https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from SETI Institute A new study by researchers at the SETI Institute suggests that stellar "space weather" could make radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence harder to detect. 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. The paper is published in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-technosignatures-turbulent-plasma-blur-ultra.html Astronomy Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:20:04 EST news691944722 Recent research suggests that Saturn's bright rings and its largest moon, Titan, may have both originated in collisions among its moons. While Cassini's 13-year mission expanded our understanding of Saturn, the discoveries of its young rings and Titan's rapidly shifting orbit have raised new questions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturn-moon-titan-merger-moons.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:45:27 EST news690050701 For 10 months, a SETI Institute-led team watched pulsar PSR J0332+5434 (also called B0329+54) to study how its radio signal "twinkles" as it passes through gas between the star and Earth. The team used the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to take measurements between 900 and 1,956 MHz and observed slow, significant changes in the twinkling pattern (scintillation) over time. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-radio-scintillation-nudge-pulsar-billionths.html Astronomy Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:01:24 EST news684601261 Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report published in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal Planetarium in Canada. The team had presented their findings of an investigation into the impact of small asteroid 2023 CX1 over France in February 2023. This new paper revealed that small asteroids can explode on atmospheric entry. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-small-asteroids-abruptly.html Astronomy Wed, 17 Sep 2025 16:44:03 EDT news677346241 New research published in Nature Communications identifies an iron sulfate on Mars that may represent a brand-new mineral. The paper is titled "Characterization of ferric hydroxysulfate on Mars and implications of the geochemical environment supporting its formation." https://phys.org/news/2025-08-iron-rich-mineral-mars-evidence.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 06 Aug 2025 05:30:22 EDT news673676892 New research led by Dr. James De Buizer at the SETI Institute and Dr. Wanggi Lim at IPAC at Caltech revealed surprising results about the rate at which high-mass stars form in the galactic center of the Milky Way. The researchers based their study primarily on observations from NASA's now-retired SOFIA airborne observatory, focusing on three star-forming regions—Sgr B1, Sgr B2, and Sgr C—located at the heart of the galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-unusual-stellar-nurseries-galaxy-center.html Astronomy Tue, 10 Jun 2025 11:17:34 EDT news668773043 A team of scientists from the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis has documented, for the first time, humpback whales producing large bubble rings, like a human smoker blowing smoke rings, during friendly interactions with humans. This previously little-studied behavior may represent play or communication. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-curious-humpback-whales-approach-humans.html Astrobiology Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:22:25 EDT news668355740 Why do comets and their meteoroid streams weave in and out of Earth's orbit and their orbits disperse over time? In a paper published in the journal Icarus, two SETI Institute researchers show that this is not due to the random pull of the planets, but rather the kick they receive from a moving sun. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-meteor-showers-unpredictable.html Astronomy Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:03:04 EDT news664041782 In April 2019, rare primitive meteorites fell near the town of Aguas Zarcas in northern Costa Rica. In an article published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, an international team of researchers describes the circumstances of the fall and show that mudball meteorites are not necessarily weak. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-costa-rica-mudball-meteorite-cosmic.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:51:03 EDT news662655061 Where do meteorites of different types come from? In a review paper in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, astronomers trace the impact orbit of observed meteorite falls to several previously unidentified source regions in the asteroid belt. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-geologic-asteroid-belt-meteorites.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:44:04 EDT news661527842 A research team led by Dr. Sofia Sheikh of the SETI Institute, in collaboration with the Characterizing Atmospheric Technosignatures project and the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, set out to answer a simple question: If an extraterrestrial civilization existed with technology similar to ours, would they be able to detect Earth and evidence of humanity? If so, what signals would they detect, and from how far away? https://phys.org/news/2025-02-twin-earth.html Astrobiology Mon, 03 Feb 2025 15:47:51 EST news657820066 A study that sheds new light on how pulsar signals—the spinning remnants of massive stars—distort as they travel through space, published in The Astrophysical Journal, was led by Dr. Sofia Sheikh, SETI Institute researcher, and performed by a multi-year cohort of undergraduate researchers in the Penn State branch of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory student club. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-bandwidth-pulsar-distort-space.html Astronomy Tue, 26 Nov 2024 15:22:04 EST news651856922 Scientists at the SETI Institute and partners from Penn State University used the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to search for signs of alien technology in the TRAPPIST-1 star system. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-scientists-allen-telescope-array-radio.html Astrobiology Wed, 16 Oct 2024 10:00:01 EDT news648289779 The SETI Institute, the Berkeley SETI Research Center and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research announced a study using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia. Led by Dr. Chenoa Tremblay of the SETI Institute and Prof. Steven Tingay of Curtin University, this research is the first to search for signs of alien technology in galaxies beyond our own, focusing on low radio frequencies (100 MHz). https://phys.org/news/2024-08-frequency-alien-technology-distant-galaxies.html Astrobiology Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:27:03 EDT news643904822 An international team of 45 researchers studying meteor showers has found that not all comets crumble the same way when they approach the sun. In a paper published in the journal Icarus, they ascribe the differences to the conditions in the protoplanetary disk where comets formed 4.5 billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-meteor-showers-comets-early-solar.