Some say in a universe as vast as ours it’s silly and selfish to think there’s no other life. There has to be, right?
Other people say it’s absurd to think there’s life intelligent life out there, because if there was, they’d have communicated with us by now.
Well, hold on to your horses, because that communication you’ve been looking for may have just rolled down the pike.
Although, not so sure the life we’re taking about is “intelligent.” Maybe they’re a bunch of alien Biden voters?
But seriously, scientists are now saying that they received a radio signal from a planet that is 12-light-years away.
Daily Mail reported that scientists have picked up 'coherent' radio signals from a planet 12 light years away from Earth, which suggest it has a magnetic field.
Magnetic fields are essential for a habitable planet, as they protect any life it harbours from bombardment by cosmic radiation and charged particles.
Researchers from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) say the radio signal came from a rocky planet called YZ Ceti b, which orbits the small red dwarf star YZ Ceti.
It likely originated from an interaction between the planet's magnetic field and the star it orbits, similar to the aurora borealis – or Northern Lights – here on Earth.
'The search for potentially habitable or life-bearing worlds in other solar systems depends in part on being able to determine if rocky, Earth-like exoplanets actually have magnetic fields,' says Joe Pesce, NSF's programme director for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
So when scientists detected a repeating radio signal emanating from YZ Ceti b with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array telescope, it raised hopes that it could sustain
life.
The fact that it could be detected so far away indicates it is very strong, suggesting that the magnetic field on the planet is too.
'This is telling us new information about the environment around stars,' said Pineda.
Well, let’s hope this is the break scientists need in order to finally answer the burning question…
