**
Narrator:
THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY,
WE'VE LOOKED OUT FROM OUR PLANET
AND WONDERED, ARE WE ALONE?
**
TODAY, WE COULD BE CLOSE
TO FINDING AN ANSWER.
SCIENTISTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
ARE SCOURING THE UNIVERSE
FOR SIGNS OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL
INTELLIGENCE.
SOME SCIENTISTS BELIEVE
ADVANCED ALIENS
REALLY COULD BE OUT THERE.
ABOUT 10,000 DETECTABLE
CIVILIZATIONS AT PRESENT
IN OUR GALAXY, THE MILKY WAY.
Narrator: AND YET, NO SOLID
EVIDENCE OF THEIR EXISTENCE
HAS EVER BEEN FOUND.
BUT NOW, ALL THAT
COULD BE ABOUT TO CHANGE.
-- Captions by VITAC --
www.vitac.com
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
THE UNIVERSE IS THOUGHT
TO CONTAIN
700 MILLION TRILLION
ROCKY PLANETS LIKE OUR OWN...
...COUNTLESS WORLDS
OTHER INTELLIGENT BEINGS
MIGHT CALL HOME.
BUT AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS
OF SEARCHING,
WE'VE YET TO FIND THEM.
THE DEAFENING LACK
OF ANY COMMUNICATION
FROM EXTRATERRESTRIALS
HAS BECOME KNOWN
AS "THE GREAT SILENCE."
Drake:
OH, I BELIEVE VERY STRONGLY
THAT THEY ARE OUT THERE.
THE NUMBERS SUPPORT THAT.
THERE'S SO MANY STARS
IN THE UNIVERSE.
NUMBERS THAT ARE SO LARGE
THEY MAKE NO SENSE TO US.
WE CAN BE VERY, VERY WRONG,
AND YET, THERE WILL BE MANY,
MANY DETECTABLE CIVILIZATIONS.
WE MET IN ARECIBO
IN PUERTO RICO.
THERE'S A LARGE
RADIO TELESCOPE THERE.
AND I USED TO WORK
AT THE OBSERVATORY
AS A STAFF SCIENTIST.
AND YOU WERE A GRAD STUDENT
AT CORNELL.
THEY USED TO SEND THEIR STUDENTS
DOWN FROM CORNELL.
WE MET AT THE OBSERVATORY
IN THE CONTROL ROOM.
**
HUSBAND AND WIFE DUNCAN LORIMER
AND MAURA McLAUGHLIN
SHARE A PASSION FOR ASTRONOMY.
WE WORK HERE IN MORGANTOWN
IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
AND ASTRONOMY.
WE'RE NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS,
AREN'T WE?
McLaughlin: YEAH.
OUR OFFICES ARE RIGHT NEXT DOOR.
AND IT'S TYPICALLY
REALLY USEFUL.
WE CAN JUST POP IN AND OUT.
SO IT SAVES US A LOT OF TIME.
-SEE YOU THEN.
-ALL RIGHT.
-HAVE A GOOD DAY.
-YOU, TOO.
OCCASIONALLY
WE HAVE DISPUTES.
I'M IN CONTROL OF THE
TEMPERATURE IN THOSE OFFICES.
SO I LIKE IT REALLY WARM, AND
DUNCAN LIKES IT A LOT COLDER.
SO WE HAVE OCCASIONAL
ARGUMENTS,
BUT GENERALLY IT'S REALLY USEFUL
BEING NEXT TO EACH OTHER.
SOMETIMES YOU'LL BANG YOUR FEET
ON THE WALL,
AND I'LL HAVE
TO TELL YOU TO STOP.
[ LAUGHS ] BUT GENERALLY
IT'S REALLY NICE.
-IT'S GOOD.
-WE LIKE IT.
Narrator:
IN THE SUMMER OF 2006,
DUNCAN AND MAURA BEGAN
A PROJECT
SEARCHING
THROUGH HISTORICAL DATA
FROM THE PARK'S RADIO TELESCOPE.
SO WE'D JUST ARRIVED
AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY.
THAT ALREADY EXISTED
ON A PROJECT STRAIGHTAWAY.
SO WE KIND OF LIKE BANDIED
AROUND SOME IDEAS
FOR GOOD PROJECTS,
AND ONE OF THE THINGS
WE THOUGHT OF
WAS REANALYZING THE DATA
FROM AN OLD SURVEY
TAKEN IN THE LATE 1990s
OF THE SMALL MAGELLANIC
AND LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD
TO LOOK FOR PULSARS THAT
HAD BEEN MISSED BEFORE.
THE PROJECT INVOLVED
PAINSTAKINGLY SEARCHING
HUNDREDS OF DATA POINTS,
WORK DUNCAN DELEGATED
TO A STUDENT.
Lorimer: EVERY WEEK,
MY STUDENT WOULD COME TO ME
WITH THE RESULTS OF HIS ANALYSIS
FROM THE PREVIOUS WEEK,
AND SOMETIMES THOSE WOULD
BE KNOWN PULSARS.
SOMETIMES WE WOULD SEE SOURCES
OF INTERFERENCE OR JUST NOISE.
BUT ONE WEEK,
I REMEMBER IT VERY CLEARLY,
HE CAME TO ME AND SHOWED ME
THIS PLOT WITH A SIGNAL
THAT WAS SO BRIGHT
AND APPARENTLY SO FAR AWAY
THAT IT WAS COMPLETELY UNLIKE
ANYTHING WE'D EVER SEEN BEFORE.
SO THIS IS THE PLOT THAT MY
STUDENT, DAVID, BROUGHT TO ME.
AND YOU CAN SEE STRAIGHTAWAY
THIS IS THE PULSE THAT HE FOUND,
THIS BIG DARK FEATURE HERE.
WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS
A GRAPH OF TELESCOPE TIME
ALONG THE HORIZONTAL AXIS,
SO THIS IS ALMOST TWO HOURS
OF OBSERVATION HERE.
