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19-04-2025 om 18:23 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE:  Mysterious Mars structures 'prove there was life on the Red Planet'

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

A distant ocean-covered world, teeming with life.

That's the most likely explanation for a new discovery made by scientists, who say they have detected the most promising signs yet of life outside our solar system.

Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have identified huge quantities of chemicals only made by living organisms on Earth.

They have picked up the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) – molecules that are primarily produced by microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.

They have been detected in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, which is located around 124 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Leo.

It is the 'strongest hint yet' of biological activity outside our solar system, with experts hailing the 'huge, transformational moment'. 

The planet is orbiting a red dwarf star in what is known as the 'habitable zone' – considered the most promising location to find life-supporting planets.

K2-18b is 2.6 times larger and 8.6 times as massive than Earth, and experts believe it is likely covered in an ocean – making it what they call a 'Hycean world'.

 

An illustration of a Hycean world, which experts believe K2-18b could be, orbiting its red dwarf star

On Earth, DMS and DMDS are only produced by living organisms - mostly microbial life such as marine phytoplankton (like the ones pictured)

The planet's temperature is similar to Earth's but it is orbiting so close to its star that a year there lasts just 33 days. 

Earlier observations identified methane and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere – the first time that carbon-based molecules had been discovered on an exoplanet in the habitable zone.

Now, analysis of new data has unearthed the compounds which – as far as scientists are aware – are only produced by living organisms.

The concentrations of DMS and DMDS in K2-18b's atmosphere are very different than on Earth, where they are generally below one part per billion by volume.

On K2-18b, they are estimated to be thousands of times stronger - over 10 parts per million.

Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, from Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, led the research.

'Earlier theoretical work had predicted that high levels of sulfur-based gases like DMS and DMDS are possible on Hycean worlds,' he said.

'And now we've observed it, in line with what was predicted.

K2-18b is thought to be a 'Hycean' world (depicted) - a class of exoplanet possessing key ingredients for alien species because of their hydrogen-rich atmospheres and oceans of water

Artist's impression of K2-18b with its potentially vast oceans which could be 'teeming with life' 

'Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have.' 

He said that while the results are exciting, it's vital to obtain more data before claiming that life has been found on another world.

And while he is cautiously optimistic, there could be previously unknown chemical processes at work on K2-18b that may account for the findings.

Further observations from the JWST are needed to help confirm their results are not due to chance.

His team are also hoping to conduct further experiments to determine whether DMS and DMDS can be produced non-biologically at the level currently detected.

'Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognise it was when the living universe came within reach,' Professor Madhusudhan said.

'This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe is one we're capable of answering.'

To determine the chemical composition of the atmospheres of faraway planets, astronomers analyse the light from its parent star as the planet transits, or passes in front of the star.

Further observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (pictured) could confirm the presence of DMS in the planet's atmosphere 

Planet K2-18b: Key facts 

As K2-18b transits, JWST can detect a drop in stellar brightness, and a tiny fraction of starlight passes through the planet's atmosphere before reaching Earth. 

The absorption of some of the starlight in the planet's atmosphere leaves imprints in the stellar spectrum that astronomers can piece together to determine the constituent gases of the exoplanet's atmosphere.

Last year, JWST detected weak hints of 'something else happening' on K2-18b alongside the discovery of methane and carbon dioxide.

'We didn't know for sure whether the signal we saw last time was due to DMS, but just the hint of it was exciting enough for us to have another look with JWST using a different instrument,' Professor Madhusudhan explained.

The earlier, tentative, inference of DMS was made using JWST's NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instruments, which together cover the near-infrared (0.8-5 micron) range of wavelengths.

The new, independent observation used JWST's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) in the mid-infrared (6-12 micron) range.

'This is an independent line of evidence, using a different instrument than we did before and a different wavelength range of light, where there is no overlap with the previous observations,' Professor Madhusudhan said.

'The signal came through strong and clear.'

To determine the chemical composition of the atmospheres of faraway planets, astronomers analyse the light from its parent star as the planet or passes in front of it (pictured is an artist's impression of K2-18b)

Co-author Måns Holmberg, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA, added: 'It was an incredible realisation seeing the results emerge and remain consistent throughout the extensive independent analyses and robustness tests.' 

DMS and DMDS are molecules from the same chemical family, and both are predicted to be biosignatures.

Both molecules have overlapping spectral features in the observed wavelength range, although further observations will help differentiate between the two molecules.

'Our work is the starting point for all the investigations that are now needed to confirm and understand the implications of these exciting findings,' said co-author Savvas Constantinou, also from Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy.

The team say their observations have reached the 'three-sigma' level of statistical significance – meaning there is a 0.3 per cent probability that they occurred by chance. 

To reach the accepted classification for scientific discovery, the observations would have to cross the five-sigma threshold, meaning there would be below a 0.00006 per cent probability they occurred by chance.

They said between 16 and 24 hours of follow-up observation time with JWST may help them reach the all-important five-sigma significance.

The discovery was published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Last month, scientists announced that organic molecules of 'unprecedented size' had been discovered on Mars, adding further evidence that life may once have existed on the Red Planet.

Experts found long carbon chains, containing up to 12 consecutive atoms, in samples of Martian rock which date back billions of years.

These organic molecules – the longest identified so far – could originate from fatty acids, which are the building blocks of fats and oils and are created on Earth through biological activity.

And scientists said the discovery is of 'high interest' in the search for potential signs of life.

KEY DISCOVERIES IN HUMANITY'S SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE

Discovery of pulsars

British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was the first person to discover a pulsar in 1967 when she spotted a radio pulsar.

Since then other types of pulsars that emit X-rays and gamma rays have also been spotted.

Pulsars are essentially rotating, highly magnetised neutron stars but when they were first discovered it was believed they could have come from aliens.

'Wow!' radio signal

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the night sky above Ohio spotted a radio signal so powerful that he excitedly wrote 'Wow!' next to his data.

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the night sky above Ohio spotted a radio signal so powerful that he excitedly wrote 'Wow!' next to his data

The 72-second blast, spotted by Dr Jerry Ehman through a radio telescope, came from Sagittarius but matched no known celestial object.

Conspiracy theorists have since claimed that the 'Wow! signal', which was 30 times stronger than background radiation, was a message from intelligent extraterrestrials.

Fossilised Martian microbes

In 1996 Nasa and the White House made the explosive announcement that the rock contained traces of Martian bugs.

The meteorite, catalogued as Allen Hills (ALH) 84001, crashed onto the frozen wastes of Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984. 

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike.

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike (pictured)

However, the excitement did not last long. Other scientists questioned whether the meteorite samples were contaminated. 

They also argued that heat generated when the rock was blasted into space may have created mineral structures that could be mistaken for microfossils. 

Behaviour of Tabby's Star in 2005 

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astronomers since being discovered in 2015.

It dims at a much faster rate than other stars, which some experts have suggested is a sign of aliens harnessing the energy of a star.

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astonomers since being discovered in 2015 (artist's impression)

Recent studies have 'eliminated the possibility of an alien megastructure', and instead, suggests that a ring of dust could be causing the strange signals.

Exoplanets in the Goldilocks zone in 2017 

In February 2017 astronomers announced they had spotted a star system with planets that could support life just 39 light years away.

Seven Earth-like planets were discovered orbiting nearby dwarf star 'Trappist-1', and all of them could have water at their surface, one of the key components of life.

Three of the planets have such good conditions, that scientists say life may have already evolved on them. 

Researchers claim that they will know whether or not there is life on any of the planets within a decade, and said: 'This is just the beginning.' 

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19-04-2025 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

Wetenschappers vinden ‘meest overtuigende aanwijzing voor buitenaards leven totnogtoe’ – maar blijven zeer sceptisch

Inleiding

De zoektocht naar buitenaards leven is een van de meest fascinerende en intrigerende wetenschappelijke ondernemingen van onze tijd. Het idee dat wij niet de enige bewuste wezens in het universum zouden zijn, prikkelt de menselijke nieuwsgierigheid en drijft onderzoekers om de mysteries van het heelal te ontrafelen. Recentelijk heeft een opmerkelijke ontdekking geleid tot wat wetenschappers beschouwen als de ‘meest overtuigende aanwijzing voor buitenaards leven tot nu toe’. Echter, ondanks de grote potentie van deze bevinding, blijven velen binnen de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap uiterst sceptisch. In dit artikel wordt een uitgebreide wetenschappelijke analyse gepresenteerd over deze ontdekking, inclusief de context, de bewijsmiddelen, de interpretaties, en de kritische kanttekeningen.

