Breakthrough Listen: Inside the Multimillion Dollar Hunt for Alien Signals
Thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off on your first purchase.
Got a beard? Good. I've got something for you: beardblaze.com
Simon's Social Media:
Twitter: / simonwhistler
Instagram: / simonwhistler
This video is #sponsored by Squarespace.
Love content? Check out Simon's other KZread Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
Geographics: / @geographicstravel
Warographics: / @warographics643
SideProjects: / @sideprojects
Into The Shadows: / intotheshadows
TopTenz: / toptenznet
Today I Found Out: / todayifoundout
Highlight History: / @highlighthistory
Business Blaze: / @brainblaze6526
Casual Criminalist: / thecasualcriminalist
Decoding the Unknown: / @decodingtheunknown2373
Пікірлер: 336
Thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/megaprojects for 10% off on your first purchase.
@flexairz
Жыл бұрын
That 'html nonsense from the past' is still being used today. Some are too ... to learn anything.
@glike2
Жыл бұрын
The Drake equation should really be a probability function of time equation because there are probabilities associated with most of the parameters and the inevitable Extinction given enough time with many Astro physics Extinction phenomena possible to characterize as a function of time
@oOQCLQOo
Жыл бұрын
@@glike2👍
@ianstradian
Жыл бұрын
I disagree Simon finding out we are not alone is very important and a stunning breakthrough and yes it would have a spotlight in our news cycle for a while. But just like rocket launches of the past that were mainstream news and covered by every news outlet they have faded from our public consciousness. Elon Musk’s reusable rockets were astonishing but now they are passing news. The first few weeks or months of news of the new intelligence in our galaxy would be huge news, then someone would start a Tic Toc trend of peeling potatoes with a cement trowel or snorting tide pods through a straw, and a terrorist attack later and we would slowly move on as a civilization. Yes the science community would be very concerned and a new generation of scientists would work diligently on it but the fickle public would lose interest.
One day we are going to find out that simon is actually being held in a studio/prison cell; forced at gunpoint to narrate the scripts for all these different channels that his captors profit off.
@Sam-tm2un
Жыл бұрын
No, that's where he keeps his author's, Free Danny!
@slcpunk2740
Жыл бұрын
Really? Never heard that one before. Certainly don't see this comment under every one of his videos. 🤦🏻♂️
@Bitchslapper316
Жыл бұрын
Lol
@kitop310
Жыл бұрын
Alledgendly
@joeyr7294
Жыл бұрын
Yeah and they just gave him that ugly ass sweater for a few vids last year lol
3:32 The Drake Equation is less visually jumbled when subscripts are used rather than all of the letters being topographically the same.
Part of the problem with hearing or seeing signs of intelligent life is they may be gone by the time we respond. As an example, Sagittarius A is 25,640 light years away from us. A lot can happen in 51,280+ years.
@tnekkc
Жыл бұрын
I can get you a date with an alien, but you must pay up front.
@geemanbmw
Жыл бұрын
Nothing to see there but a big hole
@mawgraw4297
Жыл бұрын
@Melissa BigMac True, however even having irrefutable evidence that a life form was there at that time would be earth shaking.
@fecalmatter4195
Жыл бұрын
I think it's just to find any kind of evidence of Aliens corresponding with them would be a little optimistic
@onemorechris
Жыл бұрын
yep…but even getting proof someone out there existed at all is still enough to be massive in the way Simon described at the end of the video
You should consider making an episode on the semiconductor value chain. Perhaps the most mega of all projects ever done. Certainly the most advanced and expensive.
@sujimtangerines
Жыл бұрын
Very timely topic as well given the CHIPS act. I know we can't expect the whole endeavor to start churning out chips overnight, but what exactly **IS** the timeline for when we can expect results?
From being the brunt of jokes & one of the most fringe areas in science to having dozens, soon hundreds, of telescopes across the world dedicated to search for extra terrestrial life. Yes, we have Drake & Hawking to thank for this most recent investment in SETI... but how many astronomers, astrophysicists, astrobiologists & other planetary scientists were inspired by Carl Sagan? His dedication & enthusiasm, from books like Contact to his work on Voyager, was contagious. All 3 are sorely missed but their legacies will live on.
