SEARCHING FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE BY THE ANALYSIS OF COSMIC RADIATION

by

JAMES A. PETRAIT

Natural background radiation can be measured using a geiger counter. Some of the high-energy background radiation is known to come from outer space. It has been observed that while taking the background radiation measurements, there are times when there are significant differences which may be caused by bursts of cosmic radiation. These significant differences show up in the form of increased counts per minute on a graph. If a cutoff point is selected for these significant high points on the graph and the spaces (in minutes) between these high points is counted, the numerical value of the spaces can then be analyzed for meaningful data which may indicate intelligent communication.

I am using an RM-60 Micro-Roentgen Radiation Monitor interfaced with a laptop PC. This instrument is available from Aware Electronics Corp. of Wilmington, DE. The monitor is placed in a FilmShield lead bag(available from Photo supply stores) to keep the radiation count down and from possibly picking up strong radiation sources in the area. This also keeps down the possibilty of particles in the air causing any false readings.

A bargraph of the counts per minute of typical background radiation at a location in Pennsylvania is pictured below. Using the software on a PC computer and and the RM-60 monitor, the bargraph may be observed as it develops or loaded later from the file which is automatically saved.

Using the program, AW-GRAPH, the data from the monitor can be shown in the form of a line graph. This enables large amounts of data to be compressed into one convenient graph. This is shown in the following picture.

The AW-GRAPH program (which is available from Aware Electronics) also can analyze the data and show additional information as in the regression line in the picture below.

If you want to start acquiring useable data, it is recommended that you use the RM-60 (or better) monitor from Aware Electronics unless you have eqiupment that does the equivalent. To detect the cosmic radiation better, more of the geiger tube surface will be exposed if you position the RM-60 in a horizontal position. If you use the RM-60, you can also indicate the average micro-roentgens per hour by dividing the average counts per minute by 1.05. Other geiger counters will have different divisors depending on their sensitivity. However, the important data is the counts per minute that are statistically above average.

According to the information from the Aware Electronics site, the probability of any of the individual counts per minute being significantly above background can be found by 1) Taking the square root of the background counts per minute to determine the standard deviation, 2) Subtracting the background counts per minute from the the count of the high spike. 3) Then dividing that by the standard deviation to find the deviations above background which can be used with a table of Gaussian or Normal distribution "Areas under the standard Normal Curve" to determine the probability of the high reading being more than a chance variation. For example, if the background count was 13 and one of the individual high spikes were 28, the square root of 13 would be 3.61, the difference of the high count with the background count would be 15, and the deviations above background would be 4.16 which would be very significant (higher than a 99% probability that it was something other than the normal background radiation that caused it).

This is a new field of SETI communication and, as in all forms of SETI communication, it may or may not yield results. However, I think that it is as a legitimate field of inquiry. It is plausible that there is a super ETI out there which has the capability to modulate cosmic radiation. Please send me email if you have any questions or input into this research. You may also discuss this with me using AOL Instant Messenger. My screen name is jpetrait. I have the latest version of Instant Messenger which is capable of group discussions. Just let me know by email what your time preferences would be for a discussion.

You can contact others who might be interested Cosmic Ray SETI by going to the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA)

This project concerns anomalies. You can check out a group that makes serious efforts to study anomalies by linking to the Society for Scientific Exploration

Check out the current background radiation in Pittsburgh by going to the Radiation Levels in Pittsburgh site of Robert Thibadeau.

Find the current background radiation in Longmont, Colorado by going to the Background Radiation in Longmont, CO site which makes use of an RM-60 from Aware Electronics.

From here you can go to THE BACKGROUND RADIATION SURVEY PROJECT on this website.

Experimenters can check out THE COSMIC RADIATION PROJECT. which is also located at this website.

If you want to search for more about cosmic radiation and related topics from the internet, try going to the search menu at YAHOO.

As you go through this website, you may wish to learn more about the subjects related to it. You can browse through the list of recommended books by clicking on the Cyberuniverse Book Corner graphic below. You will also find some current best sellers and other interesting books. Then if you wish you may order the books of your choice from Amazon.Com. At the bottom of the of The Cyberuniverse Book Corner you may search for any book (and music too) from the vast selection of over 3 million titles at Amazon.Com.

From here you can go to the main Cybergalaxy of James A. Petrait website.

Send e-mail to James A. Petrait: jpetrait@earthling.net

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