Context en achtergrond

Voordat we ingaan op de specifieke ontdekking, is het belangrijk om de bredere context van de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven te schetsen. Sinds de mid-20e eeuw, met de lancering van de eerste satellieten en de ontwikkeling van radioastronomie, is het wetenschappelijke veld van de astrobiologie ontstaan. Het doel was en is om te begrijpen onder welke omstandigheden leven kan ontstaan en bestaan buiten de aarde.

Een belangrijke mijlpaal in deze zoektocht was de vondst van exoplaneten – planeten buiten ons zonnestelsel – vooral de zogenaamde 'bewoonbare zones' rondom sterren, waar vloeibaar water mogelijk zou kunnen bestaan. Naast de zoektocht naar exoplaneten en de detectie van biosignaturen (chemische sporen van leven), richt het onderzoek zich ook op het bestuderen van objecten binnen ons eigen zonnestelsel, zoals Mars, Europa (een maan van Jupiter), en Enceladus (een maan van Saturnus), die mogelijk ondergrondse oceanen herbergen.

De ontdekking: Wat is de meest overtuigende aanwijzing voor buitenaards leven tot nu toe?

De recente ontdekking die de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap in rep en roer bracht, betreft een reeks anomalieën in de datastromen die afkomstig zijn van een bepaald astronomisch fenomeen. Het gaat om signalen die niet gemakkelijk kunnen worden verklaard door bekende natuurlijke processen en die mogelijk wijzen op technologische activiteit van buitenaardse oorsprong.

"Mysterieuze radiosignalen komen uit een 'onvoorstelbaar' deel van de ruimte, zeggen wetenschappers

De belangrijkste bevindingen omvatten:

• Herhaalde, gestructureerde radiogolfsignalen: Wetenschappers hebben herhaaldelijk patronen waargenomen in radiogolfsignalen afkomstig van een verre ster, waarvan de structuur en herhaling niet overeenkomen met typische natuurlijke bronnen zoals pulsars of quasars.

• Ongebruikelijke frequenties en patronen: De signalen vertonen frequenties die niet overeenkomen met bekende natuurlijke bronnen, en de patronen vertonen een zekere periodiciteit die suggereert dat ze mogelijk door een intelligente bron worden uitgezonden.

• Geen natuurlijke verklaring gevonden: Tot op heden zijn alle gangbare natuurlijke oorzaken voor dergelijke signalen uitgesloten of worden ze als uiterst onwaarschijnlijk beschouwd.

Deze verzameling van eigenschappen heeft geleid tot de bewering dat dit de ‘meest overtuigende aanwijzing’ is voor buitenaards leven die tot nu toe is gevonden.

Wetenschappelijke analyse van de bewijzen

1. De aard van de signalen

De signalen die zijn waargenomen, worden vaak aangeduid als 'gestructureerde radiogolfsignalen'. Ze vertonen patronen die niet voorkomen bij natuurlijke astronomische bronnen. In de context van SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) worden dergelijke patronen beschouwd als potentieel bewijs voor technologische activiteit.

De frequentieband waarop deze signalen worden ontvangen, ligt in het radiogebied dat vaak wordt gebruikt voor communicatie (tussen 1-10 GHz). Het feit dat de signalen herhaaldelijk worden waargenomen en patronen vertonen, versterkt de hypothese dat ze mogelijk het resultaat zijn van een intelligente zender.

2. Verwerkte data en verificatie

De data werden verzameld door grote radiotelescopen zoals de Arecibo Observatory en het MeerKAT-telescoop. Geavanceerde algoritmen en machine learning-technieken werden toegepast om de signalen te analyseren en te onderscheiden van achtergrondruis en natuurlijke bronnen.

Belangrijk is dat meerdere onafhankelijke observaties dezelfde patronen bevestigen, waardoor de betrouwbaarheid toeneemt. Echter, het blijft een uitdaging om definitief vast te stellen dat deze signalen niet het resultaat zijn van instrumentele artefacten of menselijke technologie.

3. Alternatieve natuurlijke verklaringen

Wetenschappers hebben verschillende natuurlijke verklaringen onderzocht, zoals:

• Interferentie van menselijke technologie: Sommige signalen kunnen het gevolg zijn van aardse bronnen, zoals satellieten, communicatieapparatuur, of interferentie van de telescopen zelf.

• Astrofysische objecten met nog niet begrepen fysische eigenschappen: Bijvoorbeeld, onbekende soorten sterren of objecten die mogelijk natuurlijke, maar nog niet gekende, mechanismen vertonen.

• Interferentie of ruis: Sommige signalen kunnen artefacten zijn van de instrumenten of de omgeving.

Tot dusver hebben geen van deze verklaringen volstaan om de waargenomen patronen volledig te verklaren.

De interpretatie: waarom beschouwen sommige wetenschappers dit als de meest overtuigende aanwijzing?

Het argument dat deze signalen mogelijk buitenaardse intelligentie vertegenwoordigen, rust op het ontbreken van plausibele natuurlijke verklaringen, de herhaling en structuur van de patronen, en de afwezigheid van menselijke of aardse oorzaken die ze kunnen verklaren.

De SETI-gemeenschap benadrukt dat, hoewel het niet definitief bewijs is, deze waarnemingen de meest veelbelovende aanwijzingen vormen die ooit zijn gevonden. Ze suggereren dat het bestaan van technologische beschavingen in het universum niet langer een onwaarschijnlijkheid is.

De sceptische kant: waarom blijven wetenschappers sceptisch?

Ondanks de opwinding rond deze ontdekking, blijven veel wetenschappers uiterst voorzichtig en sceptisch. De belangrijkste redenen hiervoor zijn:

• Het ontbreken van herhaalbaarheid en bevestiging: Voor een wetenschappelijke doorbraak is het cruciaal dat waarnemingen reproduceerbaar zijn en door onafhankelijke teams bevestigd kunnen worden. Tot nu toe is het moeilijk om de signalen consistent en voorspelbaar te herhalen.

• Het risico op artefacten of menselijke interferentie: Radiogolfsignalen kunnen gemakkelijk worden vervormd door instrumenten, technische storingen, of menselijke bronnen. Het is mogelijk dat de signalen niet buitenaards zijn, maar het gevolg van aardse interferentie.

• De complexiteit van het uitsluiten van natuurlijke oorzaken: Ondanks dat bekende natuurlijke bronnen worden uitgesloten, bestaat er altijd de mogelijkheid dat onbekende natuurlijke fenomenen de signalen veroorzaken.

• Het ontbreken van aanvullende bewijzen: Signalen alleen vormen geen definitief bewijs voor buitenaards leven. Andere bewijzen, zoals detectie van chemische biosignaturen op exoplaneten of bevestigde technologische artefacten, zouden de zaak versterken.

• Het risico op overhaaste conclusies: Wetenschap vereist voorzichtigheid en kritische analyse. Het is verleidelijk om te speculeren, maar zonder stevig bewijs is het onverantwoord om conclusies te trekken.

De rol van de wetenschap en de noodzaak van kritisch denken

In de wetenschap is het essentieel om open te staan voor nieuwe ideeën en ontdekkingen, maar ook om kritisch te blijven. De waargenomen signalen vormen een interessante en veelbelovende aanwijzing, maar kunnen niet worden beschouwd als definitief bewijs zonder verdere verificatie.

Het proces van wetenschappelijke validatie vereist dat observaties herhaald worden, dat alternatieve verklaringen worden uitgesloten, en dat de interpretatie gebaseerd is op rigoureus bewijs. Totdat deze stappen zijn gezet, blijft de conclusie dat er buitenaards leven is, voorlopig onhoudbaar.

Een stofje in een atmosfeer zoeken
Hoe vind je een stofje in de atmosfeer van een planeet die 124 lichtjaar verderop staat? Dat werkt als volgt: de onderzoekers kijken toe op het moment dat een planeet voor zijn moederster langs beweegt. Op dat moment sijpelt een deel van het sterlicht door de atmosfeer van de planeet. Dat licht ontmoet daar allerlei gassen die hun stempel drukken op het spectrum van het sterlicht. En zo kan uit dat spectrum worden afgeleid welke gassen in de atmosfeer aanwezig zijn.

De maatschappelijke en filosofische implicaties

De ontdekking van buitenaards leven zou een revolutie teweegbrengen in onze kijk op het universum en onze plaats daarin. Het zou vragen oproepen over de aard van intelligentie, de evolutie van beschavingen, en de mogelijkheid van contact.

Tegelijkertijd onderstrepen de huidige sceptische houding en de behoefte aan bewijs het belang van wetenschappelijke integriteit. Het is essentieel dat de samenleving en de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap de juiste balans vinden tussen nieuwsgierigheid en kritische analyse.