That was awesome Simon! One of your best. It's a topic that fascinates me, plus the video was really well done.
@megaprojects9649
Жыл бұрын
thanks! :)
i like megaproject videos that are not focused on the war machine, but rather the better, more engaging endeavors of humanity. please more of these and less of those ;)
Kudos to the Iain M Banks fan writing the chapter headings for "Hydrogen Sonata". Nice Easter egg ;)
@4:27 Shout out to the classic anime FLCL
3:20 Background music is kinda loud. I'm so glad my professors didn't pipe in piano music during lectures.
We should study patterns we simply haven't thought of; using large data sets and dynamical systems theory. We're obviously missing a lot of things but there is plenty we don't know that we don't know.
I believe there's intelligent life out there, possibly because the idea of there NOT being something else out there in that infinity is more terrifying. I may be a solitary person and choose to be alone on this small planet, but for some reason, I don't want to be alone in the universe.
@justwannabehappy6735
Жыл бұрын
Sadly, facts don't care about our feelings or beliefs. If there is or isn't life out there is unrelated to us.
@lordgarion514
Жыл бұрын
@@justwannabehappy6735 Unless they develop the technology to come visit, especially if they're not nice.
@lordgarion514
Жыл бұрын
@@patrickglaser1560 Sorry, but that comment went from cute sarcasm, to stupid about a decade ago.
@MultiBikerboy1
11 ай бұрын
DAVID GRUSH.
Hey Simon!!! The "Wow"...
I feel that there’s one thing about SETI which doesn’t get said often enough, which is a shame because it’s a good answer to detractors of the idea. It is this: We aren’t really looking for alien signals. That is impossible, because we do not know what such signals look like, having no examples of them. Rather, we are looking for things which have no natural explanation; and when we find such things, we science the hell out of them to figure out what could cause it which is NOT aliens. In this way, we make all kinds of new and interesting discoveries, and advance our knowledge of the natural universe. Even if we somehow knew in advance that we would NEVER find aliens, that kind of exploration is still worth something, because it helps us identify that which we have yet to fully understand.
Always the frickin' lasers, ain't it? :P
Unbelievable. You just keep on and on and on. You're like the Eveready bunny.
@EllieMaes-Grandad
Жыл бұрын
Where do they put his battery . . . ?
I got to visit the Green Bank Telescope as part of a school trip. It was pretty crazy. Wifi isn't allowed within I'm pretty sure its like 10 miles, because it will make it so the telescope just can't see anything. There was like one room in the facility that had internet and that was in a faraday cage, even though it was all ethernet. Its also the largest mobile structure in the world iirc.
Oh, they're out there. It's the sheer SCALE of the universe that prevents us primitives from FINDING anything
I think about this all the time. Back in the 70s while I was in school I would often look out the window and wonder if we're alone and where does the Universe end.
I imagine that alien dude preparing for a long voyage to visit Earth. Their parting words: "The Dude aboards".
My gosh you do these videos well. I always learn new information from you on topics that I have followed for years. I am grateful for your work. My best to you.
1:30 - Chapter 1 - All the stars in the sky 6:05 - Chapter 2 - A drop in the ocean 9:20 - Mid roll ads 11:00 - Chapter 3 - Hydrogen sonata 14:25 - Chapter 4 - A 1000 points of light
Hunting for extra-terrestrials is amusing. It's like playing chess by mail, except that the mail takes 100,000 years each way.
Glad to hear scientists are trying to think of different ways extraterrestrials might be broadcasting. It's honestly a bit dumb to assume beings lightyears away have developed technology even remotely similar to our own.
@MultiBikerboy1
11 ай бұрын
DAVID GRUSH.
Another SETI project that is being worked on is PANOSETI. Which is an optical system with 48 telescopes that is currently being developed and already have a few prototypes operational in the field with hopes to build two observatories at Lick Observatory this coming spring. The team is also working with VERITAS. The ultimate goal of the project is all sky all the time. So we can look for very rapid light pulses, covering the entire sky, all the time.