ON THE VERTICAL AXIS
IS BASICALLY DISTANCE,
AND YOU CAN SEE THE BACKGROUND
OF NOISE FROM THE TELESCOPE
IN THE SKY,
THESE LITTLE DOTS HERE.
SO THIS FEATURE
REALLY STANDS OUT
BECAUSE IT'S SO BRIGHT
AND SO FAR UP THE PLOT HERE,
WHICH INDICATES THAT
IT'S A BRIGHT SOURCE
THAT'S VERY, VERY FAR AWAY.
QUITE FRANKLY, IT WAS UNLIKE
ANYTHING I'D EVER SEEN BEFORE,
YET IT HAD ALL THE HALLMARKS
OF A SIGNAL THAT WAS COMING
FROM DEEP SPACE.
Narrator: THE SIGNAL,
OR FAST RADIO BURST,
DUNCAN HAD DISCOVERED
BECAME AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN
AS THE LORIMER BURST.
McLaughlin: WHEN PEOPLE STARTED
CALLING IT THE LORIMER BURST,
AT FIRST I KIND OF JUST CHUCKLED
BECAUSE IT SEEMED JUST SO FUNNY
TO HAVE SOMETHING ACTUALLY NAMED
AFTER DUNC,
AND IT WAS EVEN FUNNIER
WHEN PEOPLE DIDN'T REALIZE
THAT I WAS MARRIED TO HIM.
WE HAVE DIFFERENT LAST NAMES.
SO I'D GET LOTS
OF QUESTIONS LIKE,
"DO YOU BELIEVE
IN THE LORIMER BURST?"
OR, "WHAT DO YOU THINK
ABOUT THE LORIMER BURST?
IS IT REAL OR NOT?"
SO I GOT A GOOD CHUCKLE OUT OF
IT FOR A LITTLE BIT,
BUT THEN THAT KIND OF STUCK, AND
SO WE STARTED USING THE NAME
ON PROPOSALS AND THINGS,
WHICH WAS KIND OF FUN.
TO HAVE SOMETHING NAMED
AFTER ME LIKE THIS
WAS REALLY, REALLY
A GREAT HONOR.
AND YEAH,
NOT SOMETHING I WAS EXPECTING,
BUT YEAH, REALLY NICE.
Narrator:
BUT THE LORIMER BURST WAS
SO DISTANT AND YET SO BRIGHT,
IT DIDN'T APPEAR
TO HAVE BEEN PRODUCED
BY ANY NATURALLY
OCCURRING PHENOMENON.
I DID THINK THAT IT COULD BE
A SIGNAL
FROM AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL
CIVILIZATION.
WE CREATE SIGNALS LIKE THAT
ON EARTH,
SO IT'S NOT CRAZY TO THINK
THAT RADIO BURSTS
COULD BE CREATED
ON ANOTHER PLANET.
ONCE WE ACTUALLY THOUGHT
ABOUT IT, THOUGH,
AND LOOKED AT THE ENERGETICS,
YOU'D NEED TO HARNESS
ALMOST AN ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM'S
WORTH OF ENERGY
TO CREATE SOMETHING THIS BRIGHT,
AND THEN WE REALIZED
THIS IS JUST IMPOSSIBLE
UNLESS THE CIVILIZATION IS WAY
MORE ADVANCED THAN WE ARE.
WE COULDN'T THINK OF HOW TO MAKE
SOMETHING THIS ENERGETIC.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN
SEARCHING THE COSMOS
FOR STRANGE SIGNALS
LIKE THE LORIMER BURST
FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS,
EVER SINCE A SECRETIVE MEETING
TOOK PLACE
IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.
Drake: THERE HAD BEEN
OVER THE YEARS A LOT OF CLAIMS
AND SIGHTINGS
OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS,
COLONIES ON THE MOON.
THE SUBJECT HAD GOTTEN TO BE
TREATED WITH CONTEMPT REALLY.
IT WAS CONSIDERED ALMOST TABOO.
Narrator: BUT IN 1961,
FRANK DRAKE HELD A CONFERENCE
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
IN THIS ROOM
AT THE GREEN BANK OBSERVATORY.
**
Drake: THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF
SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES,
A VERY EMINENT BODY,
ASKED ME TO CONVENE A MEETING
OF ALL THE PEOPLE I KNEW OF
IN THE WORLD
WHO WERE ACTUALLY SERIOUS
THINKERS ON THE SUBJECT,
AND I INVITED THEM ALL,
ALL 12 OF THEM.
Narrator:
THE GROUP CALLED THEMSELVES
THE ORDER OF THE DOLPHIN.
**
THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING
WAS TO ESTIMATE
HOW MANY EXTRATERRESTRIAL
CIVILIZATIONS MIGHT BE OUT THERE
USING WHAT'S BECOME KNOWN
AS THE DRAKE EQUATION.
SO WE START OUT WITH THE RATE
OF STAR FORMATION,
WHICH YOU WRITE "R SUB-STAR."
OF COURSE, THE MORE STARS,
THE MORE PLANETS THERE WILL BE,
THE MORE POSSIBILITIES FOR LIFE.
WE MULTIPLY THAT BY THE FRACTION
OF STARS
WHICH ACTUALLY HAVE PLANETS,
AND THEN AGAIN BY THE NUMBER
OF HABITABLE PLANETS
IN EACH SYSTEM.
WE THEN MULTIPLY THIS BY THE
FRACTION ON WHICH LIFE DEVELOPS,
AND THEN BY THE FRACTION
BY WHICH INTELLIGENCE APPEARS,
AND THEN BY THE FRACTION
OF THOSE
WHICH ACTUALLY GIVE
A DETECTABLE TECHNOLOGY,
ONE WE MIGHT DETECT
ACROSS THE GREAT DISTANCES
BETWEEN THE STARS.
