Advanced Civilizations Need Energy

Alien Probes: Can We Detect Them by Their Energy Drain?

Advanced Civilizations Need Energy

If advanced civilizations exist, they'll need energy. An artist's conception of an intelligent civilization on a distant planet has them harnessing energy from their star. And NASA wants to know if it could detect such a civilization.

Off-Axis Emitting Probes

The possibility of off-axis emitting probes opens a new avenue for the search for alien devices in our solar system. We intend to explore it further.

Tiny Clues

But if we think about life on this planet beyond the big things—the elephants, the whales, redwoods trees—and focus on the tiny things, nearly invisible to the eye, we might find clues to the existence of alien probes.

Calling Home

If alien probes are already in the solar system, maybe we could detect them calling home. Some experts think advanced civilizations would need to communicate with their probes, and we could detect those communications.

November 23, 2021, by Matt Williams