Scientists Urge Search for Alien Probes on the Moon

The hunt for alien technosignatures is getting a high-tech upgrade

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will image the southern sky using the largest digital camera ever built.

Self-Replicating Probes Could be Operating Right now in the Solar System. Here's How We Could Look for Them

A new study proposes how we could look for signs of self-replicating (Von Neumann) probes that would prove that the Solar System has been explored by an advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI).

Self-replicating probes could be operating right now in the solar system; here's how we could look for them

In 1949, famed mathematician and physicist John von Neumann delivered a series of addresses at the University of Illinois, where he introduced the concept of the "universal constructor." The theory was further detailed in the 1966 book, "Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata," a collection of von Neumann's writings compiled and completed by a colleague after his death.

What Is a Von Neumann Probe?

[caption id="attachment_34639" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Concept art by Mark Molnar[/caption] Let's take a look at one of John von Neumann's most fascinating contributions to science: the Von Neumann probe. Simply put, a Von Neumann probe is a self-replicating device that could, one day, be used to explore every facet of the Milky Way in a relatively small window of time. The...

von Neumann AI Probe

Probing the Galaxy: Self-Reproduction and Its Consequences