The Massive Alien Signals We Might Be Missing with Dr. Brian Lacki

Theoretical astrophysicist Brian Lacki joins John Michael Godier to discuss how SETI can expand beyond traditional radio searches into high-energy technosignatures, including X-rays, gamma rays, neutrinos, gravitational waves, alien artifacts, passive broadcasts, and possible relics of advanced civilizations. The conversation explores how future searches might detect signals or byproducts from technologies far beyond our own.Related papers and resources:Possibilities for SETI at High Energy[https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16351](https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16351)Dust to Dust: Prospects for Passive Technosignatures as Relics of ETI[https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.08373](https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.08373)One of Everything: The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021ApJS..257...42L/abstract](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021ApJS..257...42L/abstract)[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ac168a](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ac168a)Lens Flare: Magnified X-Ray Binaries as Passive Beacons in SETI[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020ApJ...905...18L/abstract](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020ApJ...905...18L/abstract)[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/abc1e3](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/abc1e3)SETI at Planck Energy: When Particle Physicists Become Cosmic Engineers[https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01509](https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01509)Artificial Broadcasts as Galactic Populations. II. Comparing Individualist and Collective Bounds on Broadcast Populations in Single Galaxies[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ...966..183L/abstract](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ...966..183L/abstract)[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad11f1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad11f1)Flickers, Bursts, and Dips: Detecting Rapid Variability with the g(2) Autocorrelation Function[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025ApJ...987...68L/abstract](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025ApJ...987...68L/abstract)[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2025ApJ...987...68L/PUB_HTML](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2025ApJ...987...68L/PUB_HTML)Cherenkov Telescopes as Optical Telescopes for Bright Sources: Today’s Specialized 30-m Telescopes?[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011MNRAS.416.3075L/abstract](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011MNRAS.416.3075L/abstract)