Radio-burst discovery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Radio-burst discovery deepens astrophysics mystery

Brief pulse detected by Arecibo telescope appears to come from far beyond our galaxy

The discovery of a split-second burst of radio waves by scientists using the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico provides important new evidence of mysterious pulses that appear to come from deep in outer space.

The finding by an international team of astronomers, published July 10 in The Astrophysical Journal, marks the first time that a so-called “fast radio burst” has been detected using an instrument other than the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Scientists using the Parkes Observatory have recorded a handful of such events, but the lack of any similar findings by other facilities had led to speculation that the Australian instrument might have been picking up signals originating from sources on or near Earth.

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Edited July 10, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf

[spud the mackem]

If this radio burst came from an intelligent source, why would it be transmitted for only a split second....I would like to think that it did come from other space dwellers but I don't think so...I'm hoping that one day we might get a reply from the signals we send out , but we probably wouldn't recognise it unless it was a series of numbers.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

If this radio burst came from an intelligent source, why would it be transmitted for only a split second....

We aren't talking about a single burst here. There are multiple bursts from multiple sources.

While fast radio bursts last just a few thousandths of a second and have rarely been detected, the international team of scientists reporting the Arecibo finding confirm previous estimates that these strange cosmic bursts occur roughly 10,000 times a day over the whole sky. This astonishingly large number is inferred by calculating how much sky was observed, and for how long, in order to make the few detections that have so far been reported.

If they are coming from all directions it seems almost certain that these are natural phenomenon.

[JVG]

We live in a amazing time of discovery, maybe not for our generation but certainly for the next generations that follow...

[Imaginarynumber1]

In any case, I am interested to know just what is causing these radio bursts. Ive read of them before but do not know enough of the subject to even hazard an guess. I leave that up to better men than I. Well, more knowledgeable in such areas, at least.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

May I suggest that the Spirituality vs Skepticism forum is an appropriate place to discuss intelligent design... a topic on radio signals from deep space isn't.

[spud the mackem]

We aren't talking about a single burst here. There are multiple bursts from multiple sources.

If they are coming from all directions it seems almost certain that these are natural phenomenon.

Understood ,over and out.

[toast]

If this radio burst came from an intelligent source, why would it be transmitted for only a split second....

Ok, if: Economic reasons. More sending distance require more x-mitter power at the senders end so it is of economical benefit

to keep the time of transmission as short as possible and the higher the data compression rate the shorter a signal will/must be.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Ok, if: Economic reasons. More sending distance require more x-mitter power at the senders end so it is of economical benefit

to keep the time of transmission as short as possible and the higher the data compression rate the shorter a signal will/must be.

The problem with that is that radio waves have a long wavelength and are therefore very poor for compressing large amounts of data into very short bursts. This is why we are moving to fibre-optics/laser communications.

[toast]

The problem with that is that radio waves have a long wavelength and are therefore very poor for compressing large

amounts of data into very short bursts. This is why we are moving to fibre-optics/laser communications.

Yeah but who knows what radio wave technology Spock&friends would use.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Thread cleaned

Let's try and see if we can stay on topic please.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Yeah but who knows what radio wave technology Spock&friends would use.

This is a fundamental property of wavelength, technology isn't going to change that.

I'll see your Spock and raise you a Montgomery Scott:

Ye cannae change the laws o' physics

[toast]

This is a fundamental property of wavelength, technology isn't going to change that.

Yeah but some Idontknowyet-waves maybe.

I'll see your Spock and raise you a Montgomery Scott:

Watching the old ones I`m always waiting for the standard dialogue and that I`m missing in the new ones:

S: captain, we have to maintain the °°@$%-module.

K: how long will it take to maintain the °°@$%-module, scotty?

S: uhm, I would say 48hrs, captain.

K: scotty, you will have 1

S: ok captain.

Edited July 11, 2014 by toast

[taniwha]

It might help if we could somehow see radio waves, maybe in future such translation will be possible.