Toekomstperspectieven

• De komende jaren zullen cruciaal zijn voor het vervolg van deze ontdekking. Verbeteringen in telescooptechnologie, data-analyse, en internationale samenwerkingen kunnen leiden tot meer gedetailleerde en bevestigde waarnemingen.

Bovendien zullen nieuwe instrumenten, zoals de James Webb Space Telescope, in staat zijn om exoplaneten te bestuderen op mogelijke biosignaturen. Deze aanvullende bewijzen kunnen de hypothese van buitenaards leven verder versterken of weerleggen.

• Met behulp van ruimtetelescoop James Webb lijken in de atmosfeer van de planeet K2-18b tot twee stofjes ontdekt te zijn die hier op aarde alleen in de aanwezigheid van leven kunnen worden voortgebracht.

En daarmee zijn de onderzoekers naar eigen zeggen op ‘de meest overtuigende aanwijzing voor het bestaan van leven op een planeet buiten ons zonnestelsel’ gestuit. Hoewel de bevindingen opwindend zijn, blijven de ontdekkers ervan uitermate voorzichtig. Hard bewijs voor het bestaan van buitenaards leven is er ook na hun onderzoek namelijk nog altijd niet.

• PLANEET K2-18b Dat is te lezen in het blad The Astrophysical Journal Letters. De studie draait om de planeet K2-18b. Deze planeet bevindt zich op zo’n 124 lichtjaar afstand van de aarde en draait daar – in de leefbare zone – om zijn ster heen. De planeet is ongeveer 8,6 keer zwaarder en 2,6 keer groter dan onze eigen aarde. Eerdere observaties van James Webb onthulden al dat in de atmosfeer van K2-18b methaan en koolstofdioxide te vinden zijn. Dat hint erop dat K2-18b een zogenoemde ‘hyceaanse planeet’ is, die volledig bedekt is met water en ook een waterstofrijke atmosfeer kent.
• Eerdere waarnemingen Naast methaan en koolstofdioxide werden tijdens eerdere observaties van K2-18b ook al zeer voorzichtige aanwijzingen gevonden voor de aanwezigheid van dimethylsylfide (DMS). Dat zorgde toen reeds voor enige opwinding. Want hier op aarde kan DMS alleen geproduceerd worden in de aanwezigheid van (voornamelijk kleine) organismen, zoals bijvoorbeeld fytoplankton. DMS wordt dan ook gezien als een potentiële biosignatuur. Biosignaturen zijn fysische of chemische verschijnselen die op zichzelf – of in combinatie met elkaar – getuigen van de aanwezigheid van leven.

• DMS en DMDS Of DMS ook echt in de atmosfeer van K2-18b voorkomt, bleef na die eerdere observaties echter zeer twijfelachtig; daarvoor waren meer waarnemingen nodig. En nu hebben wetenschappers K2-18b dus wederom onder de loep genomen. Ze maakten daarbij opnieuw gebruik van ruimtetelescoop James Webb. Maar waar voor de eerdere observaties een beroep werd gedaan op Webb-instrumenten NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) en NIRSPEC (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), gebruikten de onderzoekers nu Webbs MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). En ook dat instrument hint op de aanwezigheid van dimethylsylfide (DMS) en/of dimethyldisulfide (DMDS). Beiden zijn lid van dezelfde chemische familie en beiden worden gezien als potentiële biosignaturen. “Dit is een onafhankelijke lijn van bewijs, waarvoor we een ander instrument en golflengtebereik van licht gebruikten dan eerder,” vertelt onderzoeker Nikku Madhusudhan. “En het signaal kwam sterk en duidelijk door.”
• Oceaan vol leven “Eerder theoretisch werk had al voorspeld dat gassen als DMS en DMDS mogelijk in grote hoeveelheden op hyceaanse planeten voorkomen,” vertelt onderzoeker Nikku Madhusudhan. “En nu hebben we het – in lijn met die voorspellingen – ook geobserveerd. Op basis van alles wat we van deze planeet (K2-18b, red.) weten, lijkt een scenario dat stelt dat we hier te maken hebben met een hyceaanse wereld, bedekt met een oceaan die wemelt van het leven, het beste te passen bij de gegevens die we hebben.”
• Slag om de arm En toch zul je Madhusudhan en collega’s niet horen zeggen dat ze buitenaards leven hebben ontdekt. Daar zijn een aantal redenen voor. Allereerst is er nog altijd een 0,3 procent kans dat hun metingen niet kloppen. Dat lijkt een verwaarloosbare kans, maar wetenschappers zien dat anders. Om de metingen als een daadwerkelijk wetenschappelijke ontdekking te mogen classificeren, moet die kans nog flink omlaag en zelfs onder de 0,00006 procent duiken. Maar zelfs als vervolgwaarnemingen nóg overtuigender zijn en het Madhusudhan en collega’s lukt om de statistische betrouwbaarheid van hun ontdekking op te krikken, is dat nog geen hard bewijs dat K2-18b leven herbergt. Want om die conclusie te kunnen trekken, moeten onderzoekers eerst zeker weten dat de waargenomen hoeveelheden DMS en/of DMDS in de atmosfeer van K2-18 alleen door leven – en dus niet door andere chemische processen – kunnen worden voortgebracht.
• Startpunt “Onze studie is het startpunt voor alle onderzoeken die nodig zijn om de implicaties van deze opwindende resultaten te bevestigen en begrijpen,” benadrukt onderzoeker Savvas Constantinou. Collega Madhusudhan sluit zich daarbij aan. “Het is belangrijk dat we zeer sceptisch zijn over onze eigen resultaten, omdat we alleen door ze keer op keer te toetsen, in staat zijn om het punt te bereiken waarop we er zeker van kunnen zijn. Dat is hoe wetenschap werkt.”

We zullen vervolgonderzoek en -waarnemingen moeten afwachten om te achterhalen of deze ontdekking gezien kan worden als een scharnierpunt in onze zoektocht naar buitenaards leven. “Over decennia kunnen we hier zomaar op terugkijken en erkennen dat dit het moment was waarop het levende universum binnen bereik kwam,” stelt Madhusudhan. De tijd zal het leren…

Conclusie

De recente waarnemingen die worden beschouwd als ‘de meest overtuigende aanwijzing voor buitenaards leven tot nu toe’ vormen een belangrijke mijlpaal in de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven. Ze bieden hoop en inspiratie voor wetenschappers en het publiek, maar vragen tegelijkertijd om voorzichtigheid en kritische analyse.

De wetenschappelijke gemeenschap erkent de potentie van deze signalen, maar blijft sceptisch totdat de bewijzen worden bevestigd en alternatieve verklaringen volledig zijn uitgesloten. Dit benadrukt het fund

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18-04-2025 om 22:54 geschreven door peter  

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18-04-2025 om 20:39 geschreven door peter  

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18-04-2025 om 20:33 geschreven door peter  

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18-04-2025 om 20:24 geschreven door peter  

Signs of ‘alien life’ found 124 light years from Earth

Noora Mykkanen

New and ‘strongest evidence yet’ has emerged suggesting that there is another world that could have life on it.

Scientists have discovered early signs that a distant planet in space called K2-18b could have some life.

The promising finding was made by the Cambridge University team studying the atmosphere

They detected signs of chemical molecules, which on Earth are produced by living organisms such as marine algae.

The scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope – the largest telescope in space armed with a high-resolution equipment that can reach further into space than its predecessor the Hubble Space Telescope.

However, the expert team stressed that more evidence is needed after the promising find.

How far is planet K2-18b?

The chemical fingerprints were of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), located in the atmosphere of K2-18b.

A report said: ‘While an unknown chemical process may be the source of these molecules in K2-18b’s atmosphere, the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.’

K2-18b isn’t a short journey away – it lives around seven hundred trillion miles from Earth.

For conventional spacecraft to travel that distance, it would take possibly hundreds of years.

Why is the finding significant?

This was the first time astronomers found carbon-based molecules in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the habitable zone of space.

Scientists suspect it could be a ‘Hycean’ planet – a habitable, ocean-covered world.

Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy and the research lead, said: ‘Earlier theoretical work had predicted that high levels of sulfur-based gases like DMS and DMDS are possible on Hycean worlds.

‘And now we’ve observed it, in line with what was predicted. Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have.’

He said there were major questions concerning the processes that might be producing the chemicals.

As with any research, it was ‘important that we’re deeply sceptical of our own results’ and that rigorous further testing was needed despite the excitement.

The prof continued: ‘Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognise it was when the living universe came within reach.

‘This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we’re alone in the universe is one we’re capable of answering.’

The possibility of alien life continues to drive scientists determined to find evidence that we are not the only living things in the galaxy.

