Breakthough Listen is a scientific research program that is focusing on finding evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life outside our planet.
What is Breakthough Listen about?
Thanks to the support that research has with technology, it is intended to reach accurate conclusions about what is going on out there. Throughout the years we have always heard news about the intentions of searching for extraterrestrial intelligent life, however, there has not yet been any finding that shows us repeatedly that other beings do exist.
Breakthough Listen aims to find anomalies in the variations of starlight in other solar systems, something they take as a starting point to be able to find signs of the use of alien technology.
How does Breakthough Listen work?
According to the official information provided by Breakthough Listen on its website, the instruments used in the research are some of the most powerful in the world. Thanks to the extreme sensitivity they possess, their visions and perceptions exceed 50 times those of the most advanced telescopes dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. According to the brand, they are sensitive enough to hear a traditional aircraft radar transmitting from any of the thousand stars closest to earth.
What have they discovered in the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life?
So far, the Breakthough Listen team has taken a close look at data from the Kepler space observatory. There they have been able to identify more than two hundred exoplanets that have provided various anomalous signals. About ten of these traces had to be eliminated due to inconclusive data and limitations in the software modeling.
For now, research on extraterrestrial intelligent life has not yet been completed. This study is expected to serve as a platform for further research. Thus creating much more ambitious projects in the near future. For this purpose, information collected from several telescopes would be taken as reference data. Those that for years have been used to search for extraterrestrials before.
Experts give their opinion on the project
Andrew Siemion, the principal investigator of Breakthrough Listen as well as director of Berkeley SETI, opined that this project is one of the “biggest breakthroughs in SETI in a long time.” They use, to a large extent, the Green Bank Telescope, which is located in the West Virginia Valley.
As he explained, it was the first time they have had a technique that will allow them to differentiate any important signal from radio frequency interference. The expert considered this to be surprising.
SETI Institute has more than a hundred scientists working on all kinds of topics related to extraterrestrial intelligent life, astrobiology and artificial intelligence projects. Breakthrough Listen is being carried out thanks to the support of COSMIC, a data processing system created by the SETI Institute. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is also collaborating with them.
