New Search Begins For Alien 'Super Civilizations' In 2,800 Galaxies

Astronomers have begun a first-of-its-kind search for signs of “technosignatures” produced by super civilizations—those more advanced than ours—in galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

Technosignatures are evidence of past or present technology that would, if found, indirectly confirm the presence of life in another star system. Technosignatures could include city lights, solar panels, megastructures and swarms of satellites.

Although there have been similar searches for technosignatures before, this is the first extragalactic search. The radio telescope array in Australia being used is capable of looking for signs of life in star systems both in our Milky Way galaxy and in 2,800 galaxies beyond.