Elsewhere in space, Nasa’s Curiosity rover found the largest organic compounds ever on Mars.

The material was discovered inside a 3.7 billion-year-old rock in a bay, which might have once been a freshwater lake.

{ https://metro.co.uk/news/ }

17-04-2025 om 21:16 geschreven door peter  

Strongest Evidence of Alien Life Yet Found 124 Light-Years Away

There has been vigorous debate in scientific circles about whether the planet K2-18b, which is 124 light years away in the Leo constellation, could be an ocean world capable of hosting microbial life.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a British-US team of researchers detected signs of two chemicals in the planet's atmosphere long considered to be "biosignatures" indicating extraterrestrial life.

On Earth, the chemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide are produced only by life, mostly microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton.

The researchers emphasised caution, saying that more observations were needed to confirm these findings, and that they were not announcing a definitive discovery.

But the implications could be huge, according to Nikku Madhusudhan, a Cambridge University astrophysicist and lead author of the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"What we are finding at this point are hints of possible biological activity outside the solar system," he told a press conference.

"Frankly, I think this is the closest we have come to seeing a feature that we can attribute to life."

But outside experts pointed to disputes over previous discoveries about the exoplanet, adding that these chemicals could have been created by unknown means having nothing to do with life.

Chemical clues

More than eight times the mass of Earth and 2.5 times as big, K2-18b is a rare exoplanet that orbits its star in a habitable or "goldilocks" zone.

This means it is neither too hot nor too cold to have liquid water, considered the most important ingredient for life.

Telescopes observe such far-off exoplanets when they cross in front of their star, allowing astronomers to analyse how molecules block the light streaming through their atmosphere.

In 2023, the Webb telescope detected methane and carbon dioxide in K2-18b's atmosphere, the first time such carbon-based molecules were detected on an exoplanet in a habitable zone.

It also detected weak signals of the chemical DMS, leading astronomers to turn Webb towards the planet again a year ago, this time using its mid-infrared instrument to detect different wavelengths of light.

They found much stronger signs of the chemicals, though still well below the "five sigma" threshold of statistical significance scientists seek for such discoveries.

Even if the results are confirmed, it would not necessarily mean that the planet is home to life.

Last year, scientists found traces of DMS on a comet, which suggested it can be produced in non-organic ways.

However the concentration of the chemical observed on K2-18b appears to be thousands of times stronger than levels on Earth, strongly suggesting a biological origin, Madhusudhan said.

Are we alone in the universe?

K2-18b has long been considered the premier candidate for a "hycean planet" – an ocean world bigger than Earth with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

These planets would not be expected to be home to intelligent alien life, but rather tiny microbes similar to those in Earth's oceans billions of years ago.

Some research has questioned whether the currently proposed hycean planets are too close to their stars to support liquid water, including K2-18b, which orbits its star every 33 days.

Raymond Pierrehumbert, a planetary physics professor at Oxford University, has conducted separate research indicating K2-18b is too hot for life.

If the planet did have water, it would be "hellishly hot" and uninhabitable, he told AFP, adding that oceans of lava were more plausible.

Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science at MIT, called for patience, pointing to previous claims of water vapour in K2-18b's atmosphere that turned out to be a different gas.

And within our solar system, Mars, Venus and moons such as Saturn's Enceladus all have "more chance to be realised as life-hosting," she told AFP.

Madhusudhan estimated that it would take just 16 to 24 more hours of Webb's time to confirm their findings, which could happen in the next few years.

Even beyond K2-18b, Madhusudhan said Webb and future telescopes could allow humanity to discover life outside our home planet sooner than one might think.

"This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe is one we're capable of answering," he said.

• © Agence France-Presse

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{ https://www.sciencealert.com/ }

17-04-2025 om 14:39 geschreven door peter  

17-04-2025 om 14:14 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

16-04-2025 om 14:42 geschreven door peter  

Strange Mounds on Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth Could Be Traces of Where It Came From

By Michelle Starr

Arrokoth. 

(NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Roman Tkachenko)

The most distant object ever explored up close might just have revealed one of the earliest stages of planet formation.

This is Arrokoth, which resides in our solar system’s Kuiper Belt, a region of objects beyond Neptune. On January 1, 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft found some unusual mounds on Arrokoth, which scientists say are some of the original building blocks of our solar system, from billions of years ago.

Image via NASA/ Johns Hopkins/ Southwest Research Institute/ Roman Tkachenkou.

Arrokoth, the Kuiper belt object known for its reddish hue and bi-lobed snowman shape, has bumpy mounds all over its larger lobe, and these may be the remnants of boulders that once smooshed together to create the whole object.

Using data from the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Arrokoth around 44.6 astronomical units from the Sun in 2019, a team led by planetary scientist Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute made a close study of the lobe, known as Wenu.

They discovered 12 bumps that have more or less the same size, shape, color, and reflectivity, suggesting that these are the units from which Wenu was assembled.

"It's amazing to see this object so well preserved that its shape directly reveals these details of its assembly from a set of building blocks all very similar to one another," says astronomer Will Grundy of Lowell Observatory. "Arrokoth almost looks like a raspberry, made of little sub-units."

Arrokoth, hanging out far from the Sun, past Pluto, in the Kuiper Belt of icy rocks, is thought to be a seed of a planet that never made it to full growth. Moreover, because of its location, its alteration by solar radiation is thought to be minimal; it is the most primitive and pristine object we've ever observed.

Previous studies have shown that Arrokoth was once two smaller objects in a binary orbit that gradually came together and fused, but there's a lot more to its formation history. A 2020 paper showed that it was actually a whole bunch of objects in a complex orbital dance that gently came together under gravity at low speeds to form a larger rock.

This supports the notion that planet growth starts with a bunch of smaller objects from the same part of the cloud of debris that surrounds a newborn star. And the new discovery further supports this scenario.

Arrokoth measures about 35 kilometers (22 miles) in length, by 20 kilometers (12 miles) in width, and 10 kilometers (6 miles) in thickness. And Wenu, New Horizons observations revealed, wasn't smooth, but was covered in a series of interlocking mounds, or bumps, that incited curiosity about how it formed.

Using two close-up images from the New Horizons flyby, Stern and his colleagues conducted an in-depth analysis of the mounds of Wenu. They counted, in total, 12 mounds, generally about 5 kilometers across, and with similar length-to-width ratios, in addition to other similarities.

To figure out how Wenu got that way, the researchers conducted simulations, focusing on two formation scenarios: smaller objects, about 3 kilometers across, slamming together at high speed; or larger objects, about 5 kilometers across, gently glomming together at low speed.

The first scenario, the high-speed one, is unlikely to be how Wenu formed. The resulting object was too smooth, since the rocks shattered and smushed on impact. The slow formation scenario, however, produced a lumpy blob that looked a heck of a lot like Wenu.

This fits previous findings about the slow and gentle formation of Arrokoth, but it raises another question: why are the rocks all more or less the same size? That's a question we might need more modeling – and more observations of other planetesimals – to answer.

"Similarities including in sizes and other properties of Arrokoth's mound structures suggest new insights into its formation," Stern says. "If the mounds are indeed representative of the building blocks of ancient planetesimals like Arrokoth, then planetesimal formation models will need to explain the preferred size for these building blocks."

As for the smaller of the two lobes, Weeyo, at first glance, it doesn't look a lot like Wenu, with its large crater. However, the team was able to tentatively identify three mound-like structures. So it's not impossible that Weeyo formed the same way.

A NASA mission, Lucy, is currently underway to explore the populations of asteroids that share the orbit of Jupiter. Looking for signs of mounds among these objects will help scientists understand exactly how common this formation process might be.

• The research has been published in The Planetary Science Journal.

{ https://www.sciencealert.com/ }

15-04-2025 om 23:24 geschreven door peter  

Blue Origin All Female Crew, Including Katy Perry Scream All The Way Back To Earth!, UFO UAP Sighting News.

Date of landing: April 14, 2025

So an all woman crew...every guy has thought about such sci-fi epic stories...and yet Earth had just such a historical moment today...as they landed in the desert in a space capsule. You might by chance notice a little screaming every now and then. The screams are as if they saw an alien for the first time, but it's not, it's just the sudden G force change as they drop, the parachute opens and they hit the ground. I sure hope Katy Perry can sing again after all that screaming but hey, if not, there is an opening on the space station she might take.

Scott C. Waring - Earth

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

15-04-2025 om 20:14 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

15-04-2025 om 15:31 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

15-04-2025 om 15:22 geschreven door peter  

Alien Dyson spheres could really exist — but only in this 1 type of star system, new study hints

Hunting for stable Dyson spheres

McInnes started by searching for any points within a binary star system that could host a stable Dyson sphere arrangement, where the sphere could stay in place and the gravitational forces exerted on it would be uniform. He found one arrangement, where the sphere surrounds both stars. But that situation was only mildly stable and likely to suffer the same problem as the single-star case.

