Article 2QZQ6 Who knew the Scots were such space pioneers?| Kevin McKenna

Who knew the Scots were such space pioneers?| Kevin McKenna

by
Kevin McKenna
from on (#2QZQ6)
For such a small nation, Scotland punches far above its weight

The most startling revelation of the year so far came at the end of a BBC Horizon programme called Strange Signals From Outer Space!. I've always admired the lads and lasses who produce Horizon; for decades, they have been giving us programmes that stretch our minds and fill them with uplifting concepts about the possibilities of human endeavour. Clearly, though, the producers haven't been reared in a newsroom environment. If they'd been schooled in the arts of detecting and conveying hard news, they would have stuck this potentially game-changing information at the top of their programme.

It seems astronomers and space scientists have been showing more than a fancy to some bursts of activity in the blue yonder, which they believe might give them a chance of detecting alien messages. They've been looking at bursts of radio waves produced by neutron stars to search for unusual signal formations. Basically, these signals happen routinely and intermittently. But if any were to form into a pattern then there's a decent chance that ET and his chinas are trying to contact us.

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