It wasn’t long after the invention of radio technology towards the end of the 19th century that scientists considered using the new medium to contact beings on other planets in the Solar System with Mars being the first target. However, with the early probes to Mars and Venus showing no Read more
When will we find life? That question has been in the mind of quite a lot of people at one point or another… Well at least those of us who are interested in space travel and exploration. It is however, becoming an ever more common question for the general public, especially Read more
Back to our search for aliens in the second installment of the Astrobiology Series!
Astrobiology is the study of life on planets or moons other than the Earth. But, to search for life, we must first know what life is. And that might not be as simple a task as you’d think. It turns out that ‘life’ might just be an arbitrary definition that Read more
With Space Exploration comes theories and conspiracies. In our latest blog we debunk some of the more infamous ones.
A team of scientists in Australia are scanning the Universe for signals from extraterrestrial life. Professor Matthew Bailes, based at Swinburne University in Melbourne, is the lead scientist in this project funded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner. Milner has donated $100 million and has the support of Professor Stephen Hawking. Read more
Are we alone in the Universe? This is an age old question that has been the driving force for our ventures into space exploration. And with the record breaking discovery of 7 exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, it definitely feels like we could be on the cusp of an Read more
Dyson spheres are an outrageous concept. The idea of looking for alien megastructures in space appeared at the end of the 1950s and was widely discussed in speculations about searching for extraterrestrial civilisations. It also inspired some great science fiction novels. Today the idea seemed to have faded into obscurity, Read more
If aliens use Twitter would you send them a Tweet? What would you write to beings from another star in just 144 characters? You now have the chance to do just that and send a potential extra-terrestrial civilisation a message using the recently launched Lone Signal Project. Anyone can send Read more
Was it a contact from other life forms out there? Was it a satellite or spacecraft? Or was it a computer glitch? The WOW signal still continues to create intrigue to this day. It is coming up to the 35th anniversary of its discovery so I decided to find out Read more
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Contact”, “2001: A Space Odyssey” and many other movies have depicted the first contact between humans and aliens. Do scientists really listen for messages from extraterrestrials? Are they prepared if they ever do pick up anything? Martina Redpath investigates. We all at some point Read more
Searching for life elsewhere in the Universe is a fascinating endeavour. It is is not a recent idea either. Astronomers in the 1800s used telescopes to search for signs of life and even civilization elsewhere in the Solar System. Some even believed they saw signs of intelligent life on Mars Read more
Fifty years of SETI with radio telescopes has so far proved negative. We have found no messages of peace and goodwill, no galactic internet, no extraterrestrial propaganda or advertising. No starships full of aliens have arrived on Earth to befriend us or to eat us, while our galaxy seems Read more