|
| Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain |
A team of physicists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has
collaborated on a paper that discusses the possibility of using the Laser
Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) to search for evidence
of aliens piloting huge spacecraft around the Milky Way. They group has
posted their paper on the arXiv preprint server.
Over the past several decades, astrophysicists and sci-fi enthusiasts alike
have grown increasingly frustrated with mankind's inability to detect the
presence of life anywhere in the universe other than planet Earth.
Scientists have noted that based on the billions of planets that have been
found in habitable zones around the universe, and the fact that life does
exist in one place, on Earth, there should be life somewhere else, too.
The problem, now referred to as the Fermi paradox, is that scientists have
yet to find even the tiniest shred of evidence for it. Prominent scientists
have increasingly begun calling for new and more exotic ways to search.
In this new effort, the researchers note that science has advanced to the
point that gravity waves can be detected by technology such as LIGO. They
further suggest that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that aliens
piloting spacecraft could leave gravity waves in their wake that could be
detected here on Earth using such technology.
Intrigued by their own idea, the researchers imagined the factors that might
be involved for such a scenario to unfold. First, they factored the size of
such a craft. They found it would have to be really big to generate gravity
waves strong enough to reach Earth—perhaps the size of Jupiter.
It would also have to be moving really fast—their calculations showed
approximately 1/10 the speed of light. And it would have to be reasonably
close—say about 326,000 light-years from Earth. They note that under such
conditions, if they were to arise, researchers at LIGO should be able to
spot the gravity waves generated.
The researchers also note that if aliens are using warp drives, scientists
on Earth should be able to spot them, too, using the same technology,
because such a craft would also generate gravity waves.
Reference:
Luke Sellers et al, Searching for Intelligent Life in Gravitational Wave
Signals Part I: Present Capabilities and Future Horizons, arXiv (2022).
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.02065
Tags:
Space & Astrophysics