While exciting, I can't help but be spooked by the Dark Forest Theory.
"If you're fond of googling mind blowing speculative space stuff, while probably stoned" bahahahaha! Guilty as charged! Now where did i put my potato chips??
Forgot to say, the background looks better since the blue light the shines on the bricks was toned-down. After watching this my kids want to watch ET again. Another great watch, thanks.....
while probably stoned best line EVER
I like the silence. With no intelligence signals out there, means it's all ours. How awesome is that.
@perniciouspete4986
Жыл бұрын
With our luck, we'll find a civilization that doesn't like to share.
@Preciouspink
Жыл бұрын
It’s good to be the king
I remember in the 90s, SETI setup a screen saver one could download and your own computer would check parts of signals downloaded for anything suspicious. I recently tried to find that screen saver to try and find Xenomorphs, but it’s now called BOINC.
1:28 all the stars in the sky 6:02 a drop in the ocean 9:19 sponsorship 10:58 hydrogen sonata 14:23 a thousand points of light
@oOQCLQOo
Жыл бұрын
❤ 18:20
Maybe the aliens are ignoring and avoiding contacting us.
@EllieMaes-Grandad
Жыл бұрын
They're assumed to be intelligent life, so they know what they're doing . . . !
Don't forget radar. Our radar emissions could be detected out to deep interstellar distances too.
@rickym5474
Жыл бұрын
Our own emissions can only be detected from 100-150 light years away from Earth, because radar emissions only travel at the speed of light, which is pedestrian like in the grand scheme of things. If there is any extra-terrestrial life listening, they'd have to be within 100-150 light years of us to detect our emissions. Also, our transmitting and listening is also assuming that aliens are transmitting and listening specifically to radio emissions like we do too. We could be trying to listen to transmissions that we can't detect because we're too technologically primitive.
Regarding listening for alien radio signals, what about the inverse square path loss? Over a path length of many light years the loss would be so enormous that any alien radio signal would be well below the noise floor.
@beeemm5707
Жыл бұрын
Beams dear chap
@jimdavis5230
Жыл бұрын
@@beeemm5707With focused radio beams using parabolic dishes the inverse square law still applies dear chap. Focused radio beams using dish antennas improves the effective radiated power of the transmitter and the sensitivity of the receiver but the inverse square law still applies.
love the FLCL shout out 👍
Hottake: we'll never find another intelligent species. The solution to the Fermi Paradox is that the Great Filter is intelligence.
Awesome vid mate 👏👍🤩
That FLCL reference 👌
As a big, big boondoggle, this takes some beating!
They should make a game where you hunt Signals like these in a Simulator of some kind.
@MausMasher54
Жыл бұрын
Uh, it's not a game, but you can hook-up with SETI and join the hunt....
3:20-3:25 called me out that's why im usually here lmao
Sounding sick on this one
Simon, I don't wonder, I know. There fireflies. Fireflies that got stuck up in that big bluish, black, thing.
There is one important thing we have to ask if it turns out that there is alien life: Are they bangable?
When he refers to danny being in his basment, he is really secretly asking for help.
It would be crazy if we were here alone. And it WILL be crazy when we find "the signal". Great video and clear analogs. +1+1+1+1+1
Wowza This is remarkable and and incredible Megaproject! 😮 RIP Stephen Hawking 😔 A genius comfide to history
You have the best beard ever! IMO.
It is too bad that they couldn't have somehow incorporated a listening device of some sort on our new Webb Telescope that will be visiting more stars and galaxies than Drake ever guessed were out there.
Coughs, Simon, how did you know?
I'm not stoned, but I feel the Drake equation would be a lot more fun to contemplate if I was!
My first reaction to reading your title: "Only multi-million? What is this, a center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?"
