Strange fast radio bursts that could be 'signals from aliens' are firing off every second in the universe
Experts had never seen anything like fast radio bursts (FRBs) before 2001
Some speculate they may be signals sent from intelligent life in the universe
Harvard experts extrapolated data from one repeating FRB called 121102
If this is representative of all FRBs then they may be firing every moment
By Tim Collins For Mailonline
Published: 05:38 EDT, 22 September 2017 | Updated: 05:42 EDT, 22 September 2017
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4909344/Alien-signal-fast-radio-bursts-firing-second.htmlScientists searching for fast radio bursts that some believe may be signals sent from aliens may be happening every second.
What was once thought to be a rare phenomenon might be occurring each and every moment of the day, experts say.
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are radio emissions that appear temporarily and randomly, making them not only hard to find, but also hard to study.
The mystery stems from the fact it is not known what could produce such a short and sharp burst.
If the mysterious phenomena is indeed a sign of intelligent life in the universe, the latest findings could suggest it is far more widespread than previously thought.
Scientists searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs) that some believe may be signals sent from aliens may be happening every second. The blue points in this artist's impression of the filamentary structure of galaxies that extends across the entire sky are signals from FRBs
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Scientists searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs) that some believe may be signals sent from aliens may be happening every second. The blue points in this artist's impression of the filamentary structure of galaxies that extends across the entire sky are signals from FRBs
FAST RADIO BURSTS
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are radio emissions that appear temporarily and randomly, making them not only hard to find, but also hard to study.
The mystery stems from the fact it is not known what could produce such a short and sharp burst.
This has led some to speculate they could be anything from stars colliding to artificially created messages.
The first FRB was spotted, or rather 'heard' by radio telescopes, back in 2007.
But it was so temporary and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree it wasn't a glitch in one of the telescope's instruments.
Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA) have estimated how many Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) should occur over the entire observable universe.
Their work indicates that at least one FRB is going off somewhere every second.
When fast radio bursts (FRBs), were first detected in 2001, astronomers had never seen anything like them before.
Since then, they have found a couple of dozen FRBs, but they still don't know what causes these rapid and powerful bursts of radio emission.
Anastasia Fialkov of the CFA, who led the study, said: 'If we are right about such a high rate of FRBs happening at any given time, you can imagine the sky is filled with flashes like paparazzi taking photos of a celebrity.
'Instead of the light we can see with our eyes, these flashes come in radio waves.
'In the time it takes you to drink a cup of coffee, hundreds of FRBs may have gone off somewhere in the Universe,' added study co-author Avi Loeb.
'If we can study even a fraction of those well enough, we should be able to unravel their origin.'
To make their estimate, the scientists assumed that FRB 121102, a fast radio burst located in a galaxy about three billion light years away, is representative of all FRBs.
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If the mysterious phenomena is indeed a sign of intelligent life in the universe, it could suggest it is far more widespread than previously thought. Data from the FRB 121102 was gathered using the Green Bank Telescope (pictured)
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If the mysterious phenomena is indeed a sign of intelligent life in the universe, it could suggest it is far more widespread than previously thought. Data from the FRB 121102 was gathered using the Green Bank Telescope (pictured)
WHY STUDY FRBS?
The Harvard team point out that FRBs can be used to study the structure and evolution of the Universe whether or not their origin is fully understood.
A large population of faraway FRBs could act as probes of material across gigantic distances.
This intervening material blurs the signal from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the left over radiation from the Big Bang.
A careful study of this intervening material should give an improved understanding of basic cosmic constituents, such as the relative amounts of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy, which affect how rapidly the universe is expanding.
FRBs can also be used to trace what broke down the 'fog' of hydrogen atoms that pervaded the early universe into free electrons and protons, when temperatures cooled down after the Big Bang.
Because this FRB has produced repeated bursts since its discovery in 2002, astronomers have been able to study it in much more detail than other FRBs.
Using that information, they projected how many FRBs would exist across the entire sky.
While their exact nature is still unknown, most scientists think FRBs originate in galaxies billions of light years away.
One leading idea is that FRBs are the byproducts of young, rapidly spinning neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields.
Fialkov and Loeb point out that FRBs can be used to study the structure and evolution of the Universe whether or not their origin is fully understood.
A large population of faraway FRBs could act as probes of material across gigantic distances.
This intervening material blurs the signal from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the left over radiation from the Big Bang.
A careful study of this intervening material should give an improved understanding of basic cosmic constituents, such as the relative amounts of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy, which affect how rapidly the universe is expanding.
While their exact nature is still unknown, most scientists think FRBs originate in galaxies billions of light years away. One leading idea is that FRBs are the byproducts of young, rapidly spinning neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields (artist's impression)
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While their exact nature is still unknown, most scientists think FRBs originate in galaxies billions of light years away. One leading idea is that FRBs are the byproducts of young, rapidly spinning neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields (artist's impression)
FRBs can also be used to trace what broke down the 'fog' of hydrogen atoms that pervaded the early universe into free electrons and protons, when temperatures cooled down after the Big Bang.
It is generally thought that ultraviolet (UV) light from the first stars traveled outwards to ionize the hydrogen gas, clearing the fog and allowing this UV light to escape.
Studying very distant FRBs will allow scientists to study where, when and how this process of 'reionization' occurred.
'FRBs are like incredibly powerful flashlights that we think can penetrate thise fog and be seen over vast distances,' added Dr Fialkov.
'This could allow us to study the 'dawn' of the universe in a new way.'
The full findings of the study were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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