Mystery signal sets pulses racing

Head for hills!?

Unexplained radio signals from space could be communications from an alien civilization, reports the New Scientist.

The signal was picked up by a powerful radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and identified as an anomaly, thanks to the SETI@home project, a volunteer effort that uses donated computing power on thousands of PCs to crunch astronomical data in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

The signal, named SHGb02+14a, has been picked up three times from the same part of the sky, between the constellations Pisces and Aries. That makes it one of the most promising observations yet by SETI@home, according to the chief scientist involved in the project.

Other theories over SHGb02+14a's source include previously unknown astronomical phenomena, noise from the telescope and a possible hack of SETI@home's grid computing network.

Even if the signal wasn't artificially produced, it is intriguing. At least one previous signal considered to be a candidate for alien communications turned out to be the first sighting of a pulsar.