WHAT WE HAVE NOW
IN THE SIX FACTORS
IS THE RATE OF PRODUCTION
OF DETECTABLE CIVILIZATIONS.
HOW MANY ARE THERE?
THIS RATE TIMES THE AVERAGE TIME
THAT THESE CIVILIZATIONS
REMAIN DETECTABLE.
Man:UNITED STATES MAINTAINS
ITS DETERMINATION.
Narrator:
FOR TWO DAYS, THE GROUP
WORKED OUT BEST-GUESS VALUES
FOR EACH STEP
IN FRANK'S EQUATION.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE READY.
THE ANSWER WE CAME TO
FOR THE VALUE OF "N"
WAS "N" EQUALS ABOUT 10,000
DETECTABLE CIVILIZATIONS
AT PRESENT IN OUR GALAXY,
THE MILKY WAY.
IT BECAME CLEAR TO US
THAT IT WAS VERY LIKELY
THAT THERE WERE RADIO SIGNALS
FROM OTHER WORLDS
PASSING THROUGH THE ROOM
IN WHICH WE WERE SITTING
AND WHICH WE COULD DETECT
IF WE BUT POINTED OUR TELESCOPES
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND TUNED
TO THE RIGHT FREQUENCY.
Narrator:
AT THE TIME OF THE MEETING,
FRANK THOUGHT HE KNEW EXACTLY
WHAT CHANNEL TO LISTEN INTO.
WHAT WE NEEDED WAS A SPECIAL
PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
WHERE CIVILIZATIONS
MIGHT CONTACT.
AND WE REALIZED
THAT IT WASN'T A PLACE,
BUT IT WAS A RADIO CHANNEL.
THE MOST COMMON ELEMENT
IN THE UNIVERSE IS HYDROGEN.
IT HAPPENS TO TRANSMIT
A VERY BEAUTIFUL SIGNAL
AT A CERTAIN FREQUENCY WHEN IT'S
IN ITS LOWEST ENERGY STATE.
AND WE DECIDED THAT MIGHT BE
THE PLACE YOU MEET YOUR FRIENDS
WHEN YOU CAN'T ARRANGE
IN ADVANCE WHERE TO MEET.
SO WE DECIDED TO SEARCH
THE HYDROGEN WAVELENGTH.
Narrator: SEVERAL YEARS
AFTER ITS DISCOVERY IN 2007,
PEOPLE ARE HAVING DOUBTS
ABOUT THE LORIMER BURST...
LET'S GET
TO THE BUS STOP.
Narrator: ...SINCE ONLY ONE HAD
EVER BEEN DETECTED.
SO DID YOU BRING
YOUR BOOK?
YEAH.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE
PART OF THAT?
IT WAS WHEN
THEY CHEWED GUM.
OH. I KNEW YOU WERE
GOING TO SAY THAT.
[ LAUGHS ]
Lorimer: SO AROUND 2010,
PEOPLE WERE ACTIVELY LOOKING
FOR THESE BURSTS
IN OTHER DATA SETS.
AND THEN ONE DAY I GOT A CALL
THAT THE FIRST FEW WERE FOUND.
THIS MAY SOUND EXCITING,
BUT IT REALLY WASN'T
BECAUSE THESE BURSTS WERE A LOT
LIKE THE LORIMER BURST,
THE ORIGINAL BURST,
BUT THEY HAD A COUPLE DIFFERENT
CHARACTERISTICS
WHICH INDICATED
THAT THEY DEFINITELY WERE NOT
EXTRAGALACTIC
AND THAT THEY WERE
FROM SOME SOURCE
EITHER ON THE EARTH
OR MAYBE JUST RIGHT
IN OUR LOCAL ATMOSPHERE.
Lorimer: WHEN I GOT THAT CALL,
MY HEART REALLY DID SINK,
AND I THOUGHT,
"OH, THE ORIGINAL BURST
IS PROBABLY A SIMILAR THING,
JUST A LOCALLY GENERATED
SIGNAL."
SO IT WAS VERY, VERY DEPRESSING.
Narrator: THERE WAS ALSO
SOMETHING VERY SUSPICIOUS
ABOUT THE NEW BURSTS.
THEY WERE FAR MORE COMMON
IN WINTER
AND ALWAYS APPEARED
AROUND LUNCHTIME.
IT WAS EVENTUALLY DISCOVERED
THEY WEREN'T COMING FROM SPACE
AT ALL.
THEY WERE BEING GENERATED
BY THE OBSERVATORY'S MICROWAVE.
McLaughlin: SO I THINK IT WAS
A HARD TIME FOR HIM
BECAUSE HE FELT LIKE HIS
ORIGINAL PAPER WAS DISCREDITED,
AND I THINK IT MADE
IT HARDER
THAT EVERYONE HAD BEEN CALLING
IT THE LORIMER BURST
BECAUSE IT FELT VERY PERSONAL.
WHEN I FIRST SAW THE DATA
AND I COMPARED THEIR PROPERTIES
WITH THE LORIMER BURST
PROPERTIES,
THEY LOOKED REALLY SIMILAR,
AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS TOO MUCH
OF A COINCIDENCE
FOR THEM NOT TO BE COMING
FROM SAME SOURCE.
SO MY INITIAL CONCLUSION WAS
THAT THE LORIMER BURST
PROBABLY WASN'T REAL.
**
Narrator:
BUT DUNCAN WASN'T PREPARED
TO GIVE UP
ON HIS DISCOVERY SO EASILY.
SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE
IS THE ORIGINAL BURST FROM 2007
AND THEN ONE
OF THE NEW DETECTIONS
THAT WAS COMING OUT IN 2010.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE
THAT THEY HAVE QUITE
A LOT OF SIMILARITIES.
BOTH PULSES ARE
ABOUT THE SAME WIDTH,
BUT THEN IF YOU LOOK AT THEM
IN TERMS OF THEIR FREQUENCY
VERSUS TIME, YOU WILL SEE THAT
THEY HAVE AN OVERALL SLOPE.
