The SETI Institute invites you to the 2024 Drake Awards (May 16, 2024). Help celebrate leaders in the search for life in the Universe - the recipients of the Drake Award and the Carl Sagan Center Director's Award - and inspire the next generation of SETI scientists earning the SETI Forward Award.
“Was that E.T. or was it not E.T.? Nobody knows,” Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, tells Astronomy. “Nobody has ever found another explanation for what that might have been. It’s like you hear chains rattling in your attic and you think ‘My god, ghosts are real.’ But then you never hear them again, so what do you think?”
We've introduced several of our #notjustaliens scientists in the last few weeks, but of course, we would be remiss to leave out the people who DO participate in SETI research.
Dr. Wael Farah is a radio astronomer interested in studying the universe on short timescales. Wael is also interested in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, where he searches for signals that defy natural origins, such as narrowband emissions.
Text: Dr. Wael Farah is a radio astronomer interested in studying the universe on short timescales. Interestingly, the cosmos exhibits activity across various timescales ranging from milliseconds to seconds, hours, and days. Wael is also interested in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, where he searches for signals that defy natural origins, such as narrowband emissions. Wael is the project scientist for the Allen Telescope Array and is actively involved in upgrading the instrument and maximizing its scientific throughput. #sometimesaliens
But spoiler alert: For the chief leader of the SETI Institute, established to search for and understand life beyond Earth, there's a need to step back and cuddle up to a cup of cosmic reality.
Help celebrate leaders in the search for life in the Universe - the recipients of the Drake Award and the Carl Sagan Center Director's Award - and inspire the next generation of SETI scientists earning the SETI Forward Award.
Avi Loeb is far from alone in seeking signs of life beyond our pale blue dot. Bioastronomers are using observatories like NASA's James Webb Telescope to search for chemical signatures of life on exoplanets — planets outside of our solar system. NASA is also sending probes to see if there are signs of life within the solar system. Other scientists are looking for "techno signatures," such as radio signals that could lead to other civilizations.
#notaliens
ATel 16577: ATA detections of radio flares from Cyg X3
Following observations with the Medicina and the Sardinia Radio Telescopes reported in ATel #16574, we observed the field of Cygnus X-3 with the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) on April 5 between UT 2024-04-05 20:30 and 2024-04-05 22:10 and on April 6 between UT 2024-04-06 15:49 and 2024-04-06 19:05.
Universe Today discusses the field of radio astronomy with Dr. Wael Farah, who is a research scientist at the SETI Institute, about how radio astronomy teaches us about the myriad of celestial objects that populate our universe, along with the benefits and challenges, finding life beyond Earth, and how upcoming students can pursue studying radio astronomy. But what is radio astronomy and why is it so important to study?
Next #SETILive: Earth as an Exoplanet
TODAY, 3 April, 8:30 am PDT
With only one known example of a world with life - Earth - scientists recently examined whether a mission could determine if a planet was habitable. Björn Konrad joins senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis for an engaging SETI Live on how they used remote sensing data to draw their conclusions and what the results mean for the search for life beyond Earth.
Bill Diamond, president and CEO of the SETI Institute, certainly hopes so.
‘You don’t see politics, boundaries and ethnicities from space,’ he says. ‘Maybe such a discovery would offer us a different perspective on what it’s like to be human.’
The SETI Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew Siemion will be honored with the prestigious 2024 Drake Award for his exceptional and pioneering contributions to SETI and radio astronomy and his leadership in the field. Siemion's distinguished career includes his role as the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute and Principal Investigator for the Breakthrough Listen Initiative at the University of Oxford.
PODCAST: https://www.mynspr.org/show/blue-dot/2024-03-22/blue-dot-state-of-the-drake-equation-in-2024-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence-part-one
Host Dave Schlom is joined by special co-host Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute, for an in-depth look at the state of the famous Drake Equation. Dave and Bill start with the history of the equation and its seven terms, which when multiplied together, equal N, the number of communicating civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. While many of the terms are still speculative, some have been much better defined in recent years by astronomers. #seti
By the way, Cairo in #KimStanleyRobinson's #MarsTrilogy apparently had (will have 😜) the best view to this gigantic volcano, and the rest of the Noctis Labyrinthus (3rd image).
Our #SETILive schedule this month is a banger! We have TWO this week and TWO next week, with several special events involved. Keep an eye on our social media for times and links.
William (Jack) Welch, a pioneering astronomer whose visionary work in radio astronomy helped advance the search for extraterrestrial technology, passed away this week at 90. Welch, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, played a pivotal role in designing and developing the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array, significantly advancing our understanding of the universe. Welch was married to SETI Institute co-founder Jill Tarter. https://www.seti.org/astronomer-william-jack-welch-dies
This piece [1] is a bit older but still interesting on the origin of the famous Drake equation, which estimates the number of advanced civilizations likely to exist in the Milky Way galaxy.
In a paper published in the Astronomical Journal, a team of researchers from the SETI Institute, Berkeley SETI Research Center and the University of Washington reported an exciting development for the field of astrophysics and SETI, using observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission to monitor the SETI Ellipsoid, a method for identifying potential signals from advanced civilizations in the cosmos.
Two prize postdoctoral fellowships, one focused on astrobiology and the other
focused on technosignatures, are taking applications for 2+1 year positions with
the SETI Institute.
The application window closes in March for both positions!
In our own tiny pocket of the cosmos, radio waves from satellites and telescopes beaming out in the plane of our solar system, meaning that if somebody outside our solar system watched Earth cross the face of our sun, they'd maybe be able to pick up a signal that coincides with the planet's transit.