SETI@Home - Sees Strange Signal

[antoniseb]

Here's a New Scientist story about an interesting signal seen by the Arecibo Radio Observatory, and detected by people running SETI@Home screensavers.

SETI Signal

The signal is the only one observed in February 2003 of the many selected as possible candidates which didn't just disappear.

The signal itself is a bit odd, and may not be carrying much in the way of information. The signal is seen at atbout 1420 MHz, which is also the neutral hydrogen frequency. Observations of this signal seem a little odd, and the signal drifts in frequnecy a bit.

If it is not a hoax, or peculiarty of the Arecibo equipment, it would take a new or extreme natural phenomenon to explain the signal.

On the down side, there is no obvious star associated with the location of the signal [between pisces and aries].

[Callisto]

cool I used to use the SETI@Home screensaver but then I got a new computer and forgot to get it again so thanks for the reminder I guess.

[eburacum45]

I have been convinced for a long time that the first emissions that we detect from an extraterrestrial civilisation will be from their anti-asteroid radar system...
this looks like the sort of thing such a system might produce.

However it is probably some as-yet undiscovered natural phenomenon.

[dshan]

Attempts to calm the waters are being, made but it's still a fascinating signal...

It seems even more interesting than the infamous Wow! signal from years ago. This one repeats and they should be able to eventually determine what's causing it at least.

Fingers crossed!

[Duane]

Too bad, and another example of media hype not meeting reality. Still, we can hope.....

[zephyr46]

I heard a sample on the 7 network news, it sounded like a tin whistle ??

But knowing the commercial networks, this was the novelty news item, so I assumed it was just the journals wagging off, or was it? has anyone heard this signal?

[corkft]

Originally posted by zephyr46@Sep 3 2004, 03:25 AM
I heard a sample on the 7 network news, it sounded like a tin whistle ??

Is there a web address to hear the "tin whistle"?

Wow, a signal from a 1000 light years away. That would have been our "dark ages" era. The time when men were looking for a signal from God... the first millennium.

Would it not be neat if it was one of those "message in a bottle" type probes? Sent from who knows where,to the third rock from Sol ???!!!???

http://planetary.org/news/2004/seti_signal_0902.html

[eburacum45]

Unfortunately, it seems to be mostly hype; it will take a lot more data to convince anyone that the signal is artificial.

Myself, I have been expecting a similar type of information-free signal to be the first evidence of extraterrestrial civilisation...
If this is an artificial signal, I tend to think it is likely to be a active scanning beam, perhaps something like radar looking for asteroids-

any civilisation more than a few decades ahead of our own will probably start to get paranoid about asteroid strikes, and will use an active scanning method to detect them- this certainly could involve a rapidly rotating source.

Our own active scanning detection systems are the most powerful signals sent out by Earth- and they are not yet powerful enough to detect distant asteroids.

Of course a signal like this conveys no information, but if it can be determined for certain that it is artificial, it is a very definite sign saying 'we are here';

perhaps a dangerous thing to advertise if not all the neighbours are friendly.

[Donald]

Originally posted by Callisto@Sep 1 2004, 07:21 PM
cool I used to use the SETI@Home screensaver but then I got a new computer and forgot to get it again so thanks for the reminder I guess.

cool I used to use the SETI@Home screensaver but then I got a new computer and forgot to get it again so thanks for the reminder I guess.
------------------------------------
It is best to use the command line iteration of SETI@Home rather than the GUI screensaver. The GUI indeed gives you pretty pictures but it uses 40% of your CPU just to make those pictures. Using the command line gives you more work units/day.

When I started with GUI a WU took me 80 hours. Now, with the command line and, admittedly, a faster computer, one takes me about 2 hours, 15 minutes. I have 14395 WU, putting me in 12774th place. That's more WUs than 99.752% of the over 5 million doing it. Also, I was one of the 200 who found Signal Candidates out of the over 5 billion signals observed and crunched.

I'm on the Spot_E.T. Seti Team. I welcome any on this forum to either join with us on SETI@Home and join our team or if you are already using SETI but aren't on a team, to join us. If interested:

Join The SETI@Home Project <http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/>
Join Spot_E.T. (Our SETI@Home Group); Team number is 43256 ... caution line may wrap

<http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/cgi?cmd=team_join_form&id=43256>

After you join SETI, write me c/o UniverseToday and I&#39;ll show you how to get onto the command line and how to cache your work units. Due to Hurricane Isabel&#39;s hitting us headon, we lost our ISP for two weeks. At least I had 90 WUs cached when we got it back.

