“Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden an otherwise ultra-narrow signal, spreading its power across more frequencies and making it more difficult to detect in traditional narrowband searches.”
Science paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae3d33
Review article: https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/seti_admits_its_search_for/
Broadening of specral lines info: http://www.hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Atomic/broaden.html
^ This!
We’re already on the edge of point to point communication without radio waves so within another 50-100 years nobody will detect us either.
https://www.aliroquantum.com/blog/quantum-entanglement-communication
We’re simply asking the wrong questions. Years ago I remember someone postulating the idea that if another civilization wanted to be found by another civilization, what they would do is find some interesting stellar object, and embed a signal in whatever radiation it was emitting.
So, another civilization would have to be a) capable of recognizing that object as interesting, b) have the capability and will to study it, and c) detect and separate a signal from the background.
The “You must be this tall to ride this ride” theory of interstellar communication.