We Just Found 13 Fast Radio Bursts That Might Come From Aliens

FRBs which is short for fast radio bursts are radio waves’ short pulses that come from far beyond the galaxy. Since 2007, over 60 FRBs have been observed by researchers. Among all of them, there is only one repeating FRB, which is several bursts that come from the exact same source.

What might be the cause of these mysterious signals? Nobody knows. However, numerous theories have been made which range from advanced alien civilizations to strange star crusts.

Now, a team of Canadian scientist has added 13 more FRBs to this list. Surprisingly, among these 13 FBRs, there is a second repeating one. This discovery not only could change our understanding of mysterious signals but also how we search for them.

The detail of their 13 new FRBs detection is described in two papers which were published in the journal Nature. According to the researchers, in three weeks of 2018’s summer, they gathered the data by using CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment), which is a radio telescope placed at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in BC, Canada.

In the next few weeks after that period, from one of the fast radio bursts, the team caught additional pulses, which turn the FRB into the second repeater.

The research of the CHIME team is proof that the previous discovery of repeating FRB wasn’t just cosmic abnormality. Moreover, it changes our knowledge on how we detect the phenomena as well as their origins.

Previously, researchers found most of the FRBs at a frequency somewhere near 1400 MHz whereas CHIME uses the range of frequency from 400 MHz to 800 MHz. They were also able to detect some new FRBs at a frequency even lower than that, which suggests more possibility in identifying future FRBs.

Signs of what known as “scattering” phenomenon were also discovered in some new FRBs. From this, researchers can have more clues about what the environment near an FRB’s source is like.

Tom Landecker, a member of the CHIME team, said: