American researchers from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project have concluded a large-scale analysis of cosmic data in search of technosignatures—potential signals of intelligent life beyond Earth. The COSMIC system processed signals from nearly one million objects, but no evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence was found. The results were published on the scientific portal arXiv.

How Does COSMIC Work?

COSMIC (Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster) is an advanced signal-processing system integrated with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescopes. Its real-time algorithms search for narrow-band radio signals, which could indicate artificial origins.

To qualify as a potential technosignature, a signal must meet several criteria, including frequency shifts due to the Doppler effect, which occurs when the source is in motion.

COSMIC was designed for automated technosignature searches in one of SETI’s largest experiments, the researchers explain.

So far, COSMIC has analyzed over 950,000 cosmic objects, making this one of the most extensive SETI investigations to date.

First Results

One of the test fields for observation included 511 stars selected from the Gaia catalog. Despite scanning these targets, COSMIC did not detect any artificial signals.

However, scientists emphasize that this is just the beginning. Future studies will cover even more objects, and the analysis algorithms will be improved.

Why Is This Important?

Although no clear evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence was found, researchers consider the project highly significant: according to the authors, they have developed an efficient data-processing system capable of analyzing vast amounts of information. This is crucial for modern radio astronomy and the ongoing search for intelligent life in the universe.