THEY BOTH HAVE THE SAME SLOPE.
BUT THE STRUCTURE WITHIN
THE PULSE IS QUITE DIFFERENT.
ONE OF THE NEW SIGNALS HAS
THIS VERY BLOTCHY APPEARANCE
WHEREAS OUR ORIGINAL SIGNAL
HAD A MUCH SMOOTHER,
CONTINUOUS APPEARANCE,
AND THAT WAS THE THING
THAT WAS REALLY GIVING ME HOPE
THAT THIS WAS STILL REAL.
Narrator: BUT FOR
THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY,
THE MOST LIKELY EXPLANATION
FOR THE LORIMER BURST
WAS STILL INTERFERENCE.
FOR THE TIME BEING,
THE GREAT SILENCE PERSISTS.
IN 1989, THE INTERNATIONAL
ACADEMY OF ASTRONAUTICS
APPROVED
A POST-DETECTION PROTOCOL...
...A CODE OF PRACTICE TO BE
PUT INTO PLAY BY GOVERNMENTS
SHOULD WE DETECT
AN ALIEN TRANSMISSION.
[ KNOCK ON DOOR ]
THE DOCUMENT DETAILED
HOW TO CONTROL
THE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
AND COORDINATE
A UNILATERAL RESPONSE.
ONE REASON SCIENTISTS BELIEVE
SUCH A PROTOCOL WAS REQUIRED...
IS BECAUSE IN THE MID '70s,
WE TRIED TO MAKE CONTACT
WITH ALIENS OURSELVES.
THERE WERE TWO PURPOSES
TO THE ARECIBO MESSAGE.
ONE WAS TOO DEMONSTRATE
THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE
TO SEND A MESSAGE
ACROSS THE INTERSTELLAR SPACE
THAT WOULD BE DETECTABLE
AND DECODABLE, UNDERSTANDABLE.
THE OTHER WAS SIMPLY TO SHOW
THAT WE HAD, IN FACT,
REACHED THE STATE
WHERE WE OURSELVES
COULD DO THIS SORT OF THING.
THERE WERE PROBABLY 200 PEOPLE.
THEY'RE SITTING IN CHAIRS ON
THE EDGE OF THE BIG GIANT DISH,
AND WE'D TELL THEM WE'RE ABOUT
TO READY TO SEND,
AND THEY STEERED THE TELESCOPE,
THAT WHOLE GREAT BIG THING
STARTS MOVING,
WHICH IN ITSELF
IS VERY IMPRESSIVE.
THIS GIANT THING IS MOVING,
AND YOU JUST HAVE THE SENSE
THAT SOMETHING SPECTACULAR
IS GOING ON.
I WILL PLAY THE TAPE FOR YOU.
THIS IS A RECORDING MADE
IN THE CONTROL ROOM
OF THE ARECIBO RADIO TELESCOPE
AT THE TIME IN NOVEMBER OF 1974
WHEN WE SENT A MESSAGE
TO THE STARS.
[BEEPING]
[HUMMING]
THAT STEADY TONE YOU HEAR
IS THE SOUND OF THE TRANSMITTER
BEING TURNED ON.
IT'S SIMPLY SENDING OUT A SIGNAL
WITHOUT ANY INFORMATION ON IT
TO CALL ATTENTION TO ITSELF
SO THAT PEOPLE WHO CAPTURE THIS
WILL KNOW THAT SOMETHING IS
COMING, AND HERE IT COMES.
THAT SORT OF WARBLING SOUND
YOU HEAR
IS ACTUALLY A SEQUENCE
OF TEN CHARACTERS PER SECOND
BEING SENT OUT,
WITH THOSE CHARACTERS
BEING ON TWO SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT
RADIO FREQUENCIES.
[WARBLING]
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE SOUND,
YOU HAD THE IMPRESSION
THAT THERE WAS
A STORY BEING TOLD HERE.
[APPLAUSE]
AND WHEN IT FINALLY ENDS,
EVERYBODY WAS CRYING...
ON THE ACTUAL OCCASION.
**
IT WAS JUST [CLEARS THROAT]
THE SENSE
THAT THIS GREAT BIG MACHINE
WAS TALKING TO ANOTHER WORLD.
THE MESSAGE GOES
TO 300,000 STARS,
SO THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE
ACTUALLY.
Narrator: THE RECIPIENT
OF THE ARECIBO MESSAGE
IS A GALAXY
25,000 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.
BUT THE 50,000 YEARS
IT WOULD TAKE
FOR THE MESSAGE TO GET THERE
AND FOR ANY REPLY
TO JOURNEY BACK TO EARTH
IS FAR BEYOND THE LIFE-SPAN
OF ANY SINGLE HUMAN...
...PERHAPS EVEN LONGER
THAN THE LIFE-SPAN
OF CIVILIZATION ITSELF.
Narrator: A TECHNOLOGICALLY
ADVANCED CIVILIZATION
MIGHT PROVIDE US
WITH ANOTHER WAVE DETECTING THEM
BECAUSE ALL TECHNOLOGY
NEEDS ENERGY.
* IT'S NOT UNUSUAL
TO BE LOVED BY ANYONE *
IN 1994, LAS VEGAS CONSUMED
1,300 MEGAWATTS OF POWER.
TODAY, THAT FIGURE HAS NEARLY
DOUBLED TO 2,400 MEGAWATTS,
AND THAT'S THE SAME TREND
THAT WE SEE ALL OVER THE WORLD.
FOR THE LAST CENTURY,
EVERY FEW DECADES,
HUMANITY'S POWER CONSUMPTION
HAS DOUBLED.
AS OUR TECHNOLOGY HAS INCREASED,
SO TOO HAS OUR NEED FOR POWER.
Narrator:
AND AS DEMAND INCREASES,
CIVILIZATIONS MUST LOOK BEYOND
THEIR HOME WORLD.
