Want to Talk to Aliens? Try Changing the Technological Channel beyond Radio

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September 02, 2020

Dear Reader, The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has long relied on radio telescopes to listen for broadcasts from potential alien callers. Yet in an expansive galaxy such as ours, how can we ever be sure that we have tuned in to the right station? Our lead story takes on this question. In other space news, gravitational-wave detectors LIGO and Virgo have captured the signal of two behemoth black holes merging some 17 billion light-years away. Astronomers said the finding provides their first look at "intermediate"-size black holes. Also featured in today's roundup: Elon Musk's brain tech start-up Neuralink unveiled the latest version of its neural implant technology. And lastly, as part of our 175th anniversary celebration, poetry returned to the pages of Scientific American this year. Read a poem written by Simon Armitage, the current U.K. national Poet Laureate.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Space Want to Talk to Aliens? Try Changing the Technological Channel beyond Radio Finding cosmic civilizations might require a more innovative approach than listening for radio transmissions By Adam Mann

Space LIGO and Virgo Capture Their Most Massive Black Holes Yet The unexpected finding gives astronomers their first good look at previously missing "intermediate"-size black holes By Adam Mann

Neuroscience Elon Musk's Pig-Brain Implant Is Still a Long Way from 'Solving Paralysis' His start-up Neuralink is not the first to develop a wireless brain implant. But the considerable resources behind the effort could help commercialize the technology faster By Tanya Lewis

Medicine Common Steroid Could Be Cheap and Effective Treatment for Severe COVID-19 The results of a trial that found dexamethasone reduced the risk of death in extremely ill coronavirus patients have yet to be published, but some doctors are already embracing them By Tanya Lewis

Computing Quantum Computing May Be Closer Than You Think Five new quantum information science centers will marry the R&D strengths of academia, industry and U.S. national laboratories By Dario Gil

Space How Astronomers Revolutionized Our View of the Cosmos The universe turns out to be much bigger and weirder than anyone thought By Martin Rees

Arts & Culture Scientific American vs. the Supernatural This magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts By Katherine Harmon Courage

Arts & Culture Poem: Bring Back the Leaf Science in meter and verse By Simon Armitage

Policy & Ethics In Case You Missed It Top news from around the world By Scott Hershberger

FROM THE STORE Anniversary Sale In honor of our 175th anniversary, save 25% on any subscription with full digital archive access to Scientific American

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FROM THE ARCHIVE LIGO's Latest Black-Hole Merger Confirms Einstein, Challenges Astrophysics New results from the gravitational wave observatory hint that black holes move in mysterious ways By Lee Billings | June 2017

QUOTE OF THE DAY "I see it as a threshold event--it's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm so stoked." Priyamvada Natarajan, astrophysicist at Yale University

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