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Scientists hear ‘huge’, mysterious and repeating signal from deep in space

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E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
A bit of background regarding FRB "fast radio bursts"

A fast radio burst (FRB) is a high-energy astrophysical phenomenon manifested as a transient radio pulse lasting only a few milliseconds. They are bright, unresolved, broadband, millisecond flashes, found in parts of the sky outside the Milky Way. The burst is delayed by different amounts of time, depending on the wavelength. This delay is described by a value called a dispersion measure. Fast radio bursts have dispersion measures much larger than expected for a source inside the Milky Way,[1] and consistent with propagation through an ionized plasma.[2]

The origin of fast radio bursts is not known: they are generally thought to be extragalactic due to the anomalously high amount of pulse dispersion observed. It has been speculated that they might be signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.[3][4]

Fast radio bursts are identified by the date the signal was recorded, as "YYMMDD" - e.g. one on 26 June 2011 would be called FRB 110626.[5] The first found is FRB 010621. On 19 January 2015, astronomers at Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) reported that, for the first time, a fast radio burst had been observed live (at Parkes).[6]
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Now scientists have found that at least some of those bursts repeat themselves.

The wording is a bid unscientific, but regardless:
Scientists have heard a long, repeated sound from deep in space — and nobody is sure where it is coming from.

Astronomers found 10 millisecond-long “fast radio bursts”, the latest example of a mysterious radio wave coming from outside of our galaxy.

Scientists had previously thought that the bursts were singular events. But a new study finds that at least some of the sources send out repeated messages.

The finding adds to other strange discoveries about the fast radio bursts that seem to indicate that there may be something unusual causing them. Scientists said last year that some of the messages appear to be coming in a pattern — one that could even be created by alien technology.

[...]

Previously, scientists had thought that message was coming from something like the collision of neutron stars, sending a shockwave of energy across the universe. But the new findings show that the source of the energy isn’t being destroyed, since they send out more than one burst.

"In our paper, we're showing that our FRB can't have an explosive origin,” said Shami Chatterjee, a senior researcher at Cornell, in a statement. “So, either there's an odd coincidence, or maybe there are different types of FRBs.
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G

Garrett Hawke

Member
serenewarfare said:
Forward this news to Trump. He'll build a wall, and make the aliens pay for it.
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ijLyeza.gif
 
R

ryutaro's mama

Member
It's a distress signal from an Earth-like planet, warning other planets about the endgame to climate change.

It was their final broadcast.
 
P

Parch

Member
Previously, scientists had thought that message was coming from something like the collision of neutron stars, sending a shockwave of energy across the universe. But the new findings show that the source of the energy isn’t being destroyed, since they send out more than one burst.
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Could this possibly be some sort of interaction with a pulsar? That could explain the repeat-ability.
 
HarryKS

HarryKS

Member
It's the sound of your mom falling. She's so fat it traveled across the universe and it's echoing back.
 
T

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
The clones have nearly evolved enough to understand the signal. We crossed them with monkeys for increased survivability, although this may have been a mistake due to their inherent aggressive nature. A millennium from now, if they survive, they will send signals back. At that time we will absorb them into the database.
 
M

Mechanized

Member
We are pretty much at the mercy of whatever alien species finds us first. Better hope they're friendly or we're fucked. It won't be like movies, we'll be extinguished in an instant. Or much worse, used as food, energy sources, slaves, god knows what else. Aliens are always thought of in a human way, the reality could be much different. Invisible gas monsters that absorb water in all forms(we're around 90% water).
 
A

aGuyInaBearSuit

Member
Mechanized said:
We are pretty much at the mercy of whatever alien species finds us first. Better hope they're friendly or we're fucked. It won't be like movies, we'll be extinguished in an instant. Or much worse, used as food, energy sources, slaves, god knows what else. Aliens are always thought of in a human way, the reality could be much different. Invisible gas monsters that absorb water in all forms(we're around 90% water).
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And even in the off chance they were nice, we'd probably find a way to provoke them anyways.

Humanity, historically, has been kind of a dick.
 
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