US: The first telescope designed specifically to look for possible light messages sent to Earth by aliens has been unveiled in the US. Scientists will use the optical telescope at the Oak Ridge observatory in Massachusetts to try to detect light signals they believe could be sent from distant civilisations.
Researchers working on the extraterrestrial project think aliens might try to communicate using high-intensity, tightly focused light beams, which, they said, could be 10 times as bright as the sun and be easily observed from enormous distances.
They have already spent more than 20 years trying to pick up radio signals from outer space.
The new telescope can scan the heavens more than 500 times faster than older models, thanks in part to a 72-inch mirror. - (PA)