Could Advanced Civilizations Communicate Like Fireflies and What That Means for the Search for Alien Intelligence

For centuries, humans have wondered whether we are alone in the universe. Long before astronomers confirmed that other stars host planets, philosophers and scientists alike speculated about life beyond Earth. As technology advanced and we learned to observe the cosmos across many wavelengths, that curiosity evolved into a formal scientific effort. By the 1960s, this effort had a name: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, better known as SETI.

Since then, SETI has mostly focused on finding signs of advanced civilizations by listening for radio signals, the same kind of technology humans used during our own early space age. Projects such as Project Ozma and the modern Breakthrough Listen initiative are built on the idea that other intelligent beings might broadcast radio transmissions into space. Yet despite decades of searching, no confirmed technosignatures have been detected.

Now, a new study led by researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) suggests that the problem might not be a lack of alien civilizations, but the way we are looking for them. According to the team, SETI may be limited by anthropocentric bias, meaning it assumes extraterrestrial intelligence will communicate in ways that resemble human technology. Their solution is both unexpected and fascinating: take inspiration from fireflies.

Why Traditional SETI May Be Too Human-Centered

Most SETI searches are based on the assumption that advanced civilizations will use technologies similar to ours. Radio waves make sense from a human perspective because they can travel long distances through space and were once a dominant form of communication on Earth. However, this approach has a major limitation.

Earth itself is becoming less radio loud. Modern communication relies more on fiber optics, satellites, and tightly focused transmissions that leak far less energy into space. This suggests that radio-based technosignatures may only exist during a brief window of technological development. If alien civilizations follow a similar path, the odds of detecting them during that short phase are very low.

In response, SETI researchers have begun exploring other possibilities, including optical laser signals, infrared emissions, neutrinos, and even gravitational waves. Still, the underlying issue remains the same: we have no certainty about what alien intelligence would look like or how it would choose to communicate.

Looking Beyond Humans to Understand Intelligence

The ASU-led team argues that a better approach is to expand our perspective beyond humans entirely. Intelligence and communication are not exclusive to our species. On Earth, countless organisms have evolved sophisticated ways to send and receive signals, shaped by natural selection, energy constraints, and environmental noise.

This is where fireflies come in.

Fireflies use species-specific flash patterns to communicate, particularly during mating season. These flashes are not random. They are highly structured, energy-efficient, and designed to stand out clearly against a noisy visual background while minimizing risks such as attracting predators. When multiple firefly species occupy the same area, their unique flash sequences help ensure that signals are recognized by the right receivers.

The researchers believe this biological strategy offers valuable clues for SETI.

Firefly-Inspired Signals and Alien Communication

In their study, the team explored whether an extraterrestrial civilization might use signals that are evolved, optimized, and distinct from natural background sources, rather than obviously artificial or semantically rich. The key idea is that recognizability, not message content, could be the strongest indicator of intelligence.

To test this idea, the researchers developed computational models inspired by firefly communication. They simulated signals that evolve over time to maximize dissimilarity from background noise while minimizing energy costs. This mirrors how firefly flashes balance visibility and efficiency.

For the astrophysical background, the team chose pulsars. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit extremely regular pulses of radiation. They are abundant throughout the Milky Way and were once so mysterious that scientists briefly considered the possibility they might be alien signals. Today, pulsars are well understood, but their predictable emissions make them an ideal comparison point.

How the Model Worked

The researchers created a simulated environment containing 158 pulsars within a 5-kiloparsec radius (about 16,300 light-years) centered on Earth. The pulsar data were drawn from the Australia National Telescope Facility (ATNF) database, ensuring the model reflected real astrophysical conditions.

Artificial signals were then introduced into this pulsar background. These signals were generated using different relationships between energy expenditure and signal distinctiveness. Both pulsar pulses and artificial flashes were simplified into on/off states, using a mean flux density as a cutoff point.

The team ran multiple simulations with varying energy levels to see how different constraints influenced signal structure and detectability.

What the Results Revealed

The results were striking. Most natural pulsar signals had much higher energy costs than the optimized artificial signals produced by the model. In fact, between 84% and 99.78% of the pulsar population was less energy-efficient than the evolved signals.

More importantly, the artificial signals did not need to be complex or carry any decipherable meaning. Their structure alone made them stand out as products of selection and evolution. According to the researchers, this kind of structured distinctiveness could be a powerful indicator of life, even without understanding the message itself.

This challenges the long-standing assumption that alien communication must resemble language or mathematics to be recognizable.

Expanding SETI’s Toolbox

The study is part of a growing movement within SETI to broaden what counts as a technosignature. Future searches may look for signals linked to directed-energy propulsion, quantum communication, or neutrino-based technologies, using instruments ranging from radio arrays to infrared telescopes and even solar gravitational lenses.

What makes the firefly-inspired approach especially compelling is its emphasis on universal principles of life. Energy efficiency, adaptation to environmental noise, and evolved signal structure are not uniquely human traits. They are shared across much of Earth’s biosphere and may apply just as well to life elsewhere in the universe.

What Fireflies Teach Us About Communication

Fireflies are just one example of how nature solves communication challenges. Across the animal kingdom, signaling systems evolve under constraints that balance clarity, cost, and survival. Studying these systems has led to rapid advances in fields like animal communication and digital bioacoustics, yet these insights have rarely been applied to astrobiology.

By bridging this gap, the researchers hope to keep SETI empirically grounded while also expanding its imagination. Instead of searching only for signals that resemble our own technology, SETI could look for patterns that reflect the deeper logic of evolution itself.

A New Way of Thinking About Alien Intelligence

The study does not claim that aliens are literally flashing lights like fireflies. Rather, it suggests that alien communication may be optimized to stand out from its environment, just as firefly flashes do on Earth. If SETI adopts this broader framework, it may become better equipped to recognize intelligence that is truly alien, not just a mirror of ourselves.

As our tools and methods continue to improve, this firefly-inspired perspective offers a fresh and thought-provoking way to rethink one of humanity’s oldest questions.

Research paper:
A Firefly-inspired Model for Deciphering the Alien – Cameron Brooks et al. (2025), arXiv
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06139