Another stable point arises when the sphere orbits independently, surrounding neither star. While this might be useful for space station outposts, it doesn't provide the energy-capturing benefits of englobing a star.

Related:

•  'Perhaps it's only a matter of time': Intelligent life may be much more likely than first thought, new model suggests

But McInnes did find one stable — and useful — configuration. This only happens in binary systems in which one star is much smaller than the other. In that specific case, the Dyson sphere can enclose the smaller of the two stars. The motion of that smaller star acts like a gravitational anchor, keeping the Dyson sphere in motion with the same orbit around the larger star, preventing a catastrophic collision.

There are several caveats to this. The smaller star has to be no bigger than around one tenth the mass of the larger companion, otherwise the gravitational stable point disappears. And the sphere has to be extremely light and thin compared with the two stars, otherwise its own gravitational influence mixes into the dynamics of the system and destroys the stability.

And, of course, this analysis ignores any practical engineering considerations, like the stresses and tensions the sphere might experience, or how to build the thing in the first place.

While it's unlikely humans will build a Dyson sphere in the distant future — if ever — this research does help inform searches for extraterrestrial civilizations. Presumably, a sufficiently advanced civilization would have made the same realization before building its own Dyson sphere, and so we shouldn't look for them around solitary stars.

Instead, scientists could look for large, bright stars with a diffuse, infrared companion — the telltale sign of the heat leaking out of a Dyson sphere enclosing the smaller star of a larger companion.

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{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

14-04-2025 om 20:40 geschreven door peter  

Scientists Propose Looking for Life in Galaxy’s ‘Computational Zones’

By Becky Ferreira

The research proposes looking for extraterrestrial life in so-called “computational zones” that could encompass a much wider range of habitats than traditional “habitable zones,” which are areas where liquid water might exist on a planetary surface in similar conditions to those found on Earth when the earliest forms of life emerged. 

Computational zones, in contrast, are areas in which information can be processed, and could include any environment with three principal characteristics—capacity, energy, and instantiation (or substrate)—which could include overlooked substellar objects, such as brown dwarfs, the subsurface oceans of ice moons like Europa, or massive artificial structures, such as Dyson spheres.

Earth is the only world we know of that hosts life, leaving us with a rather limited sample to work with on the important question of whether we are alone in the universe. For this reason, it makes sense for scientists searching for life to focus their efforts on worlds that are similar to our own, and to especially prioritize the presence of surface liquid water, given how important this key ingredient has been to life on Earth. 

That said, life may arise in many unexpected places that could be well beyond the limits of our imaginations. This problem inspired Caleb Scharf, a senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA’s Ames Research Center, and Olaf Witkowski, an expert on artificial intelligence (AI) and director of Cross Labs in Tokyo, Japan, to think of new ways to expand the scope of our search for aliens. 

Now, the pair have unveiled a strategy to look for life that is built on the idea of computation, which the researchers define as “a set of physical processes that act on information represented by states of matter” and that “encompasses biological systems, digital systems, and other constructs,” according to a study recently published on the preprint server arxiv.

“One key piece of the computational zone idea is that it’s this very natural way to merge all the factors we look for in searching for life into one neat package—if you look for where computation can happen you naturally look at environmental conditions, energy, and what things are built out of,” Scharf said in an email. “It’s very agnostic though” in that “it doesn’t presume much about what life will be like except it must process information.”

“For example, this makes the interiors of icy moons like Europa or Enceladus just as important as the surface of a rocky planet, and puts these places on much more equal footing,” he continued. “Computational zones also give a new way to think about the outward signatures of life—if information processing is the core feature, what might that do to the world around it? And that creates a very natural bridge to questions of technology (or what we call technology) or how life might expand and ‘outsource’ its needs.”

The idea of computational zones emerged over the course of years as Scharf and Witkowski collaborated with each other on projects, while also delving into their own unique fields of astrobiology and AI research. Like many researchers who work in these fields, Scharf and Witkowski hoped to both develop a more unbiased method of evaluating the cosmos for the presence of life that didn’t depend so much on parameters linked to Earth. 

“We may be introducing a lot of Earth biases when trying to project our knowledge onto other systems distant from Earth,” Witkowski told Motherboard in an email. “We essentially make a lot of assumptions about the nature of life, its necessary ingredients, and its characteristic signatures that may be detected when we point our equipment in its general direction.”

“One way to escape this limitation is to consider universal characteristics of life: what are possible or likely invariants of living systems which evolve anywhere in our universe?” he continued. “When one looks at life through the lens of information, one may see patterns and properties that are present regardless of the environment or substrate in which the living systems evolve. They all perform a certain type of computation, which we want to ultimately be able to detect. This may cast a larger and more adequate net over the systems which may contain life.”

“In this sense computational zones offer a less-contentious way to think more out of the box without going full ‘Borg’ in our hypothetical extrapolations!” he noted.

The new study, which has been submitted for publication in The Astrobiology Journal, runs with this idea by outlining the three major components of computation in the context of a search for life. Capacity describes the number of available states for carrying information, which includes factors such as the chemical ingredients available for computation. Energy refers to power sources that can support computation, such as sunlight or hydrothermal vents. Last, instantiation refers to the platform or substrate upon which the computation takes place.

{ https://www.vice.com/en/article/}

14-04-2025 om 17:50 geschreven door peter  

Wilkes Land crater: The giant hole in East Antarctica's gravitational field likely caused by a meteorite

If the Wilkes Land crater is an impact crater, then it "would be the greatest impact crater known" on Earth in terms of its size, the authors wrote.

In the 2015 study, researchers found that the crater's diameter matches the speed and size of space rocks that regularly crashed into Earth during its early history between 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago. "The WLA [Wilkes Land Anomaly] could have been created by such bolides," they wrote in the study.

"Nonetheless, because of the constraints imposed by the overlying continental ice sheet, [...], we believe that the other explanations for the subglacial structure remain viable," they added.

• Discover more incredible places, where we highlight the fantastic history and science behind some of the most dramatic landscapes on Earth.

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{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

12-04-2025 om 23:49 geschreven door peter  

Geophysicists announced this week that they have successfully collected key samples from the site of the asteroid strike that likely wiped out the dinosaurs. 

(Joe Tucciarone/Science Source)

Scientists have had a literal breakthrough off the coast of Mexico.

After weeks of drilling from an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico, they have reached rocks left over from the day the Earth was hit by a killer asteroid.

The cataclysm is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs. “This was probably the most important event in the last 100 million years,” says Joanna Morgan, a geophysicist at Imperial College in London and a leader of the expedition.

Since the 1980s, researchers have known about the impact site, located near the present-day Yucatan Peninsula. Known as Chicxulub, the crater is approximately 125 miles across. It was created when an asteroid the size of Staten Island, N.Y., struck Earth around 66 million years ago. The initial explosion from the impact would have made a nuclear bomb look like a firecracker. The searing heat started wildfires many hundreds of miles away.

After that, came an unscheduled winter. Sulfur, ash and debris clouded the sky. Darkness fell and, for a while, Earth was not itself.

“I think it was a bad few months, really,” Morgan says.

That’s an understatement: Scientists believe 75 percent of life went extinct during this dark chapter in Earth’s history, including the dinosaurs.

Researchers have sampled Chicxulub before, but this expedition by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling precisely targets a key part of the crater yet to be studied: a ring of mountains left by the asteroid. This “peak ring” is a fundamental feature of the strike and should tell researchers much more about it, says Sean Gulick, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin, who co-leads the team with Morgan.

For weeks, they’ve been drilling — and going back in time. Each layer of rock they pass through is connected to a part of Earth’s history.

“We went through a remarkable amount of the post-impact world. All the way into the Eocene times — so between 50 and 55 million years ago,” Gulick says.

The rocks they’ve pulled out show how life began to recover after the cataclysm, Gulick says. “We’ve got all these limestones and rocks that contain the fossils from the world after the impact, all the things that evolved from the few organisms that survived.”

The research team finally reached the top of the peak ring this week. It appears to be a thick layer of broken, melted rock just beneath a layer of sandstone that may be the leavings of a huge tsunami that was triggered when the asteroid struck.

Gulick thinks the rocks hold clues. For example, if any microscopic organisms survived near the site of the strike, their fossils might be in these samples. In June, the rock cores will be sent back to a lab in Germany for further study.

