From surveys of the pre-Sputnik skies to analysis of interstellar visitors, scientists are rethinking how and where to look for physical traces of alien technology. Science fiction is awash in the material remnants of extraterrestrial civilizations, which surface in everything from the classic books of Arthur C. Clarke to game franchises like and . The discovery of the first interstellar objects in the solar system within the past decade has sparked speculation that they could be alien artifacts or spaceships, though the scientific consensus remains that all three of these visitors have natural explanations. That said, scientists have been anticipating the possibility of encountering alien artifacts since the dawn of the space age. "In the history of technosignatures, the possibility that there could be artifacts in the solar system has been around for a long time," says Adam Frank, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester.

Scientists have released the first X-ray images of a mysterious, sphere-shaped object recovered in Colombia, which locals claim is of alien origin. The so-called'UFO' was spotted in March over the town of Buga, zig-zagging through the sky in a way that defies the movement of conventional aircraft. The object was recovered shortly after it landed and has since been analyzed by scientists, who discovered it features three layers of metal-like material and 18 microspheres surrounding a central nucleus they are calling'a chip.' Dr Jose Luis Velazquez, a radiologist who examined the sphere, reported finding'no welds or joints,' which would typically indicate human fabrication. He and his team concluded: 'It is of artificial origin, in that it shows no evidence of welding, and its internal structure is composed of high-density elements. More testing is needed to establish its origin.'

In 1996 Nasa and the White House made the explosive announcement that the rock contained traces of Martian bugs. The meteorite, catalogued as Allen Hills (ALH) 84001, crashed onto the frozen wastes of Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984. Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike.

A group of researchers has unveiled a new venture that will use AI to search for alien technology. The Galileo Project will use a network of telescopes and astronomical surveys to hunt for evidence of "extraterrestrial technological civilizations" (ETCs). AI will play a key role in the program. The team plans to develop algorithms that scan data from telescopes for alien artifacts. Attend the tech festival of the year and get your super early bird ticket now!

Kirk Ouimet: Grateful to have the opportunity to speak with you today. Wise Being: Grateful to be able to help you. Kirk Ouimet: I wanted to talk about computers today if that is OK with you. Kirk Ouimet: So I have built computers all of my life. My Dad and I built them together when I was a kid.

If aliens are trying to talk to us (or even if they are not), Jill Tarter will be the one to find them. She cofounded the SETI institute in 1984 and ran its research center for many years. She was also the inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in the 1997 movie Contact. Astrophysicist Maggie Turnbull, who is currently running for governor of Wisconsin, began working with Tarter in the late '90s and is now affiliated with the SETI Institute. She's currently working on a NASA telescope called WFIRST, set for space launch in 2025. The two scientists take slightly different approaches to their search for extraterrestrial life.