SETI

Mike Poeschl

Matt Boggess

What is SETI?

• Acronym for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

• Began in 1960 at Cornell University (Frank Drake)

• Many organized efforts to detect any possible message from extraterrestrials

• Radio telescopes all around the Earth listening for signals

• Monitored by scientists and non-scientists a like

Radio Telescopes

SETI Efforts

• SERENDIP

– UC Berkley SETI program

– Listening search program

– Analyzes other astronomers radio telescope data, no specific observational data of their own

– Listening for neutral Hydrogen transitions

-Allen Telescope Array

-Effort to create a large radio interferometer in California

- SETI@Home

Findings

• In 1977, the most famous of the SETI findings occurred

• The Big Ear Radio telescope at Ohio State University detected the strongest interstellar signal (aka ‘The Wow! Signal’)

• Lasted 72 seconds, no convincing re-occurences of the signal have been found.

- In Feb. 2003, SETI@Home users discovered several strange signals

- Scientists not sure about the origin, possible astronomical anomalies?

VIDEO

Cost?

• Are SETI efforts worth the cost?– Some criticize that values

given by the Drake equation are too optimistic

– Not many intriguing findings (no conclusive ones)

– SETI asked for $32 million over 5 years to support just the Allen Telescope project

– What do you think?

Is the signal real?• It will be hard to convince scientific communities about

the validity of signals

– We aren’t sure exactly what we are looking for

– Could easily be a new kind of astronomical anomaly

– The Drake equation is un-testable, and is the basis of many SETI efforts; creates lots of criticism

– Do you think SETI is a pseudo-science?

What might the signal mean?

• If a signal is detected– How can we

interpret it?– Language or

Mathematics barrier?

– How can we prove it is a real signal?

SETI@Home

• Decide for yourself

– SETI@Home allows any computer user to help survey the skies

– Over 5 million computer users in more than 200 countries have signed up for SETI@home

– 19 Billion hours of computer processing time

– The complete network operates as the second fastest supercomputer in the world

– All data compiled and relayed to SETI efforts at UC Berkley

Our Opinions

• The SETI efforts are intriguing, but too optimistic

• We do not believe that the SETI program is worth the effort or the money.

• There have been no conclusive results, and even if there were we would not be able to do anything with them.