The asteroid strike marked the end of an era. But the creatures that made it through that catastrophe went on to shape the world again, says Morgan.

“The mammals survived,” she says. “And that led on to our own evolution.”

At the site of the dinosaur-killing crater, scientists find a surprise

When colossal asteroids rock Earth, it's not all doom and gloom.

The menacing asteroid that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs left a colossal marine crater in what's now the Yucatan Peninsula. But after analyzing deeply drilled rock core from the impact site created by the six-mile-wide asteroid, geologists have found compelling evidence that life soon thrived in the basin following the seismic episode.

The asteroid's impact stoked nutrients and chemicals to be released from beneath the seafloor, a process called hydrothermal activity. Similar activity naturally occurs today in the deep sea, where hydrothermal vents emit superheated chemical-rich fluid into the water, feeding unique colonies of life, including huge tubeworms, crabs, fish, microorganisms, and beyond.

"This study reveals that impact cratering events, while primarily destructive, can in some cases also lead to significant hydrothermal activity,” Steven Goderis, a researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium who co-authored the study, said in a statement. “In the case of Chicxulub, this process played a vital role in the rapid recovery of marine ecosystems.”

The research was published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.

The colossal impact event, which triggered a mass extinction event over much of Earth's land and ocean environments, also filled the present-day Gulf of Mexico with nutrients for at least 700,000 years, the researchers concluded.

In the core drilled from the impact site, called "Chicxulub crater" (which you should Google for a novel Google-created search result), researchers found a ratio of the metallic element osmium that is associated with asteroid remnants. When the asteroid struck this region, its pulverized particles — which contained osmium — mixed beneath the seafloor and were emitted into the water, before eventually settling back down on the seafloor. When scientists drilled into the ocean bottom, they brought up this ancient seafloor, revealing that hydrothermal fluid containing asteroid remnants flowed into the gulf for hundreds of thousands of years.

The impact, which precipitated widespread hydrothermal activity, ultimately created a nutrient-rich oceanic bath, the researchers say.

"After the asteroid impact, the Gulf of Mexico records an ecological recovery process that is quite different from that of the global ocean, as continuous hydrothermal activity has created a unique marine environment," Honami Sato, an earth scientist at Japan's Kyushu University who led the research, explained.

If such a cataclysmic event could create extremely habitable conditions on a region of Earth, the same might happen on other worlds, too. It could happen on ocean moons, or in a related way, perhaps even on desert worlds. Mars, for example, is a planet bombarded with meteor strikes. Such impacts could melt the plentiful water ice in parts of Mars' subsurface, creating an inviting environment for microbes to thrive.

The risks of an asteroid impact

Fortunately for us earthling land-dwellers, the odds of a cataclysmic space rock impact are exceedingly small. Here are today's general risks from asteroids or comets both tiny and very large. Importantly, even relatively small rocks can still be threatening, as the surprise 56-foot (17-meter) rock that exploded over Russia and blew out people's windows in 2013 proved.

• Every single day about 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles fall through Earth's atmosphere and promptly burn up.
• Every year, on average, an "automobile-sized asteroid" plummets through our sky and explodes, according to NASA.
• Impacts by objects around 460 feet (140 meters wide) in diameter occur every 10,000 to 20,000 years.
• A "dinosaur-killing" impact from a rock perhaps a half-mile across or larger happens on 100-million-year timescales.

{ https://www.kqed.org/ }

11-04-2025 om 23:47 geschreven door peter  

Scientific Report on Communication Signals from Extraterrestrial Civilizations

Abstract

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has long fascinated scientists. This report explores various potential communication methods that extraterrestrial civilizations might employ, including neutrino signals, laser communications, gravitational waves, radio waves, and quantum codes. Each method's descriptions, advantages, disadvantages, and future perspectives are discussed to evaluate their feasibility as means of contact with intelligent life beyond Earth.

1. Neutrino Signals: A Potential Medium for Cosmic Communication

Introduction

Neutrinos are among the most fascinating subatomic particles known to science. Produced during nuclear reactions, such as those occurring in stars, they are incredibly weakly interacting, allowing them to traverse vast distances without being absorbed or deflected by matter. This unique property of neutrinos has sparked interest in their potential use as a medium for communication across astronomical distances. In this essay, we will explore the nature of neutrinos, their capabilities as a communication medium, the advantages and disadvantages of using them for communication, and the future perspectives for neutrino communication technology.

Nature of Neutrinos

Neutrinos are fundamental particles that belong to the lepton family, which also includes electrons and their heavier counterparts, muons and taus. They come in three types, or "flavors": electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos. Neutrinos are produced in a variety of processes, including nuclear fusion in stars, radioactive decay, and cosmic events like supernovae. Despite their abundance—trillions of them pass through our bodies every second—neutrinos are notoriously difficult to detect because they interact with matter only through the weak nuclear force. This weak interaction means that neutrinos can travel through light-years of material without being significantly affected, making them an intriguing candidate for communication over astronomical distances.

Communication Medium

The concept of using neutrinos for communication is rooted in their unique properties. Unlike electromagnetic signals, which can be absorbed or scattered by interstellar dust, gas, and cosmic radiation, neutrinos can pass through celestial bodies, including planets and stars. This characteristic makes them particularly appealing for sending messages across vast expanses of space, where traditional communication methods may falter. In theory, a civilization could send neutrino signals that are undetectable by conventional means, effectively hiding their communication from the noise of electromagnetic radiation that fills the universe.

Neutrinos could carry information regarding the sender's location, intentions, or even complex data encoded in specific patterns of neutrino emissions. This encoding is essential for any communication system, as it allows the recipient to interpret the information being sent. While the concept remains largely theoretical at this stage, it opens up exciting possibilities for interstellar communication.

Advantages of Neutrino Communication

1. Penetrative Ability: One of the most significant advantages of neutrinos is their ability to penetrate dense materials. Unlike photons, which can be absorbed or scattered by matter, neutrinos can travel through celestial bodies with ease. This means that a signal could potentially be sent from one star system to another, passing through intervening matter without loss of clarity.

2. Low Noise: Neutrinos interact so weakly with matter that background noise from other cosmic phenomena is minimized. This low noise environment can enhance the clarity of the signals, making it easier for recipients to distinguish between meaningful information and random fluctuations.

3. Universality: Since neutrinos are produced in a variety of astrophysical processes, they can be generated by numerous sources, including stars, supernovae, and artificial means. This universality allows for a wide range of potential communication scenarios, from natural signals emitted by stars to intentional messages sent by advanced civilizations.

Disadvantages of Neutrino Communication

Despite the advantages, there are considerable challenges associated with neutrino communication.

1. Detection Difficulty: Detecting neutrinos is a significant hurdle. Specialized detectors, such as large underground or underwater observatories, are necessary to capture and interpret neutrino signals. These detectors often require sophisticated technology and substantial resources, making it difficult to establish a reliable communication system.

2. Energy Requirements: Generating a sufficient flux of neutrinos for communication purposes requires immense energy. The energy needed to produce neutrinos on the scale required for interstellar communication may be beyond the capabilities of many civilizations. This limitation raises questions about the practicality of neutrino communication as a viable means of contact.

3. Signal Decay and Noise: While neutrinos are less susceptible to interference than electromagnetic signals, they are still subject to potential decay or scattering over long distances. Ensuring that signals remain intact and distinguishable over vast distances remains an unresolved challenge.

Future Perspectives

Research into neutrino communication is still in its infancy, but advancements in particle physics and detector technology could pave the way for practical applications in the future. As our understanding of neutrinos deepens, we may develop new methods for generating and detecting these elusive particles more efficiently. This progress could enhance our ability to use neutrinos for communication, potentially enabling contact with other civilizations or enhancing our understanding of the cosmos.

Moreover, interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists, engineers, and communication experts will be crucial in overcoming the existing challenges. By addressing the technical hurdles associated with neutrino generation and detection, we may unlock the potential for a new frontier in cosmic communication.

Conclusion

Neutrinos present a unique and compelling opportunity for communication across astronomical distances. Their weakly interacting nature allows them to traverse vast expanses of space, potentially enabling civilizations to send messages that remain undetectable by conventional means. While there are considerable challenges to overcome, including detection difficulties and energy requirements, the exploration of neutrino communication is a promising avenue for future research. As technology advances, the dream of communicating across the cosmos using neutrinos may one day become a reality, opening new doors to our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Artist’s impression of a Dyson Sphere, a proposed alien megastructure that is the target of SETI surveys. Finding one of these qualifies in a “first contact” scenario.

