A team of NASA researchers decided to take a “smart” approach to the search for extraterrestrial civilizations - scan
Nitrogen dioxide and greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphereindicate human activity. So one could look for the same signs on other planets. In a new study by scientists, nitrogen dioxide was first proposed as a sign of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization. Nitrogen dioxide is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels in power plants or car engines.
“Consequently, the observation of (nitrogen dioxide) on a habitable planet could potentially indicate the presence of an industrialized civilization,” NASA scientists said.
There is one problem here.On many planets, nitrogen dioxide can be of a completely natural origin - for example, due to volcanic activity. Therefore, scientists will have to measure the amount of nitrogen dioxide and carry out simulations.