Advanced alien civilizations could communicate using a series of flashing lights, much like fireflies do, a new paper hints. Researchers say this will potentially make it more difficult to detect aliens if we continue to rely on our current observation methods.
However, while this thought experiment raises interesting questions about alien intelligence, it does not provide any evidence that these signals actually exist.
Until now, attempts to uncover alien intelligence have focused on finding evidence of distant humanoid civilizations. For example, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), the world's leading organization dedicated to the search for alien life, spends much of its time searching for radio signals from distant exoplanets or heat generated by technological megastructuresfor example, the theoretical Dyson sphere.
However, some scientists believe that this search suffers from “anthropocentric bias”—that is, we try to understand non-human beings through a purely human lens—and fails to take into account potential civilizations that are completely different from our own. This bias can cause us to miss promising signs of life.
In a new study uploaded Nov. 8 to a preprint server. arXivResearchers have proposed a new way for alien civilizations to communicate – by blinking at each other like fireflies. These flashing signals can be used for specific and complex communication. However, researchers say they are likely broadcast widely to other civilizations, like a glowing, repeating beacon. (This article has not yet been peer-reviewed but is currently being considered for publication in the journal PNAS.)
On Earth, fireflies communicate through a series of regularly recurring outbreaks caused by internal chemical reactions. These flashes are mainly used to find mates. But although these signals are simple, they allow different species of fireflies to tell each other apart.
Researchers claim that such blinking could be used by an alien civilization as a “here we are” signal. And the space is replete with repeated flashes of light.
In a new paper, researchers analyzed outbreaks of more than 150 pulsars – rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars that emit regular beams of electromagnetic radiation – as an example of what these signals might look like. While they found no evidence of any man-made signals, they did note some similarities between pulsars and firefly signals and suggested ways to detect future firefly-like bursts from other natural objects such as pulsars.
The research team argues that these signals are more likely to evolve in resilient alien civilizations that overcome the need for extensive use of radio waves. Similar progress is already happening on Earth, where the use communications satellites with more specific and concentrated radio signals From afar, our planet appears more “radio quiet,” the researchers write.
And just because we can it’s not natural to think to communicate this way“This does not mean that other civilizations will not do this,” they added.
“Communication is a fundamental feature of intergenerational life and comes in a wonderful variety of forms and strategies,” study co-author. Estelle Janindoctoral student at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, recently spoke Universe today. “Taking into account non-human communication is essential if we are to expand our intuition and understanding of what alien communication might look like and what a theory of life should explain.”
This is just one example of what non-human signals might look like, and the researchers encourage others to think outside of anthropocentric boxes to come up with other ways for non-human civilizations to communicate.
“Our study is intended as a provocative thought experiment and an invitation for SETI and animal communication research to interact more directly and build on each other's ideas more systematically,” Janin said.
