Listening In On Aliens
It's time to get far out — NASA has recently approved funding for its new program CATS, or Categorizing Atmospheric Technosignatures, which may aid in identifying technologically advanced civilizations on alien worlds.
The previous ethos in searching for such civilizations had been to look for deliberate messages sent towards Earth, like a universal mathematical constant (Pi, the Fibonacci sequence) broadcast at hydrogen’s electromagnetic frequency. But now the gears have shifted to look for spillover frequencies — just as our presence on Earth produces massive amounts of electromagnetic signs and disruptions to our atmosphere, other advanced civilizations would produce something similar.
The idea of a spillover frequency is not new. In fact, science fiction authors have been aware of the concept for sometime. There's plenty of novels and movies where broadcasts from Earth accidentally make their way to alien worlds without us knowing it. This would be a reverse of that scenario though; instead of aliens stumbling across our radio waves, we're looking for theirs.
This project will make use of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, examining distant exoplanets for telltale signs of alien life. Much of the focus will be on industrial byproducts like chlorofluorocarbons and nitrogen dioxide, both of which would indicate intelligent life and could be identified by the JWST’s sensors. There’s also the technological footprint to consider--just as we have left our mark on the solar system with innumerable rovers, satellites, and space junk, a comparably advanced civilization will have also made its mark across its celestial neighborhood.
Of course, the CATS program is no guarantee of finding extraterrestrial life. There is a lot of noise out there to parse through but it’s still providing a better understanding of both the universe out there, and is a reminder of the effect we’re having on our own planet too.
Featured Product
Boeing 747 - EI-BED Horizontal Stabilizer
Latest News
-
Mar 19, 2025 The Top 5 Most Expensive Star Wars Collectibles Ever Sold Read More -
Mar 19, 2025 The Biggest Dinosaurs to Walk The Earth Read More -
Mar 18, 2025 The Largest Meteorites Ever Discovered on Earth Read More -
Mar 18, 2025 The Top 5 Most Expensive Beatles Collectibles Ever Sold Read More -
Mar 13, 2025 From the Cavern Club to Apple Corps: The Rise & Fall of the Beatles Read More -
Mar 11, 2025 The Mysterious Origin of the St. Mark's Square Lion! Read More
Cool Things!
The Mysterious Origin of the St. Mark's Square Lion!
Keeping a watchful eye over what Napoleon knew as “the drawing room of Europe,” the winged lion of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, is a majestic sight. The origin of this iconic statue has been cloaked in mystery, but in September of 2024, a group of chemists, archaeologists, geologists, and art historians shed more light on this sculpture’s story.
The Hun Family Tree
NASA's Telescope Spots a Nebula That Looks Like a Hamburger!
Specimen Deep Dives
Returning to the Moon: The Apollo 14 Mission
The Secrets of the Space Shuttle: Learn about Mini Museum's Shuttle Tile Material!
Gondwana: When the Earth Was One
Long Form Articles
The Top 5 Most Expensive Star Wars Collectibles Ever Sold
When Star Wars debuted in theaters on May 25th, 1977, it launched an international phenomenon spanning decades of film history. Today, the series has had countless spinoffs, tv shows, books, and merchandising emblazoned with its characters and symbols, for which fans are ready to part with a pretty penny. Here are the top 5 most expensive Star Wars memorabilia items ever sold.
The Biggest Dinosaurs to Walk The Earth
For 165 million years across the Mesozoic Era, dinosaurs reached incredible, towering sizes, but curiously the evidence suggests the largest came at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. This may seem ironic. After all, larger animals have smaller populations and require more food, thus making them susceptible to environmental stresses. On the flip side, if a large animal is able to survive a mass die-off, their genetic predisposition to a large size will quickly spread in a reduced population. This is what we see in the Late Cretaceous: dinosaurs of many different clades reaching their apex.
The Largest Meteorites Ever Discovered on Earth
Meteorites have fascinated humans since we first started looking up into the night sky. Since then, our ability to track and study them has greatly improved, but the fascination remains. Here is a countdown of the 5 largest meteorites ever found!