If China Can't Detect Aliens, Who Can?

 

Today, the search continues in earnest, with programs such as SETI and other research projects working to detect radio signals or any evidence of extraterrestrial life among the stars. But recently, China announced it was joining this pursuit, announcing plans to establish an alien hunting observatory equipped with technology capable of detecting signals from potentially intelligent aliens across the Milky Way galaxy.

 

What is FAST

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) has a diameter of nearly half a kilometer (more than half a football field), making it almost twice as wide as Arecibo Observatory and 4 times bigger than Puerto Rico's Puerto Rican Trench. The dish comprises 4,450 triangular panels and took five years to complete.

 

Why FAST Hasn’t Detected Aliens Yet

There are a few reasons why FAST might not be detecting aliens just yet: for one thing, it’s fairly new. It’s also located in a remote part of Western China; it’s quite possible that there aren’t any aliens around. Or maybe there are, and they're really, really quiet! We just don’t know yet.

 

Other Necessary Elements

According to scientists’ calculations, there are more than 300 billion planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. That’s more planets than stars! Suppose even one percent of those planets have developed some form of intelligent life capable of communicating with other species. That means there could be at least 3 trillion alien civilizations in our galaxy alone.

 

Where to Look Next

Fermi estimates that as many as 10,000 advanced civilizations could exist in our galaxy alone. This means we’re likely to find extraterrestrial life eventually; even if another civilization hasn’t yet spotted us, there will be plenty of other habitable planets within their range to notice them (particularly since a spacefaring civilization would presumably want to go planet-hopping). So, where should we start looking next?

 

UFOs are still out there.

Last year, experts announced that China’s FAST telescope had mysteriously stopped looking for intelligent life in deep space for unexplained reasons. Was it alien hunters from Beijing who were tired of watching reruns of The X-Files late at night? Probably not. But thousands of stars still have yet to be analyzed, which means we can still hope aliens are out there somewhere... just maybe not in outer space. Here’s why we think so

 

What If They Aren’t Aliens?

As fast as our telescopes can detect new planets beyond our solar system (known as exoplanets), we’re learning that there are more out there than we previously imagined. In fact, new research suggests that there may be billions of Earth-like planets in just our galaxy alone. For many scientists—including a recent study from MIT—this is reason enough to look for signs of life in these distant worlds.

 

Conclusion

Will aliens be detected by scientists in China, a land known for its unique innovations and inventions that have benefited mankind for hundreds of years? Not likely. But does that mean we should altogether rule out alien life forms in our solar system or universe? I don’t think so. We’ve only scratched the surface of space research, and many parts of our planet and our galaxy are yet to be explored. The search for alien life is ongoing.

 

Chinese researchers say they may have detected unusual signals from outer space but aren’t sure what to make of them yet.

 

What are the chances of intelligent life existing in the universe?

The chances of intelligent life on other planets are higher than we previously thought. In fact, there could be up to two trillion planets hosting alien life in our galaxy alone. This is due to a new study from scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) who suggest that 10% of all sun-like stars in our galaxy have Earth-sized planets orbiting them.

 

How is our search for extraterrestrial life going so far?

The search for extraterrestrial life, or SETI (short for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), has been going on since just after World War II. Since then, we’ve used radio telescopes to listen in on space and try to figure out if there are other intelligent beings out there somewhere besides us. Although no such alien signals have been detected yet, that doesn’t mean we’ll never find anything—it just means we may need a much bigger telescope.

 

Where will we find evidence of intelligent alien life, if at all?

Is our sun unique in its ability to support life, or do other systems host planets capable of holding human-like civilizations? Answering that question requires finding planets like Earth, but astronomers have found only a handful so far. But if we want to look for other signs of intelligent life beyond Earth’s solar system—signs that may not require us to find another planet similar to our own—where can we look? Scientists are beginning to compile a list of places where extraterrestrial life might be found.

 

Any possibility that we are alone in this vast universe?

Whether or not you believe in aliens, it’s an interesting topic to consider. Growing up watching Star Trek and The X-Files (when I was supposed to be doing my homework), it feels like we are just a few years away from discovering that we aren’t alone in our solar system...and maybe even our galaxy. Recent news that NASA has discovered Earth-like planets around other stars makes me think that sooner is better than later!

 

The search for Extraterrestrial life just got a little more interesting. China’s military might have received some kind of message from outer space, and it has some top scientists in the country freaking out. Is this the work of aliens? Or just another case of someone playing with their radio dial? You can find out all the details here.

 

The Background

China just released an official statement regarding some highly unusual signals detected from deep space. The news is causing quite a stir online because most of us believe extraterrestrial life is out there somewhere, but few of us expect to find it anytime soon.

 

The Search

While speaking to reporters at an event earlier today, Zhang Shouguo, currently with China’s National Astronomical Observatories, revealed that China might have gotten signals from outer space recently. We are working hard to analyze more data. We want to discover phenomena from outer space, including intelligent life forms... The implications of discovering life outside of our solar system would be huge! He said.

 

The Pause

CNN News reports that China might have received messages, or even calls, from aliens. According to reports, the news comes after Chinese scientists picked up unusual signals in an array of over 1,200 antennas designed to hunt for electromagnetic waves emitted by extraterrestrial intelligence. Some people say that if these signals did come from aliens, then Earth is probably doomed because we have been contacted but haven’t responded.

 

The Response

Why would aliens want to contact China? With its population of over 1.4 billion people, it makes sense that extraterrestrials would be interested in making contact with Earth's most populous country. What do you think? Are we being watched by life on other planets? And if so, should we respond? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

 

The Future

The Chinese government might have received messages from outer space, prompting some to think aliens might exist. While we don’t know yet whether or not these claims are true, one thing is for sure: if they are—we need to find them! We shouldn’t be alone in our universe, which could mean that someone more advanced than us has technology that could help us advance faster. This is why more funding should go towards SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) research.