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Extraterrestrial

SETI could detect alien particle accelerators

By T.K. Randall
March 21, 2015 · Comment icon 22 comments

Could ET be conducting experiments with black holes ? Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The search for extraterrestrial life could be helped along by seeking out cosmic science experiments.
For years the SETI Institute has focused its efforts on picking up radio signals from an alien civilization, but what if there was something else that we could detect from a lot further away ?

Dr Brian Lacki, an astrophysicist at Princeton University, has put forward the idea that a sufficiently advanced alien race may be conducting large scale science experiments in deep space by using black holes to build immensely powerful particle accelerators.

Dr Lacki maintains that if such a thing exists anywhere in the universe it should be possible for us to detect some of the ultra-high-energy particles that it would be producing.
The premise assumes that an advanced alien race would be just as interested in learning more about the universe as we are and could engage in far more challenging experiments.

One downside to the idea however is that any detectable bursts would only be temporary.

"My main problem is that once the experiments are done, there would be no need to keep the thing running, so unless there are mega-machines like this popping up all over the place, there would be only transient pulses," said Paul Davies of Arizona State University.

Source: Physics World | Comments (22)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #13 Posted by Hammerclaw 9 years ago
There are numerous naturally occurring particle accelerators in the Universe, thus there is no way to discriminate to the best of my knowledge. I could be wrong, of course. Cheers, Badeskov I would posit that everything electromagnetic has it's own unique signature. Whether something is detectable and not susceptible to attenuation over immense interstellar distance or shredded by solar and background radiation is the question. Weak signals might not make it very far past the Heliopause.
Comment icon #14 Posted by Aardvark-DK 9 years ago
Particle Accel. using Black Hole as a power source ? That must been a hell of a keg party that scientist has attended. And agree to Badeskov, aliens with wooden clubs doesnt give a detectable trace..
Comment icon #15 Posted by badeskov 9 years ago
I would posit that everything electromagnetic has it's own unique signature. Whether something is detectable and not susceptible to attenuation over immense interstellar distance or shredded by solar and background radiation is the question. Weak signals might not make it very far past the Heliopause. So, as I understand it, we would never detect anything electromagnetic from that event. Whatever electromagnetic field is used to accelerate particles in a particle accelerator would simply not be detectable - we would only be able to detect the by products of the the particle collisions, and eve... [More]
Comment icon #16 Posted by DONTEATUS 9 years ago
We can wait until the Cows get tipped, or the Sun burns out. We are it Lets make this Planet a better Place for us to Live on ! Time to open the Think tanks,and Lets All chip in for a Good Long Ride through the Universe ! Afterall were Traveling quite Fast Right Now Are we Not ?
Comment icon #17 Posted by Nefer-Ankhe 9 years ago
We can wait until the Cows get tipped, or the Sun burns out. We are it Lets make this Planet a better Place for us to Live on ! Time to open the Think tanks,and Lets All chip in for a Good Long Ride through the Universe ! Afterall were Traveling quite Fast Right Now Are we Not ? I'd prefer we find a habitable planet and advance our space travel, so when the sun does burn out, the human kind survives and proceeds!
Comment icon #18 Posted by qxcontinuum 9 years ago
how possible is when our sun dies, to dig down underneath moving the entire civilisation close to the core? Apparently earths core is so similar to the sun. engineers will have to dig holes to bring oxygen from the surface first but then growing plants should create an ecosystem, assumingly there is flat empty surface allowing it.
Comment icon #19 Posted by S2F 9 years ago
how possible is when our sun dies, to dig down underneath moving the entire civilisation close to the core? Before our sun 'dies' its size will grow to encompass the Earth's orbit. It doesn't take much to imagine what would happen at that point.
Comment icon #20 Posted by toast 9 years ago
what if an alien society lives happily as having simple lives in their nature without advanced technology These aliens would not pick up the phone because they dont have any.
Comment icon #21 Posted by Noteverythingisaconspiracy 9 years ago
how possible is when our sun dies, to dig down underneath moving the entire civilisation close to the core? Apparently earths core is so similar to the sun. engineers will have to dig holes to bring oxygen from the surface first but then growing plants should create an ecosystem, assumingly there is flat empty surface allowing it. How is the earths core similar to the sun ? The only thing I can see that is similar is that they are both hot. If humanity is still alive when the sun dies, it would be much more logical to relocate to another solar system. Provided we find the right one, that would... [More]
Comment icon #22 Posted by mynameisachu 9 years ago
interesting fact in earth history almost every time a more advanced civilization met a less advanced one the less advanced ones get screwed and instead of getting less aggressive we just get more sneaky... now lets search fore super advanced alien life, that can not be none smarty right?


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