EVERY STAR, JUST LIKE OUR SUN,
IS BASICALLY A GIANT
NUCLEAR FURNACE
FUSING HYDROGEN INTO HELIUM
AND PRODUCING ENERGY.
AND THE ULTIMATE LIMIT
TO THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY
AVAILABLE TO ANY CIVILIZATION
IS JUST THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY
THAT THEY CAN HARVEST
FROM THAT PARENT STAR.
Narrator:
DEEP IN THE MOJAVE DESERT,
HALFWAY BETWEEN LAS VEGAS
AND RENO...
...IT'S POSSIBLE TO GLIMPSE
INTO THE FUTURE.
**
SO THIS IS THE CRESCENT DUNE
SOLAR FACILITY.
THERE ARE 10,347
OF THESE MIRRORS.
THEY ALL REFLECT THE SUN'S
ENERGY UP TO THAT TOWER
THAT HEATS A RESERVOIR
OF MOLTEN SALT
THAT IS THEN USED TO TURN WATER
INTO STEAM
TURNING TURBINES
AND GENERATING ELECTRICITY.
CRESCENT DUNES IS ONE
OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST
SOLAR POWER PLANTS,
BUT EVEN THIS GIGANTIC
FACILITY CAN ONLY COLLECT
A SMALL FRACTION
OF THE SUN'S ENERGY.
IN THE FUTURE, WE MIGHT BUILD
THOUSANDS MORE
OF THESE FACILITIES,
COLLECTING EVEN MORE
OF THE SUN'S ENERGY.
Narrator:
THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY
A CIVILIZATION
CAN HARNESS FROM THEIR STAR
PROVIDES AN INDICATION OF THEIR
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT.
AND IT'S MEASURED ON WHAT'S
KNOWN AS THE KARDASHEV SCALE.
Siemion:
A KARDASHEV TYPE I CIVILIZATION
IS A CIVILIZATION THAT'S CAPABLE
OF HARNESSING ALL OF THE ENERGY
THAT FALLS ON THEIR PLANET
FROM THEIR PARENT STAR.
HUMAN CIVILIZATION TODAY
ONLY CONSUMES
ABOUT 20 TERAWATTS OF POWER.
THAT'S ABOUT .001 OF THE ENERGY
THAT FALLS ON OUR PLANET
FROM OUR SUN.
Narrator: BUT THE AMOUNT
OF SUNLIGHT THAT HITS THE EARTH
IS ONLY A TINY FRACTION OF
THE LIGHT THAT LEAVES THE SUN.
Siemion: OUR SUN'S POWER OUTPUT
IS 400 BILLION TERAWATTS.
THAT'S 10 MILLION TIMES
AS MUCH ENERGY
IN JUST ONE SECOND
AS THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES
CONSUMES
OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR.
Narrator: ANY CIVILIZATION
CAPABLE OF HARNESSING
ALL THE ENERGY EMITTED
BY ITS STAR
WOULD HAVE ACHIEVED KARDASHEV
TYPE II STATUS.
BUT TO DO IT WOULD REQUIRE
ENGINEERING
ON A TRULY ASTRONOMICAL SCALE.
Siemion:
A KARDASHEV TYPE II CIVILIZATION
WOULD NEED TO BUILD A MASSIVE
NETWORK OF SOLAR COLLECTORS
THAT WOULD ORBIT THEIR STAR
IN SPACE,
SOMETHING WE CALL A DYSON SPHERE
OR A DYSON STRUCTURE.
A DYSON STRUCTURE IS VERY MUCH
LIKE THE SOLAR POWER PLANT HERE,
BUT BILLIONS OF TIMES LARGER IN
SPACE ORBITING AN ENTIRE STAR.
BUT THEY NEEDN'T BE
A SOLID SURFACE.
IT COULD BE A SWARM
OF INDIVIDUAL SOLAR PANELS,
ALL INTERCONNECTED,
AS LONG AS THEY OCCLUDED
A LARGE FRACTION OF THE LIGHT
THAT FROM CAME FROM THE STAR.
Narrator: TO CONSTRUCT A DYSON
SPHERE THAT ENVELOPES THE SUN
WOULD REQUIRE ALL THE MATTER
IN ALL THE PLANETS
IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
SO UNTIL RECENTLY,
DYSON SPHERES WERE THOUGHT TO BE
PURELY THEORETICAL.
[ INSECT BUZZES ]
[ BIRDS CHIRPING ]
Narrator: IN 2013,
SOME BIZARRE OBSERVATIONS
FROM NASA'S KEPLER
SPACE TELESCOPE
FELL ONTO THE DESK OF ASTRONOMER
TABETHA BOYAJIAN.
KEPLER LOOKED AT OVER 150,000
STARS IN OUR GALAXY,
AND THE DATA FOR THIS STAR
LOOKED NOTHING
LIKE ANY OF THOSE STARS
AND NOTHING LIKE ANY OTHER STAR
THAT WE KNOW OF TODAY.
Narrator: FOR FOUR YEARS, THE
TELESCOPE SCOURED THE MILKY WAY,
HUNTING
FOR EVIDENCE OF EXOPLANETS...
METICULOUSLY MEASURING
THE BRIGHTNESS OF STARS
IN SEARCH OF THE TELLTALE
DIMMING IN LIGHT
PRODUCED AS A PLANET PASSES
IN FRONT OF THEM.
SO THIS IS WHAT AN EXOPLANET
TRANSIT LOOKS LIKE.
ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE,
YOU HAVE THE AMOUNT OF LIGHT
AND ON THE BOTTOM,
YOU HAVE TIME.
AND WHEN A JUPITER-LIKE PLANET
TRANSITS IN FRONT OF A STAR,
YOU HAVE THIS CLEAN U-SHAPE DIP
IN THE STAR'S LIGHT,
AND THIS DIP IS ABOUT 1%.
