David Kipping

Professor

The Signatures of Other Civilizations

When we look at the stars, it’s natural to wonder who else might inhabit the cosmos. For years we’ve searched the skies for radio transmissions from other civilizations yet we have found no convincing signals. Given that humanity is already becoming radio quiet, perhaps other advanced civilizations should be sought using different methods. The field of technosignatures pulls on this thread, asking what other types of observations might betray the presence of a technological civilization. I’ll discuss some of the ideas put forward to look for our neighbors, what limits we have to date from such efforts and what the future holds for this new field of astronomy.