Some believe that it would be arrogant of us to believe and assume that in the entire universe, we are the only planet that has life on it. Given how expansive the universe is, it would not be a stretch to imagine that there could be some other lifeforms out there that we have yet to discover.However, could scientists have found evidence of such life? Astronomers at the Breakthrough Listen project have recently discovered a mysterious radio signal that seems to be emanating from the direction of Proxima Centauri, which is the nearest star to the sun. While astronomers with the Breakthrough Listen project aren’t strangers to mysterious radio signals, most of the time it tends to be attributed to human-made interference or natural sources.
One of the reasons why this particular signal generated so much interest is the fact that it is on the 980MHz band, a band in which there shouldn’t be any human spacecraft transmitting. Another reason is because of the way its frequency is shifting, which suggests that it could be coming from the surface of an orbiting exoplanet.
Speaking to The Guardian, University of Westminster astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell said, “The chances against this being an artificial signal from Proxima Centauri seem staggering. We’ve been looking for alien life for so long now and the idea that it could turn out to be on our front doorstep, in the very next star system, is piling improbabilities upon improbabilities.”
Now it should be noted that this shouldn’t be taken as a definitive sign that there is life on other planets, but it’s still intriguing anyway.
Filed in . Read more about Science and Space. Source: theguardian