SO THIS IS THE KEPLER DATA
FOR KIC8462852,
AND IT SHOWS FOUR YEARS OF
KEPLER PHOTOMETRY OF THE STAR,
AND YOU CAN SEE FOR MOST OF
THE TIME IT IS PRETTY FLAT.
NOTHING IS GOING ON,
BUT THEN IN MAY 2009,
YOU HAD THIS DIP THAT,
ON FACE VALUE,
IT APPEARS TO LOOK LIKE
WHAT A TRANSITING PLANET
WOULD LOOK LIKE.
BUT IF YOU TAKE A CLOSER LOOK,
THEN YOU ACTUALLY SEE
THAT THE TRANSIT LASTS
FOR ALMOST A WEEK COMPARED TO
WHAT A PLANET-SIZED OBJECT
WOULD JUST LAST
FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS.
IT WAS ALSO VERY ASYMMETRIC
IN SHAPE,
MEANING THAT INSTEAD OF HAVING
THAT CLEAN U-SHAPED DIP,
IT HAD THIS STRANGE SLOPE OVER
HERE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE.
THIS SEEMED TO INDICATE
THAT WHATEVER WAS CROSSING
IN FRONT OF THE STAR WAS NOT
CIRCULAR LIKE A PLANET.
**
THINGS ARE PRETTY QUIET
FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS,
AND THEN IN MARCH OF 2011,
WE HAVE
THIS VERY DRAMATIC FEATURE
WHERE THE STAR'S BRIGHTNESS
DROPS BY 15%.
AND THIS DROP
IS ALSO VERY ASYMMETRIC.
IT GRADUALLY DECREASES
IN BRIGHTNESS FOR ABOUT A WEEK,
AND THEN IT SNAPS RIGHT BACK UP
TO NORMAL IN JUST A FEW DAYS.
NOW, AFTER THIS, NOTHING HAPPENS
AGAIN FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS
UNTIL FEBRUARY OF 2013,
WHERE YOU HAVE THIS HUGE COMPLEX
OF DIPS
THAT LAST ALMOST FOR 100 DAYS.
EACH OF THESE DIPS
HAVE A DIFFERENT STRUCTURE.
SOME ARE VERY SHALLOW,
SOME ARE VERY SHARP,
AND THE DEEPEST ONE
HERE DROPS BY OVER 20%.
AND SO IT SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT
THERE'S SOME SWARM OF OBJECTS
WITH DIFFERENT SIZES AND SHAPES
THAT WERE PASSING
IN FRONT OF THE STAR.
Narrator:
AT FIRST, NO ONE HAD ANY IDEA
WHAT THOSE OBJECTS COULD BE.
Boyajian: THEN SOMEBODY CAME
ALONG AND SAID,
"WELL, WHAT IF THERE WAS
THIS GIANT SWARM OF COMETS
THAT WAS, YOU KNOW,
SWOOPING DOWN TOWARDS THE STAR
AND BLOCKING OUT THE STARLIGHT.
AND THIS SEEMED TO BE CONSISTENT
WITH THE OBSERVATIONS
THAT WE HAD,
BUT IT SEEMED
A LITTLE BIT CONTRIVED
BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE HUNDREDS,
IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF COMETS
TO BLOCK OUT THE STAR'S LIGHT.
BUT NEVERTHELESS, THIS WAS
KIND OF THE BEST IDEA,
THEORY THAT WE HAD TO EXPLAIN
THE DATA.
Narrator: BUT THERE WAS
ANOTHER POSSIBILITY...
...THAT TABBY HAD DETECTED
THE DEEP SHADOWS
CAST BY A DYSON SPHERE
CONSTRUCTED AROUND THE STAR.
Siemion:
THE SCALE OF THESE THINGS
IS KIND OF HARD TO IMAGINE,
BUT YOU CAN THINK
OF IT THIS WAY.
SO THE EARTH/MOON DISTANCE
IS ABOUT A QUARTER
OF A MILLION MILES,
AND THE SIMPLEST ELEMENT ON ONE
OF THESE
WOULD BE 100 TIMES THIS SIZE.
NOW, IMAGINE THESE
IN ORBIT AROUND THE STAR,
AND YOU CAN SEE HOW IT
WOULD PRODUCE ANOMALIES
IN THE DATA THAT WE DETECT.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS NOW REFER
TO STAR KIC8462852
AS TABBY'S STAR.
AND WHILE THE INVESTIGATION
INTO THE PRECISE CAUSE
OF THE DIMMING IS ONGOING,
THE SEARCH FOR FAST RADIO BURSTS
IS SPEEDING UP.
SEE YOU, BYE.
Lorimer: OKAY, BYE.
[ DOOR CREAKS, CLOSES ]
Narrator: ALONG WITH
THE POTENTIAL DISCOVERY
OF ALIEN MEGA STRUCTURES,
2013 ALSO BROUGHT GOOD NEWS
FOR DUNCAN LORIMER.
Lorimer:
A GROUP AT MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY
ANNOUNCED THE DISCOVERY
OF FOUR MORE BURSTS.
THEY WERE COMING
FROM ALL OVER THE SKY,
AND THEY WERE CLEARLY REAL.
McLaughlin: IT MEANT
THE LORIMER BURST WAS REAL,
WHICH WAS JUST GREAT NEWS,
AND IT ALSO MEANT THAT WE COULD
LEARN A LOT ABOUT THESE BURSTS
THAT WE COULDN'T BEFORE.
WE'D BE ABLE TO STUDY
THE POPULATION AND ENERGETICS
AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY
WHAT'S CAUSING THEM.
DUNC WAS VERY, VERY EXCITED
WHEN THESE OTHER BURSTS
WERE ANNOUNCED
BECAUSE YEAH,
HE FELT VINDICATED.
Narrator:
BY THE END OF 2013,
THERE HAD BEEN SIX CONFIRMED
DETECTIONS OF FAST RADIO BURSTS.