Basically the simplest answer to the Drake equation is that nothing can travel faster than light. The equations show there should be many planets with intelligent life, but we can’t see them. Meaning they can’t travel here quick enough for it to be worth it, the light and signals from Earth won’t reach them anytime soon for them to detect. The older galaxies that could have intelligent life are extremely far from Earth, even the closest galaxies like Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte galaxy is the 30th closest in the universe to us. It’s 3,064,500 light years away. The first discernible signals from earth were between 80-125 years ago depending on how strong the signal would have to be. Meaning they won’t even potentially hear from us for another 3,064, 300 years if you round up. It’s just an enormous (just the observable part) universe especially it physics doesn’t allow for light speed travel.
@stevejones1318
Жыл бұрын
What about our own galaxy which has 400bn stars in a 50,000 light yr radius? There could be hundreds of goldilocks planets within 100 light years of us. There may even be one orbiting Alpha C which is only 4.2 ly away.
I’m not seeing it here Loyd..but..what your saying is..there is a chance!
I hope you feel better soon, Simon.
love all the easter eggs in this one, great Iain M Banks tributes
What about Goonhilly downs in the UK That was one hell of a mega project.
One of the problems of looking for lasers is that they tend to be very directed. Sure, there is attenuation, and even if it was aimed at a receiver, some would leak around the edges, but we'd still need to be in a very precise location to even detect a laser. And there is no reason to believe any alien civilization would be intentionally aiming at us. Even if they were doing what we are, looking for other life out there, they may have tried to communicate with us hundreds or thousands of years ago, got no response, and moved on to other targets. There are a lot of factors that need to be just right for us to find any signal, but especially so for lasers. We need to be sensitive enough to detect it, at the right time to detect it, and at the right place to detect it. I'm definitely not saying we shouldn't be trying, but I'm also not going to hold my breath. Near future searches for those industrial byproducts is probably a much better option.
The idea not crazy ? Advanced alien civilizations would be using radio waves, technology that would give out signals. Maybe one day humanity will pick up a signal but i still think alien civilizations wouldn't openly contacted humanity because of competition. Good chance they would watch humanity.
I refuse to believe that humanity is the only intelligent life in the universe. It's too big, there are too many rolls of the dice for that.
@MusicalRaichu
Жыл бұрын
in the universe, sure. but beyond our galaxy (or at most our local group) is too far to detect. the question is whether life is common enough to be detectable in our own galaxy.
He may not be the first to a billion views, but he sure will be the first with a billion video library!! Go fact boy go!!!
When you're talking about lasers, doesn't that all require it to be pointed directly at us or being very poorly aimed or it something on its way? Presumably interstellar dust and such wouldn't scatter that much. What am I missing?
If you do hear something from out there, it most probably be hundreds of thousands of years old.
I like how he's just got a black globe.
Lasers, and if you make it so directional that if your not in line that you would see it.
Some things we’ll never know? There’s things about our own planet we’ll never know
Please do a video about sejong city
Hey factboy, please do a video on bagger 288
08:55 - Oh why did you discredit us for having filthy piano keys Simon? You're British 🇬🇧 too mate! That stereotype has long since be debunked! We actually have better teeth than most Americans! 😂😂
The fact is that the immense distances between galaxies makes this near impossible. The Milky Way is 100,000 light-years in diameter so a radio wave would take 100,000 years to get here from the other side. It's never going to be possible to communicate with other beings unless they're extremely close to us.
@stevejones1318
Жыл бұрын
Never say never. Only 150 years ago we thought it impossible to fly. If we survive long enough, we will invent currently inconceivable methods of communication and travel.
3:19 I feel called out.
I hate to tell you guys this, but if you are trying to build radio telescopes here in SA you'd better build the power supply system as well because we certainly don't have the capacity to power them. Oh, and don't let anyone in the government get involved, or it'll cost you millions and never get built.
I think the silence provides more chills.
@MrPossumeyes
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, a species hits the jackpot, technology sprouts, they create a huge mess and their planet shits itself, they go extinct. Bummer, man, but maybe that's how it goes.
The hydrogen line is so likely to be broadcasted on that we are not at all? What if the universe was quit only because everyone is only listening?
Ever read the tree body problem series?
