Astronomer proposes radical method to find intelligent life in the universe: ‘it will be noisy’

The proposal, presented as the Eschatian Hypothesis, challenges current approaches such as those used in projects such as Breakthrough Listen, which look for regular, low-intensity radio signals, and suggests that we should focus on rare events outside of known astrophysical models.

According to researcher David Kipping, technological civilizations that emit very strong “technosignatures”, albeit over short periods, would be easier to detect than societies that are stable and discreet over millennia. Indeed, rare and luminous phenomena dominate observational statistics, as is the case of supernovae and exoplanets orbiting pulsars, which are detected before more common examples because they emit intense signals.

— The first contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization will probably be extremely noisy, coming from a rare and non-standard case, and not from a quiet and stable society, — says the astronomer.

Kipping argues that even if a civilization transmits only a few days over a period of several thousand years, the very high level of energy released during this interval can make it visible over great distances. In his model, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, he demonstrates that long-lived civilizations and discrete emissions would, paradoxically, be more difficult to find than extreme and transient events.

The proposal expands the traditional scope of searches for extraterrestrial life. Instead of simply looking for radio or light transmissions with artificial characteristics predicted by projects like Breakthrough Listen, this would encourage astronomers to watch for “anomalous” ones, which could be sudden variations in brightness, unusual spectra, or motions that don’t fit known natural explanations. This approach would rely on continuous, large-scale surveys capable of capturing rare signals in real time.

The idea conflicts with the traditional detection strategy, which relies on arrays of radio telescopes mapping large volumes of the cosmos in search of stable or repeating patterns emitted by potential civilizations. Initiatives such as the Breakthrough Listen project are focusing their efforts on masses of nearby stars and galaxies using cutting-edge technology, but without conclusive results so far.