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from the to-clean-up-all-that-dust-you'd-need-a-really-big-vacuum...-Oh?-Wait. dept.
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) has reported the detection of a dust belt around 1-4 astronomical units (AU) from Proxima Centauri, as well as a possible outer belt 30 AU away and an "unknown source" (possible exoplanet) about 1.6 AU away from the star. The data also show "a hint of warmer dust closer to the star".
Proxima b is 0.05 AU from Proxima Centauri, and is considered to be in the star's "habitable zone". The 1-4 AU belt on the other hand has a characteristic temperature of about 40 K, while the 30 AU outer belt would have a temperature of about 10 K. Neptune's moon Triton is roughly 30 AU from the Sun with a temperature of 38 K.
The 1-4 AU belt is estimated to contain 0.01 Earth masses of asteroids (primarily?) up to 50 km in diameter. By comparison, our main asteroid belt (including Ceres) is estimated to contain 4% of the Moon's mass, or about 0.000492 Earth masses (Ceres is about 0.00015 Earth masses, roughly a third of the main asteroid belt). A minimum estimate for the Kuiper belt's mass is 20x that of the main asteroid belt, or the equivalent of this newly detected dust belt around Proxima Centauri.
Astronomy Magazine has an interview with one of the co-authors, who noted another possible exoplanet at 0.5 AU:
There is evidence of an object at half an astronomical unit (AU), but this is very tentative. It's not confirmed, but we committed to putting the data to the public. At this point, there's a signal there, but we're not sure if it's caused by stellar activity or the presence of a planet or something else happening there.
In the dust paper, there seems to be a point source at 1.6 AU. We don't see evidence for anything in the radial velocity there. That doesn't mean there's nothing there, just that the radial velocity is not attuned to an object there, which makes it unlikely that there's a gas giant there.
Also at The Verge and Popular Mechanics.
ALMA Discovery of Dust Belts Around Proxima Centauri (ESO PDF)
Previously: "Earth-Like" Exoplanet Found in Habitable Zone of Proxima Centauri
ESO Confirms Reports of Proxima Centauri Exoplanet
Proxima B Habitability Study Adds Climate Model
An Earth-Like Atmosphere May Not Survive the Radiation in Proxima b's Orbit
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 08 2017, @12:55AM
They are in the R&D phase obviously (since no test before 2036 and that is just their current timeline), so if it is impossible I expect them to let us know within the next 5-10 years.
I have heard of two approaches to getting the data back: a meter long antenna or a laser [businessinsider.com].
NASA Laser Communications to Provide Orion Faster Connections [nasa.gov]
A laser could enable an orders of magnitude greater data rate over shorter distances, or just enough of a signal to be detectable over light years (even though it will scatter a lot).
Optical SETI [meti.org] (looking for alien lasers) is already a thing [space.com]. An unsuccessful thing, but similar equipment could be used to detect signals from chipcraft. Despite the low power (provided by a 150 mg atomic battery and degraded after 20-30 years), it could be much easier if you have a good idea of where and when the chipcraft will be transmitting.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]