The Alien Civilization Search Program Breakthrough Listen detects 11 unique signals

The "Breakthrough Listen Program" funded by a Russian Oligarch has reported they've detected 11 "interesting signals" out of millions analyzed. They apparently have a global network of radio telescopes and $100 Million in the bank. This intrigues me because it's not a government run operation, it's a private non profit funded and run by people who are sincerely looking for ET.

The opening sentence on their webpage states they are looking for extra terrestrial civilizations, not amoebas or bacteria, full on civilizations.

breakthroughinitiatives.org...

While the 11 "hits" certainly don't prove there are alien civilizations out there, at least we have a well funded and hopefully not over politicized group of scientists and researchers looking for them. The big question is will anyone accept their data should they find a genuine "wow" signal? The big boys - NASA, ESA, JAXA, CNSA, SETI, etc... would have some serious egg on their faces if an upstart operation created in 2015 and funded by Russian Oligarch managed to discover the Space Brothers before them wouldn't they?

I think I'm going to keep an eye on this one, I'd also like to know what you all think about it and the signals they captured?

a reply to: Springer

They could detect a 100 watt laser (the energy of a normal household bulb) from 25 trillion miles away. Listen combines these instruments with innovative software and data analysis techniques. The initiative will span 10 years and commit a total of $100,000,000.

Very interesting. Though I think that any finding will most likely be dismissed as cosmic noise or something of the sort.

Also:

has released its 11 events ranked highest for significance as well as summary data analysis results. It is considered unlikely that any of these signals originate from artificial extraterrestrial sources, but the search continues.

Emphasis mine. I will keep an eye on this project. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

a reply to: Springer

This caught my eye:

They are 50 times more sensitive than existing telescopes dedicated to the search for intelligence.

Which lead me to this article which has more detail on the search. It seems this will be part of SETI@Home.

Makes you wonder why someone would put up that kind of coin without some inside information. Billionaires usually don't get rich investing millions just for fun. I wonder if he managed to get some secret information that would cause one to invest 100 mill on a seemingly futile project.

a reply to: jtrenthacker

I'd say that's a good question, my assumption is he's a believer who has put his money where his interests are, but I like the inside information angle.

a reply to: jtrenthacker

There are 7 billion people on the planet. If they actually find a credible signal the news story alone will generate millions of dollars for the investor.

Meh, its nice to see this all happening. We all know space is vast and infinite. Lets say this is all true and we do recieve a message from a star system estimated at least 100 light years away. The time it would take to decipher it and to determine a way of sending it could take years or decades, not to mention the time it takes to send any kind of reply signal through space using our current limited technology.

Need a visual? Here is a youtube video explaining why getting a message from an ET source is inevitably futile for now.

maybe im just jaded but im instantly skeptical whenever i hear about a non profit making a statement that goes to further their goal. especially when u see the profits the top people take home working their non profit job. cant wait to hear other peoples take on this once they go through the data they have released. heres a link to the news story from their website and it also provides the links to getting that data.

Breakthrough Initiative

I too, will be monitoring this story to see if it has legs. We are getting better and better at being able to detect signals from space. I do believe it will happen, some type of a "wow" signal, either radio or light transmission very soon, maybe within years the way we are advancing. Lets hope this story goes somewhere!

a reply to: Springer

I like too that its a private organization, that means that every bit of money they have will go DIRECTLY WHERE they want.....instead of other initiatives by some bureaucrats........

I truly believe it will be the private sector that brings us news of life out there.......

Bar none, the private sector consistently does things better than gov organizations.......

originally posted by: 4N0M4LY
Meh, its nice to see this all happening. We all know space is vast and infinite. Lets say this is all true and we do recieve a message from a star system estimated at least 100 light years away. The time it would take to decipher it and to determine a way of sending it could take years or decades, not to mention the time it takes to send any kind of reply signal through space using our current limited technology.

Need a visual? Here is a youtube video explaining why getting a message from an ET source is inevitably futile for now.

