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Team Scans 33 Systems for Alien Radio Signals

Chinese astronomers using the FAST telescope found one narrow signal that passed early filters but no evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Space

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a single parabolic radio dish tilted toward a starry night sky over a bare plateau, evoking a search for signals.
Chinese astronomers scanned 33 planetary systems for alien radio signals and found one narrow candidate that was not credited as a discovery. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Researchers led by Zi-Qi Li of Beijing Normal University and Zhengzhou University searched radio data from 33 planetary systems for signs of technological activity. Their paper, published in The Astronomical Journal, claims no discovery.

Why it matters

The search shows how modern radio telescopes and machine learning can sift enormous datasets for artificial signals. The single candidate that survived early filtering was ultimately not credited as a discovery, underscoring how hard it is to rule out local interference.

The search covered 33 planetary systems, with the candidate signal NBS 260108 centered at 1,148.4167 megahertz and drifting downward by about 0.038 hertz per second. The tone appeared only in the beam aimed at K2-155, about 238 light-years away, and its origin has not been determined.

The players

Zi-Qi Li

Lead researcher on the search, affiliated with Beijing Normal University and Zhengzhou University, who led the analysis of FAST radio data.

FAST telescope

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope in Guizhou province, China, whose roughly 500-meter dish provided the radio data used in the search.

The details

The team paired machine learning with wavelet analysis to separate narrow signal tracks from noise, then compared detections across 19 beams and discarded signals seen in more than one direction. The K2-155 tone was investigated because its narrowness is a feature that engineered transmitters can produce, and K2-155 was selected partly because its outermost planet lies near the habitable zone.

Timeline

  1. FAST observed K2-155 in 2021, the signal's source star.

  2. On September 10, 2021, FAST also observed K2-18, GJ-9066 and Ross 128 during the same night.

  3. The results were published on November 2, 2026.

Big Picture

This study extends the use of the FAST telescope's 19-beam receiver to a targeted search for technosignatures across 33 planetary systems. It shows that multi-beam rejection can narrow millions of detections to a handful of candidates, while still leaving unresolved which, if any, belong to a real signal.

Any confirmed technosignature would reshape how researchers prioritize targets for future searches. For now, the result offers no change to daily life, but it shows how telescope time is being used to test claims that could eventually matter.

The takeaway

Even promising radio signals usually turn out to have terrestrial or instrumental origins, so careful multi-beam checks remain essential before any claim of contact is made.

Further reading

Explore more in Space coverage on the search for life beyond Earth.