens, scientists say (independent.co.uk)
15 points by zenbob on Oct 25, 2016 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments


I could not glean from the arxiv paper how far away these anomalous stars were from Earth.

Assuming c is a hard limit, the ETI would have to be roughly 50 LY away to catch our first signals and send a beacon signal.

If instead they observed Earth as a possible life-bearing planet, which could have been made thousands or millions of years ago, then disregard above paragraph.

Or maybe they are just generating signals in more than one direction.

Or maybe our interpretation of the anomalies needs adjustment.


It would be a fun project to set up a genetic algorithm to solve for the object(s) and star.

We have: a star, an object, a signal, knowledge of the physics involved.

Set the GA to change the star and object consistencies and goal match the signal to the true signal received.

If it works you will have changed the use of computing in astronomy.


Anyone got a better source with more info on what they're talking about?


There's the unpublished paper.

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1610/1610.03031.pdf

But to say "‘probably’ from aliens, scientists say"

Either they or the reporter are idiots.


http://www.universetoday.com/131557/either-stars-strange-234...

"The Breakthrough team don’t seem that excited about Borra’s findings. They’ve already poured cold water on it, trotting out the old axiom that “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” in a statement on Borra’s paper. They also give Borra’s findings a score of 0 to 1 on the Rio Scale. The Rio Scale is something used by the international SETI community to rank detections of phenomena that could indicate advanced life beyond Earth. A rating of 0 to 1 means its insignificant.

Better reign in the headline writers."




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