Simon IS an alien, with a third eye sent back from the future to educate everyone twice. Haw.
Thing is...... one of two things is true. There is no "superior" faster than light comms method, if so there is almost 0% chance to find a signal. Any signal would be "lost" in all the background radio. There is at least one "superior" faster than light comms method, if so there is 0% chance to find a signal. We don't have the tech. As such, any money spent on this would be better spent on finding new comms methods or "looking" for artificial physical objects. There's also the "prime directive" type of thing, until we reach a certain level of tech why bother with us.
Go to Essex they own the pubs
If you wear a dark shirt on camera you should try and wear a dark lining in your jacket, especially with how well and how frequently you communicate with body language and gesticulation
We should stream tiktok into outer space in hope a civilization advance enough catches the signal.
Nobody will speak to us. If I was an alien, I wouldn't.
@engineeringvision9507
Жыл бұрын
Yet you are still here
Foolicoolie...LMAO
Hello Simon
I have decided people name projects based on the Acronym they want instead of something logical.
Simon sounds like he had the sniffles in this vid
In a few more years Simon's whiskers are going to take over YT.
Assuming convergent evolution processes will exist in other life systems, as it does/has across our systems/history, things gravitate towards a physical equiliblium; such as predator/prey and long period physical adaptions. This, under steady-state or very slow changes in environmental conditions, provides little or no opportunity to develop 'human' levels of brain and consequent environmental manipulation. For humans to develop (or exist at all) has required numerous mass extinctions of the dominant species AND numerous lesser threatening changes (ice-ages etc) that forced us to evolve different abilities and strategies. If these 'incentives/opportunities' don't happen often enough the dominant species maintains a physical status-quo, if they happen too often there isn't time for ours (or similar) characteristics to develop in a species. How does that fit into the Drake equation?.
If we’re looking for messages being sent through the hydrogen line frequency and also not broadcasting on it in order to eliminate some interference, who’s to say an alien race isn’t doing the same thing? Both looking for something that neither is producing. 😆
I have lately begun to think about future long distance communication being done by pared paricles or some such quantum thing. And then I doubt we can hear anything from that. But looking at other tell tales seems really doable still. Then yet again, looking at the TINY timescale we have been around comparing with a planets life bearing time, do not give me much hope of seeing anything soon. Or perhaps at all during our lifetime. Ai do get smarter and faster all the time, so perhaps they will find something and recognise what that telltale is, and then tell us. Perhaps it simply is another ai that also has been tasked with the same job, that is left with its thankless job running since who knows when. Not that we could talk, I doubt anything is close enough for that. Unless there are something like quantum strings or something one could tap into and use.
Ack ack ack!! 😆
@12:43 Did we lose France or something?
I do think when the aliens discover the Earth it will be pretty much like the Europeans discovering the Americas, peaceful at first and then boom.
@engineeringvision9507
Жыл бұрын
I think you've misunderstood the distances
whats the background music, calm piano, atmospheric, while he's talking about drake equation in first half
Maybe it would be better trying not to contact Aliens because perhaps instead of trying to communicate with earth, they would think about how to take over the earth
I think in order to more effectively use the Drake equation, we should consider just how we came about - and that was the result of the dinosaur mass extinction. Had that not happen, it would be very likely that the apex predators would still be dinosaurs that probably wouldn't have become an intelligent civilisation - but then I guess how can one determine that on other worlds? Also, if there relly are intelligent civilisations comprable to us or more advanced, then it may be a fair assumption that they, like us, have sent probes out there. I guess we have to ask why a single one has never been detected in our solar system? It would take a long time for Voyager One to reach our nearest star, thousands of years , in fact. However, that's but a short moment in the scheme of things. If a Civilisation say 20 light years away sent out probes say 200,000 years ago, there is every chance it could have reached us by now. If 100,000+ intelligent civilisations had done likewise, then there is at least a slim chance we may have detected one in our vicinity. Who knows what the truth is but I live in hope.
God bless sponsor block technology
Well done Simon but please leave the red nick reference to us in the USA.
Was that an FLCL reference?