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…
Continuing our weekly series on the application of astronomy to technology, we have an piece written by Dmitrij Bisikalo; Professor at The Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Astronomy and the President of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission B1 on Computational Astrophysics. In this piece, he outlines the link between Read more…
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…
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…
There are around 3000 human-made satellites in working order around the Earth, however if the debris of old and damaged satellites are taken into account the number increases dramatically. Ever since the Soviet Union launched the very first artificial satellite into orbit in 1957, various countries around the world have 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…
Tachyons, hypothetical sub-atomic particles which travel faster than light, once attracted a lot of publicity yet we do not hear much discussion of them today. Whatever happened to tachyons? Over a century ago, Albert Einstein anticipated odd things happening on a spaceship travelling at speeds close to that of Read more…
Music can be a great way to relax and unwind. Many people play an instrument, are part of a band or enjoying listening to their favourite song on the radio or TV. The iPod generation have music available to them at any time with their portable devices. Enjoying music however, 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…
NASA has photographed an alien building on the surface of the Moon! Hearing news like this certainly makes one sit up and pay attention, but is it is correct? I heard about this from the Following the Nerd blog which featured a large image of the Moon centred on its 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…