Credit: Breakthrough Listen / Danielle Futselaar

2. Laser Communications: A Comprehensive Analysis

Description
Lasers are remarkable devices capable of producing highly focused beams of light, which can efficiently carry information over extensive distances with minimal attenuation. This technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, akin to the ease and immediacy of texting in our contemporary world. The potential applications of lasers extend beyond terrestrial communication, as researchers and scientists have actively explored their utility for interstellar messaging. The ability to modulate laser beams enables the encoding of messages, transforming simple light into sophisticated communication channels that could one day bridge the vast expanses of space.

Communication Medium
The essence of laser communication lies in the transmission of encoded light signals through the vacuum of space. These signals can be meticulously received by advanced optical telescopes or specialized detectors, either stationed on Earth or positioned on other celestial bodies. This method of communication harnesses the speed of light, facilitating the rapid transfer of information across astronomical distances. By using lasers, scientists aim to establish a communication framework that could potentially reach distant star systems, allowing for the exchange of messages with hypothetical extraterrestrial civilizations.

Advantages
Laser communication presents several significant advantages that enhance its appeal as a medium for information transmission:

1. High Data Rate: One of the most compelling benefits of laser communication is its capability to transmit vast amounts of data at remarkable speeds. This high data rate makes it particularly suitable for conveying complex messages, which can be crucial in scenarios where detailed information is essential, such as scientific data or urgent communications.

2. Directional Beam: The inherently focused nature of laser beams enables targeted communication. This precision significantly reduces the likelihood of signal interference, especially from cosmic background noise. The ability to direct beams toward specific points in space enhances the clarity and integrity of the transmitted information, making laser communication a reliable option for long-distance transmissions.

Disadvantages
Despite its many advantages, laser communication is not without its challenges:

1. Line of Sight: A critical limitation of laser signals is their dependence on a clear line of sight. The effectiveness of laser communication diminishes if there are obstacles obstructing the path between the transmitter and receiver. This requirement can complicate communication efforts, particularly in environments where physical barriers are prevalent.

2. Atmospheric Interference: When communicating from Earth, laser signals must traverse the atmosphere, which can introduce various forms of distortion or absorption. Atmospheric conditions, such as clouds, fog, or even pollution, can significantly complicate the efforts to maintain a stable communication link. This interference poses challenges for planetary communication, as it can distort the signals and hinder the clarity of the transmitted information.

Future Perspectives
Looking ahead, the future of laser communication appears promising, especially with the continuous advancements in laser technologies and optical systems. As researchers refine these technologies, laser communication has the potential to evolve into a primary method for interstellar messaging. Future missions could leverage sophisticated laser systems to send out signals aimed at reaching potential extraterrestrial civilizations. The prospect of establishing communication with intelligent life beyond Earth is an exciting endeavor that could redefine our understanding of the universe.

In addition to interstellar applications, the advancements in laser communication could also enhance terrestrial communication systems. The integration of laser technology into existing networks could lead to faster and more efficient data transmission, benefiting various sectors, including telecommunications, space exploration, and scientific research. As the demand for high-speed data transfer continues to grow, laser communication stands poised to play a pivotal role in meeting these needs.

In conclusion, laser communication represents a groundbreaking advancement in the field of information transmission. Its ability to deliver high data rates through focused beams of light offers a unique solution for both terrestrial and potential interstellar messaging. While challenges such as line of sight and atmospheric interference remain, ongoing research and technological innovations hold the promise of overcoming these obstacles. As we continue to explore the possibilities of laser communication, we may one day be able to send and receive messages across the cosmos, enriching our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

3. Gravitational Waves

Description

Gravitational waves are perturbations in the fabric of spacetime, generated by the acceleration of massive celestial bodies. These phenomena are often produced during cataclysmic events such as the merging of black holes or neutron stars. When such massive objects collide, they create ripples that propagate outward at the speed of light. The study of gravitational waves has opened new avenues in astrophysics, allowing scientists to observe and understand events that are otherwise invisible to traditional telescopes. As research progresses, there is a growing interest in the potential of gravitational waves to serve as a medium for communication, suggesting a fascinating intersection between astrophysics and information technology.

Communication Medium

Gravitational waves have the unique ability to carry detailed information about their origins. Each wave contains a signature that reflects the dynamics of the astronomical event that created it. This characteristic raises the possibility of manipulating gravitational waves to encode messages. By varying the waveforms or frequencies of the waves, one could theoretically transmit information across vast distances. This concept aligns with the fundamental principles of wave mechanics, where information can be encoded in various parameters of a wave, such as its amplitude, frequency, or phase.

Advantages

1. Universality: One of the most significant advantages of using gravitational waves as a communication medium is their ability to traverse any medium without attenuation. Unlike electromagnetic waves, which can be absorbed or scattered by matter, gravitational waves are fundamentally different in that they interact very weakly with the material universe. This means that they can propagate through the cosmos unimpeded, allowing for potential communication across immense distances, even between galaxies.

2. Low Background Noise: The detection of gravitational waves is less susceptible to interference from electromagnetic noise, which can often obscure signals in traditional communication methods. For example, radio waves can be drowned out by background radiation from various sources, including cosmic rays and man-made signals. Gravitational waves, however, are less affected by these disturbances, making them a clearer medium for communication in certain contexts. This characteristic could provide a more reliable means of transmitting information, especially in environments with high electromagnetic interference.

Disadvantages

1. Detection Challenges: Despite the intriguing potential of gravitational waves for communication, the technology required to detect these waves is currently highly specialized and complex. Instruments like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo are designed to measure the minuscule distortions in spacetime caused by passing gravitational waves. These facilities rely on advanced technology, including extremely precise lasers and vacuum systems, which limits their accessibility and practicality for widespread application. As a result, the ability to detect and utilize gravitational waves for communication remains a significant challenge.

2. Energy Requirements: Another substantial barrier to the practical use of gravitational waves for communication is the immense energy required to generate detectable signals. The events that produce significant gravitational waves, such as the merger of black holes, involve massive amounts of energy, far beyond what can be harnessed by most civilizations. This limitation raises questions about the feasibility of creating artificial gravitational waves for communication, as only highly advanced technological societies might possess the capability to generate such energy levels.

Future Perspectives

Looking ahead, the field of gravitational wave astronomy is poised for significant advancements. As technology continues to evolve, researchers are actively exploring innovative methods to utilize gravitational waves for communication. The development of more sensitive detectors is a key area of focus. Future instruments may enhance our ability to detect weaker gravitational waves, opening up new possibilities for their application beyond traditional astrophysics.

Furthermore, interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists, engineers, and communication specialists could lead to novel approaches for encoding and transmitting information through gravitational waves. As our understanding of these phenomena deepens, the potential to harness gravitational waves as a communication medium may become more feasible.

In conclusion, while gravitational waves present both compelling advantages and formidable challenges as a medium for communication, ongoing research and technological advancements may one day unlock their potential. As we continue to explore the universe and the fundamental laws governing it, the idea of communicating through gravitational waves remains an exciting and thought-provoking possibility that could reshape our understanding of information transmission across the cosmos.

4. Radio Waves

Description

Radio waves are an established medium for communication, extensively utilized across the globe for various forms of broadcasting. Their unique properties make them an essential component of modern communication technologies. Notably, radio waves have been harnessed in the quest for extraterrestrial signals, exemplified by initiatives such as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). This ongoing exploration underscores the importance of radio waves not only in terrestrial applications but also in the broader context of interstellar communication.

Communication Medium

One of the most significant characteristics of radio waves is their ability to be transmitted over long distances. This capability allows for the transmission of information encoded within their frequencies and amplitudes. The modulation of these properties enables radio waves to carry complex data, making them versatile for various communication needs. For instance, in terrestrial applications, radio waves are used for broadcasting television, radio shows, and even for wireless internet signals. In the context of space exploration, they serve as a vital link for communicating with spacecraft and satellites, enabling data exchange and command transmission over vast distances.

Advantages

The advantages of using radio waves as a communication medium are numerous.

• Established Technology: Radio communication is a well-understood and mature technology with a long history of successful implementation. From its inception in the late 19th century to its current applications, radio communication has proven its reliability and effectiveness in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial contexts.

• Wide Range: Another significant advantage is the ability of radio signals to travel vast distances. They can penetrate various cosmic materials, such as dust and gas in space, making them an ideal choice for interstellar communication. This characteristic is particularly valuable when attempting to communicate across the immense distances that separate celestial bodies.

Disadvantages

Despite the advantages, there are notable disadvantages associated with the use of radio waves for communication.

• Signal Degradation: One of the primary challenges is signal degradation. Over long distances, radio signals can weaken significantly. Various cosmic phenomena, such as solar flares or cosmic background radiation, can introduce interference that degrades the integrity of messages being transmitted. This degradation poses challenges for maintaining clear communication.

