Could the interstellar medium distort alien signals?

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TL;DR

One possible reason for the instability of pulsar radiation is the effect of the interstellar medium on radio wave propagation. Could this factor (the strength of its effect) be an unknown quantitative parameter that determines the radius at which we can detect artificial alien signals?

One possible reason for the instability of pulsar radiation is the effect of the interstellar medium on radio wave propagation: "When pulsar signals propagate through the turbulent, ionized interstellar medium, they scatter, causing the signal to 'twinkle' like starlight. This causes random, time-dependent variations in flux density." The greater the distance, the stronger the influence of the interstellar medium. Could this factor (the strength of its effect) be an unknown quantitative parameter that determines the radius at which we can detect artificial alien signals? Unfortunately, it's difficult to find information on the radiation of specific neutron stars online. But if it turns out that the stability of their radiation pulses is strongly dependent on the distance from the star (decreasing with increasing distance), this could be evidence of significant distortion. I think scientists could study this issue, if it hasn't already been explored.

 

[Ibix]

Please provide references from peer reviewed sources or textbooks, including the source of your quoted passage. Since you've labelled this "High School", even online sources like Wikipedia would probably be a start.

Note that, as with your attempts in other threads to suggest gamma ray bursts are intragalactic in origin, the numbers are going to be critical, and again you aren't providing any.

 

[jedishrfu]

I'm closing this thread as it's unlikely anything will develop from it.

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We discourage personal speculation here at PF for a reason. Science requires citations when you claim to make a statement of fact.

There are many reasons for this; sometimes a paper is superseded by a more current theory and measurements, and sometimes a paper is retracted.

We can't evaluate what is said if we don't have a citation to go on. Without a citation, your posts are considered personal speculation.

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Scientists have been studying cosmology for quite a long time. Someone who read about it in a popular-science article cannot know the depth of the study or how the scientific community decided that their public statement made sense.

It's like you're criticizing a world-class chef because you think that if he added a little salt, then his food would taste better. With the caveat that you could never cook what he cooks.

Jedi