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Whether alien life exists out there in space has remained something of a mystery among scientists across the generations, right up to today. Every time someone claims to have spotted aliens here or there, or stumbled across some strange object, it fuels speculation among scientists that these could be signs of alien activity — and sci-fi movies about aliens only keep that curiosity alive. Scientists, meanwhile, continue their ongoing search for extraterrestrial life.
A group called Breakthrough Listen, dedicated to the search for alien life, says its latest annual report has turned up some promising leads suggesting alien life may exist somewhere in the universe. The group is backed by a wealthy Russian entrepreneur. Founded in 2015, with actual observations beginning in 2016, the ten-year project has a budget of $100 million. The team observes numerous stars across the universe using the Green Bank Radio Telescope here on Earth.
Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner founded an organization called Breakthrough Initiatives to search for extraterrestrial life. In July 2015, the organization announced its Breakthrough Listen project, which aims to track potential alien communication signals from the million stars closest to Earth and a hundred galaxies. It’s a ten-year project with a $100 million budget, using the latest instruments and software available.
On April 20, the Breakthrough Discuss Conference was held, where the team shared the results of Breakthrough Listen’s first year of observations.
Using the Green Bank Radio Telescope, the team observed 692 stars and recorded 11 potential signs of life. The results are posted on the project’s website and will soon be published in the Astrophysical Journal. Since 2016, Breakthrough Listen has been collecting data from space using the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia. The project also conducts observations using the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton, California, and the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia. The collected data is analyzed by the Listen science team at the Berkeley SETI Research Center (BSRC).