Special thanks to our very own Lew Levy, member of the SETI Institute Council of Advisors and Founder of SETI Forward, for his $1,500 gift to our Giving Tuesday campaign!
Today marks the beginning of our 40th year of operations where we celebrate an organization born out of the visionary collaboration between Jill Tarter and Tom Pierson. While our initial focus centered on expediting the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and delving into the right-side variables of the Drake Equation, our journey has evolved to include a multidisciplinary exploration of the cosmos and the origins and evolution of life.
Machine-learning applications are also starting to find use in SETI, which has in recent years pivoted toward looking for a broader array of visible evidence for tool-using extraterrestrial species than before. Most in the field are on the lookout for such technosignatures, defined as “some remotely detectable signature of technology that we can characterize with astronomical instrumentation,” says Sofia Sheikh of the SETI Institute.
Someone on Twitter/X asked a very interesting question: “Why do you think we haven’t been visited by aliens yet?”
There are many possible answers to the Fermi paradox, which is the contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial intelligence and the lack of evidence for it.
Tech entrepreneur Franklin Antonio, the co-founder of California chipmaker Qualcomm, left a generous donation to the alien research community when he passed away last year.
The SETI Institute announced today a philanthropic gift of $200m from the estate of Franklin Antonio, a visionary supporter and catalyst of the work of the SETI Institute for more than 12 years. Co-founder of communications chip company, Qualcomm, Antonio passed away on May 13, 2022, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy to enable breakthrough science in the search for intelligent life beyond our world.
In a recent study, an international team of astronomers (including researchers with Breakthrough Listen) recommended that future technosignature searches rely on multi-site simultaneous observations. This has the potential of eliminating interference from terrestrial sources and narrowing the search for extraterrestrial radio signals.
LaserSETI Update: https://laserseti.net/enclosures-mean-build-time/
Today’s the day when a lot of work streams come together in the Gantt chart: our 10 enclosures have been delivered. That means we can start building instruments, which means we can deploy them, which means more sky coverage and advancing the project!
Dr. Seth Shostak, who is a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, published a 2010 paper in Acta Astronautica discussing how SETI should expand their search for ET beyond exoplanets within the star’s habitable zone. In this study, he notes how biological species have limited timescales and an intelligent species who are purely comprised of artificial intelligence could offer far more avenues in terms of their existence...
We're thrilled to share that your generous contributions these last 2 weeks of $20,328 have unlocked the full $20,000 match -- bringing the total amount you raised to $40,328!
Thank you so much for supporting the search for life beyond Earth!
The World's Largest Telescope has Scanned Barnard's Star for Extraterrestrial Signals
Barnard's Star is the second closest star system to Earth, at a distance of 5.96 light-years. It's another red dwarf system well positioned close to the celestial equator. Astronomers have observed Barnard's Star with the 500-meter FAST radio telescope, scanning for any signals from an advanced civilization. Unlike most searches, which require the extraterrestrials to send a focused transmission at Earth, the researchers were looking for a general signal transmitted in all directions, not necessarily an attempt to communicate. The search failed to turn up a signal but helped to set constraints on what is potentially detectable.
Last week, the SETI Institute celebrated the prestigious 2023 Drake Awards, an event that not only recognized Dr. John Rummel for his outstanding programmatic contributions but also unveiled other notable awards. The evening included presentation of the Carl Sagan Center Director's Award, the SETI Institute Trustee Service Award, and a surprise presentation honoring the newest Fellow of the SETI Institute.
While showcasing their remarkable academic talent and contributing to scientific discourse through presentations at conferences and peer-reviewed journal publications, our talented REU students also infused creativity and fun into their experience. In a nod to educational and entertaining pursuits, this year's interns collaborated on an engaging video to demystify the Drake Equation and shed light on "SETI's Plan." Enjoy!
For the past century, we’ve inadvertently broadcast our presence to an estimated 75 nearby star systems. About a quarter of those stars have confirmed exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zone. But what kind of emissions are seeping into space now? Could extraterrestrials detect our satellite pings around the globe, and could they be listening in on our cellphone conversations?
NASA has now officially weighed in on UFO sightings. Don’t get too excited: They haven’t proven, or disproven, the existence of aliens. Instead, the report released today by the agency’s independent study team describes how NASA should assess new reports of UAPs. It stresses that the agency should make use of machine learning and artificial intelligence as analytical tools, but that first it needs higher quality data.
@spaceflight I don't know about 'contact within 200 years' but I'm willing to bet proof of something alien far off in Space will be discovered in 200 years, our telescopes are getting so good. #SETI
👽 Most seem to prefer the 👾 insects / octopuses assumption, some impressions how this might look 👀 like https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eye_Arrangement_of_a_Hogna_Wolf_Spider.pnghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anterior_Median_and_Anterior_Lateral_Eyes_of_a_Phidippus_princeps_Jumping_Spider.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adult_male_Paraphidippus_aurantius_Jumping_Spider.jpghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mystaceus_eyes.jpg