Can Fireflies Provide a Pattern for Detection of Extraterrestrials?

Is the human search for extraterrestrial life too constrained by anthropomorphic biases? In a recent paper, Brooks, et al. (2026) propose a novel method of searching for alien signals through flashing patterns that present some form of coherence by structure but not necessarily decodable.

Take, for example, the flashing patterns of fireflies. These patterns can signal the presence of species in noisy environments along with presence and availability within a certain region. When speculating about non-human intelligence, the authors suggest that extraterrestrials could evolve in a similar manner of evolutionary tension with the need to identify themselves in noisy astrophysical environments.

Utilizing pulsars as an example "noisy" background astrophysical environment, the authors then formalize an approach to compare the ordered nature of pulsar detection to possible ETI structured signals. To identify the pattern in the noise, the authors assign a cost weight based on how fireflies balance signal pattern with energy consumption (think how fireflies do not want to be too bright to attract predators but also have to signal each other). These type of signals should have distinct characteristics as sparse yet structured patterns.

This is a fascinating approach that I think has some merit. Even if ETI doesn't have a firefly-like pattern, the method could reveal other possible signals. Definitely a Level 2 idea.

Read more here: A firefly-inspired model for detecting the alien