The reply doesnt so much matter as much as the confirmation.........

You can act "meh" about it yeah "Meh even if we do get communication it will take forever" but the implications of just confirming ET life out there would change everything regardless if we could communicate back.........

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

The confirmation does sound nice but the question is what does it change for us? How big of an impact and how long the impact will last on society?

Will it usher in world peace? Will it change religion? Societal norms? Mass hysteria? Global panic? A complete change in how people view the universe? These are the questions I'm currently interested in. What are we looking at.

a reply to: Springer

You might be interested in the breakthroughstarshot, which I imagine is part of the initiative and has the same source.
A fully functioning nano spacecraft that would reach AC in twenty years. That's not just listening, that's like being there....somewhere!

a reply to: Springer

The big boys - NASA, ESA, JAXA, CNSA, SETI, etc... would have some serious egg on their faces if an upstart operation created in 2015 and funded by Russian Oligarch managed to discover the Space Brothers before them wouldn't they?

Or reveal what ignominious Alphabet agencies have kept quiet all along: the Universe is full of life.

Having difficulty believing the billion's spent so far haven't intercepted any 'traffic', yet.

image

a reply to: 4N0M4LY

The confirmation does sound nice but the question is what does it change for us? How big of an impact and how long the impact will last on society?

Much larger than you would think I would quite imagine, everything from the religious to the political, to peoples philosophy on life , to even showing up to work.........

You have seen how simple small political posts on FB can wreak havoc for a week or a year with large groups of people.....

What do you think world wide confirmation of extraterrestrial life would do????

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

For me it changes nothing. I always have known simply through logical thought processes. Everyone else who seem to think that the entire universe is there to be looked at for their own personal enjoyment, I cannot say. Their minds will be blown and I figure some will out right try to deny it and claim it as a hoax.

That's the thing about society, it really hasn't changed much since 50 years ago. People are still uneducated and ignorant of the fact that there is life beyond our little blue marble of a planet and life possibly existing beyond our 3 dimensions.

The public must know the truth either way, the longer they are kept from the truth worse off it will be.

I know for a fact the devout religious types will either think it is the end times or question their religious texts or question the validity of the findings for sure. LOL.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
a reply to: Springer

Bar none, the private sector consistently does things better than gov organizations.......

Nonsense. How about the education of lower socioeconomic classes, free healthcare, or improved social mobility? The private sector fares terribly in all these areas (which some might say are pretty damn important). It succeeds only where it can outspend gov't departments and where it can cherry-pick it's clientele.

On topic, remember that the US and Russian governments funded and supported the space race of the 60s, and therefore all achievements of that era are applicable to gov't agencies. I note in particular NASA were able to get to the moon in 7 years from Kennedy's speech. By contrast, how long have the private space industries been active, and what have their major successes been to date?
There's no comparison.

There's far too much ill-informed extreme right-wing 'theory' in the world.

So a private businessman with interests in finding aliens has found alien signals
Mmm
I find this interesting but not on the same level as others

a reply to: Springer

I remember when the program was announced , glad to hear they have some results.
11 is a good number and although there's likely a natural explanation for them there is also a chance at least one will be unexplainable.

As to your question ,there are many non-government affiliated scientists out there who will happily go over the data when it is released , all it will take for me to get excited is for a few of those to confirm something unknown.

I think it would be great if a privately funded organization discovers evidence for others out there.

a reply to: Springer

I didn't know much about this group until seeing your post. The board of directors gives the group legitimacy, which I'm glad to see.

Any of these hits should be able to be verified by other scientists. Scientists are a collaborative lot, building on each other's discoveries. So I don't think anyone will feel like they have egg on their face. They'll be able to take findings, test them, build more experiments based on them, and contribute to knowledge overall.

While looking for E.T. is something that gets a lot of attention, it's the incremental advances that NASA and other groups make that move our civilization forward.

The project they're undertaking that sounds really exciting is the nano crafts they're sending to other star systems.