Donald

[QJones]

Originally posted by eburacum45@Sep 4 2004, 06:27 PM
Our own active scanning detection systems are the most powerful signals sent out by Earth- and they are not yet powerful enough to detect distant asteroids.

I would very much like to read some official information regarding this. What type of signals are we sending? How far would they be detectable? Are the signals part of the spectrum that won&#39;t be absorbed over interstellar distances?

I&#39;m curious as to what signals our planet is making.

[zephyr46]

Planetary Society - Reports Exagerated

SETI@home - Gaussian Candidate SHGb02+14a

Anti-state - Space Porn

Yahooka - Cosmic spam

I&#39;m not sure if I should put the last two here or in the &#39;for the clowns forum&#39;?

[suntrack2]

the technology they are using is different, the frequency of signals they have sent is also different one, due to that we will not be able that what they want to say through the signals, may be the life other star in "invisible situation", or may be they are not that advance like the earth-people, in my opinion they are trying to reach to meet the earth but may be they don&#39;t know the roadmap i mean skymap to reach on earth, these life are not that intelligent like the earth, but they are just intelligent, or their intelligence might be totally different, they can express their thoughts through the signals differently, they are doing differently that&#39;s why we are not able to find this difference. they are in the primary position by sending the messages, or they do not have any advance vehicle with them to access better. or they are not using their strategic system to reach earth, they may still trying, even

it is also possible that they don&#39;t know how to fly but they only know that how to send the signals

.
this is called their life style they are invisible they don&#39;t know the earth, we also don&#39;t know who they are? these are all questions for the answers we have to wait again for their signals on our signal pad, so open all your signal pads right here to hear them.[we are so optimistic]
sunil

[suntrack2]

R/Antoniceb Sir
warm regards

are we sending "them" counter signal in the same frequency?

are we answering them to know about more answers of the signals of ours?


sunil

[ulgah]

Why are we listening at all?? Or sending anything? We know they are out there, so it is a waist of time, just to think about it, let alone do anything. Since we all know they are out there, why must we spend money trying to prove what we already know?? Stupidity runs rampant&#33;&#33; :wacko:

[Donald]

[QUOTE]

First off, you should really look up the words you are using in a dictionary to make sure you are writing what you mean. A prime example is your use of the word, "waist" when you mean "waste."

Secondly, we *don&#39;t* know that there are other civilizations on other planets. All we can say is that there is a probability that they are there. We don&#39;t know if life developed elsewhere. That&#39;s why the rovers are on Mars, to look for any evidence of life.

It will be a great coup for one of those in the SETI@home supercomputer exercise to crunch a signal from another life form. Such a person will be given the option of having his/her name attached to the discovery; that name will go down in history. Do I want my name so used? You betcha&#33;

Now-a-days, when I meet someone, I talk about the coup of discovering one of the 200 possible Candidates out of the 5 billion signals crunched by us. You can see my find at:
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/Candida...SHGb17+18r.html

--Donald

[suntrack2]

people are very much curious to hear some another signal from them, their ears are thirsty to hear.

sunil

[corkft]

[QUOTE=suntrack2,Sep 25 2004, 01:07 PM]

are we sending "them" counter signal in the same frequency?


sunil

the "said" signal comes from a 1000 light years away, so, 1000 years from now they would receive our signal and could respond.

I once knew a Sunil in Florida.

[suntrack2]

corkft, fine lines by you,
this is not necessary after 1000 light years they will receive our reply, what kind of technique that depends upon it, have you heard that in railway deparments before telephone there was a machine " it noise like as "katta-kad-katta", and later the stationmaster send replies to the other counter

"katta-kad-kad-katta"

[it was the same word we pronounce in our voice so that the noise what was it we got], you just whisper in your mouth with the above wordings, so what i mean to say that the life from other stars may be having some old mechanism with them than we, is it not possible? CORKFT.
let us wait to hear the signal once again cork, this is an interesting topic.


sunil

[astromark]

At best you could live one hundred years or so, evan expecting changes in our tech., abilaty to extend our lives. maybe... So I dont see the point of this, and there&#39;s the thought that our own mesages would be passed by the faster mesage, when we crack this hurdle. and we would find them embarisingly primative.. dont ya think? and if this exchange of mesages is going to be one thousand or so years old, isent its revalance lost there somewhere.? dont ya think? look how we have changed in one thousand years. What do we now about the year 1004. bugger all a..? we need to rethink this.