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:51:03 EDT news643549861 The SETI Institute announced the latest findings from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A). These observations of the youngest known core collapse supernova in the Milky Way provide insights into the conditions that lead to the formation and destruction of molecules and dust within supernova ejecta. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-webb-unveils-stunning-ejecta-cassiopeia.html Astronomy Mon, 15 Jul 2024 13:25:04 EDT news640268701 The dust of comets fills the space between the planets, collectively called the zodiacal cloud. Still, severe breakdown has reduced that dust in size so much that it now scatters sunlight efficiently, causing the faint glow in the night sky known as the "zodiacal light." https://phys.org/news/2024-03-blame-space-pebble-demise.html Astronomy Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:11:03 EDT news630259861 A paper recently published in Icarus presents findings about the Kuiper Belt Object 486958 Arrokoth, shedding new light on the preservation of volatile substances like carbon monoxide (CO) in such distant celestial bodies. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-reveals-ancient-ice-distant-space.html Astronomy Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:06:02 EDT news629647561 In a groundbreaking announcement at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas, scientists revealed the discovery of a giant volcano and possible sheet of buried glacier ice in the eastern part of Mars' Tharsis volcanic province near the planet's equator. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-giant-volcano-mars.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:24:59 EDT news629551492 The moon lander Odysseus, known as Odie, touched down on the moon's surface on February 22, becoming the first time the U.S. has landed on the moon in more than 50 years and the first commercial moon lander to successfully land on the moon. Along with its science payload, the spacecraft also brought along a fusion of art and space exploration, SETI Institute's Artist in Residence (SETI AIR), Felipe Pérez Santiago's Earthling Project, a collection of global musical compositions representing Earth's cultural diversity and harmony. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-moon-lander-odysseus-home-artistic.html Space Exploration Tue, 05 Mar 2024 16:13:03 EST news628877581 The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is helping scientists uncover how planets form by advancing understanding of their birthplaces and the circumstellar disks surrounding young stars. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-james-webb-space-telescope-captures.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:57:04 EST news628790221 A team of researchers from the SETI Institute, Berkeley SETI Research Center and the University of Washington reported an exciting development for the field of astrophysics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), using observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission to monitor the SETI Ellipsoid, a method for identifying potential signals from advanced civilizations in the cosmos. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-seti-employs-ellipsoid-technique-distant.html Astronomy Mon, 12 Feb 2024 13:05:52 EST news626965544 An official classification now aligns with what many suspected from merely looking at the images of the strange meteorites that fell near Berlin on January 21, 2024. They belong to a rare group called "aubrites." https://phys.org/news/2024-02-asteroid-impacted-berlin-rare-aubrite.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 05 Feb 2024 16:31:02 EST news626373061 In a groundbreaking cosmic quest, the SETI Institute's Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster (COSMIC) at the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is expanding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). https://phys.org/news/2024-01-cosmic-extraterrestrial-intelligence.html Astronomy Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:17:37 EST news623938655 A team of SETI Institute scientists has unveiled new insights into a cosmic mystery known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). The discovery and detailed observation of the repeating FRB 20220912A, made at the SETI Institute's refurbished Allen Telescope Array (ATA), shed light on the nature of these space signals. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-secrets-fast-radio-pieces-puzzle.html Astronomy Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:15:30 EST news621706524 A team of scientists from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, had a close encounter with a non-human (aquatic) intelligence. The Whale-SETI team has been studying humpback whale communication systems in an effort to develop intelligence filters for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-encounter-humpback-whales-reveals-potential.html Astrobiology Tue, 12 Dec 2023 14:59:21 EST news621615539 In a new study published in The Astronomical Journal, researchers used the known population of exoplanets and extrapolated to the much larger, unknown population of exoplanets to set better thresholds for planetary effects on signals from ETIs (extraterrestrial intelligences). https://phys.org/news/2023-10-exoplanet-informed-clearer-bounds-radio-technosignatures.html Astrobiology Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:47:04 EDT news617284022 In an unprecedented achievement, citizen scientists have set a new record for the SETI Institute and Unistellar, comprising the highest number of observers providing data on a single event. Amateur astronomers participating in the SETI Institute's and Unistellar's CosmicCataclysms program conducted a groundbreaking observation of supernova (SN) 2023ixf. The observations, which began just one hour after the supernova's first known appearance, have generated the longest continuous light curve of this supernova gathered by citizen scientists that has been published to date. The data collection effort involved 123 observers and utilized Unistellar's eVscope, with observations set to continue until the supernova is no longer visible, likely sometime in August. The accomplishment highlights the significant contributions made by citizen scientists in advancing astronomical research. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-record-breaking-team-citizen-scientists-contribute.html Astronomy Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:31:01 EDT news608463056 Get ready to be amazed by the latest James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) image. Saturn's iconic rings seem to glow eerily in this incredible infrared picture, which also unveils unexpected features in Saturn's atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-image-james-webb-space-telescope.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:53:18 EDT news607351987 What would happen if we received a message from an extraterrestrial civilization? Daniela de Paulis, an established interdisciplinary artist and licensed radio operator who currently serves as Artist in Residence at the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory, has brought together a team of international experts, including SETI researchers, space scientists, and artists, to stage her latest project, A Sign in Space. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-contact-global-team-simulate-message.html Astronomy Mon, 22 May 2023 16:40:25 EDT news603992422