The Search for Technosignatures: a Review of Possibilities

@misc{vidal2026search,
  title = {{The Search for Technosignatures: a Review of Possibilities}},
  author = {Clément Vidal and Benji L. Fields and Damian R. Sowinski and Stuart Bartlett and Richard J. Terrile and Alex Ellery and Daliah Bibas and Armando M. Mastrogiovanni and Niklas Döbler and Manika Singla and Julia DeMarines and Theresa Fisher and Yuri Uno and Jake D. Turner and Evan L. Sneed and Advait Huggahalli and Megan Grace Li and Zhuofu and Li and Ramiro Saide},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.21093},
  eprint = {2605.21093},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.21093},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The Search for Technosignatures: a Review of Possibilities
AU  - Clément Vidal
AU  - Benji L. Fields
AU  - Damian R. Sowinski
AU  - Stuart Bartlett
AU  - Richard J. Terrile
AU  - Alex Ellery
AU  - Daliah Bibas
AU  - Armando M. Mastrogiovanni
AU  - Niklas Döbler
AU  - Manika Singla
AU  - Julia DeMarines
AU  - Theresa Fisher
AU  - Yuri Uno
AU  - Jake D. Turner
AU  - Evan L. Sneed
AU  - Advait Huggahalli
AU  - Megan Grace Li
AU  - Zhuofu
AU  - Li
AU  - Ramiro Saide
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.21093
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.21093
AB  - This paper reviews the diverse range of technosignatures that have been proposed in the literature. We organize the review by spatial scales from the Earth and the solar system to the edge of the Universe, not tied to a specific observatory or technical capability. This provides a more comprehensive view of technosignature science beyond the search for radio signals that has dominated SETI since its inception. We introduce the Kardashev and Barrow scales before exploring exoplanetary technosignatures, from surface, atmospheric to orbital sources. Next, we consider stellar technosignatures that may involve massive energy utilization, stellar modification or stellar pollution, and end with a section about compact objects. We then review attempts to detect interstellar communication, and discuss many dimensions of the search space from first principles. We also consider interstellar travel technosignatures, and end with galactic, extragalactic and universal signatures. The paper argues for stronger synergies between biosignature and technosignature searches, and the importance of multimodal and multimessenger strategies. Central to this is the importance of anomaly detection as a fundamental and agnostic search strategy. We highlight instruments for detecting technosignatures, as well as a science traceability matrix template.
ER  -