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[Headlines] (HL-과학/기술/교육) Are Fast Radio Bursts Evidence of Unknown Life?
최고관리자  |  17-03-28 00:27

Ten years ago, scientists started noticing very brief, but powerful radio bursts coming from outer space. Called fast radio bursts, or FRBs, they have been identified as millisecond-long bursts of radio emission. Scientists believe these emissions were made in a group of stars billions of light years away from Earth. A new theory says the radio bursts may be evidence of highly developed alien life. A paper describing the theory was published this month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The bursts cannot be seen with the human eye, but were observed by very large radio telescopes. Many scientists believe that these powerful flashes may be related to the collapse of a massive star. But scientist Avi Loeb says researchers have yet to confirm any natural cause of the emissions. Loeb is chair of Harvard University’s Astronomy Department and works at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He believes the bursts might be coming from powerful equipment, like a transmitter used on Earth to broadcast radio or television signals. He thinks the device could be as big as a planet and have enough power to send large spaceships great distances.
* brief = (시간이) 짧은, 잠시 동안의/ radio burst = (천문학) 전파 폭발(電波爆發)/ outer space = (대기권 외) 우주 공간 (지구의 대기권 밖의 공간; 별[행성] 사이의 공간)/ be identified as ~ = ~로 판명되다[밝혀지다]/ millisecond = 1000분의 1초/ radio emission = (천문학) 전파 방출(電波放出)/ alien life = 외계 생명체/ radio telescope = 전파 망원경/ related to ~ = ~와 관련 있는/ collapse = 붕괴/ yet to ~ = 아직 ~하지 않았다/ confirm = (특히 증거를 들어) 사실임을 보여주다/ natural cause = 자연 요인[원인]

While noting this is just “speculation,” Loeb told VOA what he suspects might be producing the fast radio bursts. He says, imagine a spacecraft moving like a sailboat, powered by light from the huge planet-sized transmitter. “If you have a sailboat, the wind is pushing the sail, and the sail carries the boat along with it. You can imagine doing exactly the same thing with light. If you bounce light off a sail, you could push a spacecraft. And in principle because the spacecraft doesn’t carry its own fuel, you can push it all the way to the speed of light. At very high speeds.” Loeb says it could be created by alien life forms belonging to a highly developed civilization. He thinks the powerful bursts could be a sign of “leakage” — when light hitting the sail moves just past the edge of the sail. It shows up on Earth as a very bright, fast-moving radio wave. "And the idea is that the beam of light that is being used to push the sail is leaking. We see leakage of that radiation and if the beam is powerful enough we could see it from a great distance and because the beam is sweeping across the sky, we would see it as a flash of light, as a burst of radio waves, the way these fast radio bursts appear."
* note = ~에 주목[주의]하다/ speculation = 추측, (어림)짐작/ suspect = 의심하다/ transmitter = 전송기, 송신기, 발신기/ sail = 돛/ in principle = 원칙적으로[이론상으로는], 원론적으로; 대체적으로/ civilization = 문명 (사회)/ leakage = 누출, 새어나감/ beam of light = (물리학) 광선살, 광망(光芒)/ sweep across ~ = ~를 휩쓸고 지나가다/ flash of light = 섬광(閃光)