this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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Why SETI Might Have Been Missing Alien Signals (www.seti.org)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by kalkulat@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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"Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden an otherwise ultra-narrow signal, spreading its power across more frequencies and making it more difficult to detect in traditional narrowband searches."

Science paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae3d33

Review article: https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/seti_admits_its_search_for/

Broadening of specral lines info: http://www.hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Atomic/broaden.html

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[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well yeah. But that's to be expected in astronomy, they have to keep changing the model as they learn more and more. Who knew 40 years ago that stellar atmospheres could broaden radio-frequency lines?

Fair cop ... but society's to blame !