The age old question: is there really extraterrestrial life out there? Are there aliens living in some other star system, planet, the subsurface of a moon (Europa FTW!), or - if Marvel Comics got it right - in some secret facility on an asteroid?

Whatever the answer may be, a team of researchers in Japan plan to implement a new system in their efforts of scouring a star. See, Japan (and pretty much the rest of the world) isn't new to the whole race of making contact with aliens. But this new project aims to renew interest and hopefully jump start a new wave of other studies.

As the International Herald Tribune reports, the researchers at the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory will be getting participating astronomers in about a dozen other observatories across Japan in junction with this project.

Together, they will be filming a star (it still has to be determined which star though) over the course of several nights some time next year. They're still going to be doing the usual tests - light analysis and radio signal recording - but now, in a more coordinated and synchronized manner.

See, the new system is said to make it easier to decipher, perhaps by way of cross-checking with the other participating researchers, if the radio signals they get are actually from outer space or... well... from our very own machines (like Toasters, maybe?*) on terra firma or other natural forces. Explains chief researcher Shinya Narusawa:

When there are some suspicious signals, sometimes it's hard to tell whether they are artificial ones coming from the earth, for example from machines, or whether they are coming from the stars in the natural world.

It must be noted, however, that the researchers participating in this project seem pretty resigned to the fact that their efforts might not yield the slightest glimmer of life outside this planet. But quite frankly, they don't seem to be pursuing this endeavor much for the sake of science, but rather, for humanistic introspection and self well-being. As Narusawa concludes:

By thinking about outer space, we hope this will be an opportunity where people can re-appreciate the earth and human beings.

* Props to anyone who got the Toaster reference!