Are we alone? Institute searching for alien signals is using a new way to answer that age-old question

Résumé détaillé

Where are all the aliens? We've yet to find life outside of that on Earth, but that doesn't mean scientists aren't looking. In fact, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is going strong, and now the SETI Institute is listening for radio signals in a new way.

In case you didn’t know, the search for life — specifically intelligent life — has been ongoing for decades. But so far, it’s just us.

Astronomers look for life in two ways: searching for biosignatures, evidence of past or current biological processes (think Mars rovers); and technosignatures, evidence of technology created by an intelligent civilization. Looking for the latter primarily involves radio astronomy, not optical, because any activity would be happening too far away for us it see it. Basically, astronomers are listening for something.

One of the organizations at the forefront of that has been the SETI Institute. Since its founding in 1984, it has scanned the sky for radio signals that might be crossing the great cosmos just to say “hello” to us humble earthlings. It’s pointed at star systems with known exoplanets, but so far, no signals from ET have been detected.

But now, scientists at the organization, based out of Mountain View, Calif., have come up with a novel method to look for these signals, incorporating game theory. Not only does this method look at where we should be searching for these signals, but also when.

Game theory is a branch of mathematics that studies interactive decision-making, where there is an interdependence between the two “players” or “agents.” Each player considers the other player’s strategy while not knowing what the other is doing. The winner depends on the collective strategy.

In the case of the SETI Institute, it is using the “Schelling point” of game theory. The example most cited by American economist Thomas Schelling is this: Imagine you’re meeting someone in New York City, but you haven’t communicated a time or place. Both of you might choose to go to Grand Central Terminal at noon, as it’s a common meeting place and a reasonable time.

Now apply that to listening for an alien civilization, and consider the anti-solar point, an imaginary spot on the celestial sphere that is opposite the sun (180 degrees away).

What if there…

T…

Début de l'article, extrait de CBC News. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.