[ MARCHING BAND PLAYING ]
BUT WHAT WAS CAUSING THEM
WAS STILL UNKNOWN.
Lorimer: NOW THAT FAST RADIO
BURSTS ARE REAL,
YOU KNOW, IT COMES BACK
TO THE POINT
WHETHER THEY COULD BE
CAUSED BY ALIENS.
I'VE NEVER REALLY SUBSCRIBED
TO THAT.
IF I WERE LOOKING FOR A SIGNAL
FROM AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL
CIVILIZATION,
I'D BE LOOKING FOR IT COMING
FROM A SINGLE POINT IN THE SKY.
HERE WE HAVE A POPULATION
OF SOURCES ALL OVER THE SKY,
WHICH IMPLIES THAT THE ALIENS
ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE,
ALL OVER THE UNIVERSE.
THAT JUST SEEMS HIGHLY UNLIKELY
TO ME.
Narrator: BUT THEN, MATHEMATICAL
ANALYSIS OF THE KNOWN SIGNALS
SEEMS TO SHOW
THEY WERE ALL PLACED
AT REGULARLY SPACED DISTANCES.
MAYBE WHATEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE FAST RADIO BURSTS
WERE PUT THERE
BY EXTRATERRESTRIALS,
PERHAPS EVEN ONES ON THE NEXT
LEVEL OF THE KARDASHEV SCALE --
COMMUNICATION BEACONS PLACED
ACROSS THE MILKY WAY
BY A TYPE III CIVILIZATION,
ONE WITH THE ABILITY TO HARNESS
THE POWER OF AN ENTIRE GALAXY.
BUT IF THE MILKY WAY WERE HOME
TO A TYPE III CIVILIZATION,
ITS PRESENCE SHOULD BE WRITTEN
ACROSS THE SKY.
WE KNOW FROM THERMODYNAMICS
THAT ANY ENERGY USAGE THAT DOES
USEFUL WORK PRODUCES WASTE HEAT.
OUR CAR ENGINES
PRODUCE WASTE HEAT,
OUR LAPTOP BATTERIES
PRODUCE WASTE HEAT.
SO, TOO, DOES ANY ENERGY USAGE
BY ANY TECHNOLOGY,
WHETHER IT'S HUMAN TECHNOLOGY OR
AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL TECHNOLOGY.
IF THERE WERE A CIVILIZATION
IN OUR GALAXY
THAT WAS USING THE ENERGY OF
MILLIONS OR BILLIONS OF STARS,
WE WOULD SEE EVIDENCE
OF THAT ENERGY USAGE
IN THE FORM OF WASTE HEAT.
Narrator: AS MORE FAST RADIO
BURSTS WERE DISCOVERED,
THE REGULAR PATTERN DISAPPEARED.
AND NOTHING LIKE THE HEAT
PRODUCED BY A TYPE III
CIVILIZATION
HAS EVER BEEN SEEN
IN OUR GALAXY.
BUT WHEREVER THOSE CIVILIZATIONS
MIGHT BE,
FOR AS LONG
AS WE'VE BEEN LOOKING...
THEY HAVE REMAINED ELUSIVE.
BREAKTHROUGH LISTEN
TAKES THE SEARCH
FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE
IN THE UNIVERSE
TO A COMPLETELY NEW LEVEL.
[ INDISTINCT TALKING ]
Narrator: IN 2015, RUSSIAN
BILLIONAIRE YURI MILNER
PUT DOWN $100 MILLION
OF HIS OWN MONEY
TO CONDUCT THE MOST
COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH
FOR EXTRATERRESTRIALS
EVER UNDERTAKEN.
Milner:
THIS WAS ONCE A DREAM.
IT IS NOW A TRULY
SCIENTIFIC QUEST.
THE 20th CENTURY,
WE STEPPED OUT FROM OUR PLANET
TO SPACE, TO THE MOON,
TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
IN THE 21st CENTURY,
WE WILL FIND OUT ABOUT LIFE
AT THE GALACTIC SCALE.
Narrator: AND THE SEARCH BEGINS
WITH TABBY'S STAR.
Siemion: KIC8462852 IS ONE
OF THE BEST TARGETS WE'VE HAD
IN A LONG TIME
FOR SETI SEARCHES.
WE'RE GOING TO BE USING
THE 100-METER GREEN BANK
TELESCOPE,
THE LARGEST FULLY STEERABLE
RADIO TELESCOPE ON PLANET,
PAIRED WITH A BRAND-NEW SET OF
INSTRUMENTATION WE'VE INSTALLED
AS PART OF THE BREAKTHROUGH
LISTEN PROJECT.
THIS INSTRUMENTATION
ALLOWS US TO CONDUCT
A VERY SENSITIVE SEARCH
OVER A HUGE AMOUNT
OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM.
NOW, IF TABBY'S STAR DOES INDEED
HAVE A DYSON SPHERE AROUND IT
AND IT IS INHABITED BY A VERY
ADVANCED CIVILIZATION,
PERHAPS THAT CIVILIZATION
MIGHT HAVE TECHNOLOGY
LIKE WE USE HERE ON EARTH,
PERHAPS RADIO TECHNOLOGY,
AND IF THEY DO, WE COULD DETECT
IT WITH THIS TELESCOPE.
Narrator: USING THE GREEN BANK
TELESCOPE IN WEST VIRGINIA,
THE BREAKTHROUGH TEAM MAY HAVE
THE BEST CHANCE IN HUMAN HISTORY
TO MAKE CONTACT
WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS.
HEY, DAVE. COULD YOU PUT VEGAS
BACK IN MODE ONE?
Boyajian: THIS EVENING IS
A VERY EXCITING NIGHT.
YEAH, TURN BACK ON
AND PROGRAM THE MODE.
WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR IT
FOR OVER A YEAR.
SO YEAH, I THINK
WE'RE ALL PRETTY EXCITED
ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING.
WHAT'S NEXT?