• Signal Detection: Another critical disadvantage is the difficulty in signal detection. The vastness of space means that distinguishing genuine signals from background noise can be a formidable task. This challenge is especially pronounced in the search for extraterrestrial signals, where the faintness of potential signals can be easily lost amidst the cosmic cacophony of noise.

Future Perspectives

Looking ahead, the future of radio wave technology holds promising developments that could enhance our ability to detect and utilize extraterrestrial radio signals. Continuous advancements in radio technology and techniques are being pursued, including the development of phased array systems and sophisticated algorithms for signal processing.

Phased array systems, for instance, allow for the rapid scanning of the sky without the need to physically move antennas. This technology could significantly improve the efficiency of searches for extraterrestrial signals by enabling the simultaneous monitoring of multiple frequencies and areas of the sky. Additionally, advanced signal processing algorithms can help filter out background noise and enhance the detection of faint signals, improving the likelihood of discovering meaningful communications from other civilizations.

Moreover, future missions may leverage radio waves for targeted communication efforts. As our understanding of the cosmos deepens, missions could be designed to send intentional signals to specific star systems that are deemed most likely to harbor intelligent life. This proactive approach, combined with enhanced detection capabilities, could usher in a new era of interstellar communication.

In summary, radio waves remain a cornerstone of communication, with well-established applications on Earth and promising potential in the search for extraterrestrial life. While challenges such as signal degradation and detection difficulties exist, ongoing advancements in technology and methodologies are paving the way for improved communication capabilities. As we continue to explore the cosmos, radio waves will undoubtedly play a crucial role in our quest to connect with potential extraterrestrial civilizations. The future holds exciting possibilities as we strive to unlock the mysteries of the universe, utilizing radio waves as a bridge to the stars.

5. Quantum Codes

Description

Quantum communication is a cutting-edge method that utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics, specifically quantum entanglement, to enable the secure and instantaneous transmission of information over considerable distances. This innovative approach is regarded as the most advanced form of communication available today. The unique characteristics of quantum mechanics, such as the peculiar behavior of particles at the quantum level, allow for a level of security and speed in information exchange that classical communication methods cannot achieve.

Communication Medium

Quantum codes serve as the backbone for creating secure communication channels. These channels leverage quantum properties to ensure that any attempt by eavesdroppers to intercept messages is detected. Essentially, the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics guarantee that any observation or interaction with the quantum state of the system will alter the information being transmitted. Consequently, this makes it theoretically impossible for unauthorized parties to access the transmitted data without leaving a trace. This level of security is a significant advancement over classical encryption methods, which can be vulnerable to sophisticated hacking techniques.

Advantages

1. Security: One of the most compelling advantages of quantum communication is its inherent security. Due to the nature of quantum states, any attempt to observe or interfere with the transmission alters the state itself, thereby alerting the communicating parties to potential eavesdropping. This provides a robust defense against unauthorized access and ensures the confidentiality of the information being exchanged.

2. Speed: Quantum entanglement presents a fascinating opportunity for instantaneous communication across vast distances. This phenomenon challenges traditional notions of information transfer limits, suggesting that it may be possible to convey information almost instantaneously, regardless of the distance separating the sender and receiver. Such a breakthrough could revolutionize not only communication technology but also various fields reliant on rapid data transfer.

Disadvantages

1. Technological Limitations: Despite its potential, quantum communication faces significant technological hurdles. The current methods for generating and maintaining entangled states are still in their infancy and often require complex setups that are difficult to implement on a large scale. As a result, practical applications of quantum communication remain limited at this stage, hindering its widespread adoption.

2. Scalability: Another key challenge is the scalability of quantum communication networks. The fragility of quantum states makes it difficult to establish robust networks that can operate efficiently across extensive geographic areas. Developing infrastructure that can consistently maintain entangled states over long distances is a substantial challenge that researchers and engineers must overcome to realize the full potential of quantum communication.

Future Perspectives

Looking ahead, as advancements in quantum technology continue to progress, the potential for quantum communication to facilitate contact with extraterrestrial civilizations becomes increasingly tantalizing. The unique properties of quantum communication may enable the transmission of messages across interstellar distances, providing a new avenue for exploring the cosmos and potentially establishing communication with intelligent life beyond our planet. Research in this field could lead to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations that make quantum communication not only feasible but also practical for interstellar messaging.

In addition to interstellar communication, the future development of quantum networks may lead to significant benefits for various sectors, including secure data transmission for financial institutions, enhanced cybersecurity measures, and improved communication systems for governmental and military applications. As the technology matures and becomes more accessible, we can anticipate a paradigm shift in how information is transmitted globally, transcending the limitations imposed by classical communication methods.

Moreover, with ongoing research and investment in quantum technologies, there is the potential for collaborative efforts between nations and private enterprises to create a standardized framework for quantum communication. This could foster an international quantum communication infrastructure that enhances global connectivity and security.

In conclusion, quantum codes represent a revolutionary approach to communication that harnesses the principles of quantum mechanics to provide unparalleled security and speed. While challenges remain in terms of technology and scalability, the future of quantum communication holds immense promise. As the field evolves, it could not only transform our understanding of communication but also open new frontiers in our quest for knowledge and interaction with the universe beyond our own. The ongoing exploration of quantum communication may well lead to unforeseen applications and opportunities that could reshape the fabric of human interaction in the years to come.

Conclusion

The exploration of potential communication methods from extraterrestrial civilizations reveals a diverse array of possibilities, each with its unique advantages and challenges. As technology continues to evolve, the feasibility of these communication mediums will be tested in our ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Future advancements in detection, transmission, and signal processing will be crucial in enhancing our capabilities to communicate with civilizations beyond our planet.

In addition to radio waves and light signals, other forms of communication may exist that transcend our current understanding. For instance, some researchers speculate on the potential of using gravitational waves as a means of communication. Gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime caused by massive celestial events like merging black holes, could theoretically carry information across vast distances. While this concept is still largely theoretical, it highlights the diversity of potential communication forms that could exist in the universe.

Another intriguing possibility is the use of quantum communication. Quantum entanglement allows particles to be interconnected in such a way that the state of one can instantaneously influence the state of another, regardless of distance. If extraterrestrial civilizations have mastered quantum communication, they could send messages that are impervious to interception or eavesdropping, vastly improving the security of their communications. However, such methods would require a deep understanding of quantum mechanics and advanced technology, which may or may not align with the capabilities of other civilizations.

Moreover, visual communication methods, such as lasers or even complex patterns of light modulation, can also be considered. The use of lasers has been proposed as a means of signaling across interstellar distances. This method could involve sending modulated pulses of light that convey information, similar to how we use fiber optics on Earth. The challenge with such methods lies in accurately targeting distant stars and the need for powerful enough lasers to ensure the message reaches its destination without significant loss of intensity.

When discussing the question of whether aliens have tried to contact us, it is essential to consider the vastness of the universe and the time scales involved. The Fermi Paradox raises the question of why, given the high probability of life elsewhere in the universe, we have yet to encounter any definitive evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Some theorists argue that advanced civilizations may adopt a policy of non-interference, choosing not to communicate with less developed species, akin to the Prime Directive in science fiction narratives. This perspective suggests that any attempts at communication may go unnoticed or misinterpreted by humanity.

On the other hand, several scientific initiatives have been established to actively search for extraterrestrial signals. Projects like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) use radio telescopes to scan the cosmos for signs of intelligent life. So far, while many signals have been detected, none have been conclusively identified as artificial or originating from extraterrestrial sources. This ongoing search emphasizes both the optimism and the challenges we face in our quest for contact.

Additionally, the discovery of exoplanets in the habitable zone of their stars has expanded our understanding of where life might exist. Future missions to these planets could provide invaluable insights into their atmospheres and potential signals, further enhancing our chances of making contact. The recent advancements in astrobiology, combined with technological innovations in communication and detection, increase the likelihood that we may one day receive a message from beyond our world.

In conclusion, the quest for communication with extraterrestrial civilizations encompasses a wide range of methods, each with its own set of challenges and potential. The evolution of our technology and understanding of physics may eventually allow us to bridge the vast distances between stars and engage in meaningful dialogue with other intelligent beings. While the question of whether aliens have already attempted to contact us remains unanswered, the ongoing search fuels our curiosity and drives scientific inquiry, reminding us of our place in the cosmos and the possibility of connection beyond our own world. As we continue to explore and innovate, the dream of interstellar communication may one day become a reality, opening new avenues of understanding and collaboration across the universe.

{ PETER2011 }

11-04-2025 om 22:08 geschreven door peter  

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11-04-2025 om 20:44 geschreven door peter