One of the questions about our universe that we haven't been able to figure out yet is: do aliens really exist? Whether they actually do or not, it doesn't seem like scientists will give up on trying to find them anytime soon. In a recent study from the University of Edinburgh, a team of researchers managed to form a mathematical model that may explain why we've never heard from extraterrestrial creatures.
According to the team's calculations, it's possible that aliens are communicating across interstellar distances using quantum signals. But what does this mean for scientists trying to prove aliens exist? We now need to make sure our technology can detect these signals from Earth - which is not as easy as it may sound. The thing about establishing quantum networks that we can use to teleport quantum states here on Earth is that they're very fragile and susceptible to interference.
Theoretical physicist Arjun Berera, from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, explained to Science News the complications that may occur in such a model. "Quantum states you generally think of as very delicate, and if there's any kind of external interaction, you kind of destroy that state," he explained. Together with his colleague, Jaime Calderón-Figueroa, Berera examined and calculated X-rays wavelengths across space to check how coherent their movements were. They reasoned that if photons were quantum particles, they would be able to stretch across a distance of hundreds of thousands of light years - greater than the Milky Way itself.
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According to the researchers, this is due to the 'cleaner' environment found in space - where there is less density of matter than here on Earth. "It is plausible that quantum communication mediated by photons could be established across interstellar distances, in particular for photons in the X-ray region below the electron mass," the researchers explain in their study, published in Physical Review D. Are human beings finally on a path to find an entirely new world of creatures we share the universe with? Something tells us this discovery is only the beginning of a long but world-shattering journey. Be sure to stay tuned.
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