No, SETI Has Not Detected Alien Signals From Space

The Bad Astronomer writes "Rumors are going around that SETI astronomers have detected possible alien signals from space. Bottom line: signals were detected when the Green Bank Telescope was pointed at target planets discovered by Kepler, but the signals are almost certainly interference from man-made satellites orbiting the Earth. This happens pretty often, so we need to be aware that these kinds of false positives pop up."

Re:Call me an idiot ...

[methamorph]

Idiot. :) They don't suggest that the telescope moves from one place on the earth to another (while keeping the same angle) but rather change the angle of the telescope that will cause the signal from a remote source to disappear.

Re:"almost certainly"

[geekoid]

Actually, if we are alone, then Yes we ARE the "pinnacle of civilization".

Signature of humanity

[pclminion]

Humans should module some very low bit-rate, spread spectrum, wide band signal onto every single transmission we generate, which identifies that transmission as being human in origin. In the future, if we detect a signal we can just check if this signature is there. If it is, question answered. If not, something interesting is happening.