News

Scientists have picked up a mysterious radio wave emission from a nearby star, which is now under investigation by the Breakthrough Listen project, a team searching for life in space.

During 30-hours of observation between April and May this year, the Parkes telescope in Australia picked up the signal, which is now thought to have emitted from Proxima Centauri, the closest star to The Sun. 

In an interview with The Guardian, Pete Worden, former Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center and now Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives, of which the Listening project is part, said: “The Breakthrough Listen team has detected several unusual signals and is carefully investigating. These signals are likely interference that we cannot yet fully explain. Further analysis is currently being undertaken.”

It’s not uncommon for the Breakthrough Listen project to pick up signals, and most are eventually identified as man-made or natural occurrences. Nevertheless, the news comes in the wake of various surprising events 2020 has offered up, including monoliths appearing in locations across the globe (some since claimed by artists), and the complete restructuring of life as most of us knew it.