IS TABBY'S STAR NEXT?
-TABBY'S STAR IS NEXT.
-ALL RIGHT.
TIME FOR YOU TO PUSH
THE BUTTON, TABBY.
[ LAUGHTER ]
ALL RIGHT.
HERE WE GO.
-WE'RE OFF.
-THERE WE GO.
Narrator:
ONCE IT'S MOVED INTO POSITION,
THE TELESCOPE BEGINS
TO GATHER RADIO WAVES
THAT JUST MIGHT CONTAIN MESSAGES
FROM AN ALIEN CIVILIZATION.
Man: THERE YOU GO.
COMING IN.
-GREAT.
-COOL.
Narrator: FOR SIX HOURS,
THE GIANT DISH
TRACKS THE STAR ACROSS THE SKY,
SCANNING BILLIONS OF RADIO
CHANNELS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
BY 3:30 A.M.,
THE OBSERVATIONS ARE COMPLETE.
THESE FOUR PLOTS REPRESENT
ABOUT 800 MEGAHERTZ
OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM,
AND THIS IS ONLY ABOUT
ONE-QUARTER
OF THE AMOUNT OF THE RADIO
SPECTRUM THAT WE'RE OBSERVING.
SO THIS PLOT SHOWS THE SHAPE OF
THE RADIO SPECTRUM
AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY.
AND HERE WE SEE THE RADIO
SPECTRUM AS A FUNCTION OF TIME.
IF THERE WAS EVIDENCE
OF TECHNOLOGY IN THESE DATA,
WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE
IS A SPIKE
IN ONE OF THESE PLOTS,
A LOT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY
AT JUST ONE CHANNEL.
WE DON'T SEE THAT YET,
BUT IN THE COMING DAYS,
WEEKS, AND MONTHS,
WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING
AT THESE DATA
IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS
WITH MUCH HIGHER RESOLUTION
THAT WILL ALLOW US TO BE MUCH
MORE SENSITIVE
TO EVIDENCE OF TECHNOLOGY.
Narrator:
AT LEAST FOR TONIGHT,
TABBY'S STAR IS HOLDING ON
TO ITS SECRETS.
AND FOR THE BREAKTHROUGH TEAM,
THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIALS
IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING.
Siemion: I DON'T KNOW
IF THEY'RE OUT THERE OR NOT.
AS A SCIENTIST,
I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT.
BUT I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE
A PRETTY STRANGE UNIVERSE
IN WHICH LIFE ONLY AROSE ONCE
AND INTELLIGENCE
ONLY AROSE ONCE.
AND I THINK TO ME,
THE MOST INTERESTING PROPERTY
OF THE UNIVERSE
IS THE FACT THAT INTELLIGENCE
EXISTS AT ALL,
THAT SOMEHOW THE UNIVERSE
HAS EVOLVED A CAPACITY
TO KNOW ITSELF, TO ASK QUESTIONS
ABOUT ITSELF.
AND ULTIMATELY, I THINK UNTIL
WE ANSWER THIS QUESTION,
WE WON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND
THE UNIVERSE AT ALL.
**
Narrator: SINCE 2013,
MANY MORE FAST RADIO BURSTS
HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED.
AND DUNCAN AND MAURA NOW HAVE
A THEORY
FOR WHAT MIGHT BE
PRODUCING THEM.
Lorimer: SO WHATEVER IT IS
THAT'S CAUSING FRBs
MUST BE BOTH VERY COMPACT
AND VERY ENERGETIC.
THEY MUST IT BE COMPACT
BECAUSE THE WIDTH OF THE PULSES
IS VERY NARROW, AND THEY MUST BE
VERY ENERGETIC
BECAUSE THE DISTANCES
THAT WE INFER ARE VERY FAR AWAY.
IN FACT, IT'S THOUGHT THE BURSTS
COULD BE CREATED
DURING THE EXPLOSIVE COLLISIONS
OF NEUTRON STARS,
SOME OF THE DENSEST,
MOST ENERGETIC OBJECTS
IN THE UNIVERSE.
WE OBSERVE BINARY SYSTEMS
OF TWO NEUTRON STARS
THAT ARE IN ORBIT
AROUND EACH OTHER,
AND WHEN WE OBSERVE
THESE SYSTEMS,
WE SEE THEM GETTING CLOSER AND
CLOSER TOGETHER ALL THE TIME.
SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN EVENTUALLY
IS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO
COLLIDE.
AND WHEN THEY MERGE,
THE NEUTRON STARS WILL BE
COMPLETELY DESTROYED
AND FORM A BLACK HOLE.
Narrator:
AS THEY ANNIHILATE,
THE TWO STARS RELEASE
IN AN INSTANT
THE ENERGY THE SUN PRODUCES
IN AN ENTIRE MONTH...
...A BLINDING FLASH
VISIBLE TO OUR TELESCOPES
AS A FAST RADIO BURST.
THIS THEORY PERHAPS
SOLVES THE MYSTERY
OF THESE STRANGE SIGNALS
FROM SPACE.
McLaughlin: WHEN YOU LOOK AT
THE ENERGETICS OF THESE EVENTS,
YOU CAN EASILY EXPLAIN THE FRB
ENERGIES WITH THEM.
YOU CAN ALSO EXPLAIN
THE DURATIONS OF THE FRB PULSES
WITH THE EXPECTED DURATIONS
OF THESE MERGER EVENTS.
SO IT'S QUITE A PLAUSIBLE
EXPLANATION.
Narrator: THEN IN 2016,
A NEW BURST WAS DETECTED...
THE DISTINCTIVE PULSE
OF RADIO WAVES
RELEASED AS THE NEUTRON STARS
COLLIDED AND WERE DESTROYED,
FOLLOWED BY NOTHING.
SILENCE.
JUST AS THE ASTRONOMERS
EXPECTED.
BUT WHEN THEY LOOKED AGAIN...
THE SIGNAL CAME BACK.