I am a deeply superficial person - Andy Warhol
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SETI shelves its search for aliens
THE SEARCH for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has taken a step backwards with the closure of the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array.
SETI's CEO, Tom Pierson said that the 42 radio dishes that scan the heavens for signs of alien life have been shut down due to a lack of government support.
Scientists and astronomers were saddened by the news, saying that the timing couldn't be worse, since the Kepler telescope had recently identified 1,235 possible new planets, many of which could be similar to Earth in size and habitability, according to the Mercury News.
Funding for the SETI project has always been tight, with NASA funding being withdrawn in 1994 after Congress voted that it was not worth the money. Since then Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has donated money, along with others. The institute secured the $50 million needed to build the initial array but now the radio dishes will stand idle, letting potentially monumental discoveries slip by.
The array will remain in place near Mount Lassen in the US, but it will be in a non-functioning state until the institute secures additional funding. SETI said that if everyone in the US gave an additional three cents on their tax forms it would be able to find out if there is life amongst the stars. µ
Tags: HardwareBoffin watch
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The only signal strong enough to be legible at a distance from Earth would be the Russian's anti-missile defense radar. A warning signal to any nosy BEM's that may float by!
It is appropriate that the most paranoid nation around has been in charge of planetary defenses for thirty years.
Our Area 51 flying saucer fakery so deluded the Russians all these years to take advantage of their now instinctive fear of invasion. And, who knows, maybe it did convince an intelligent alien to go missionary another planet!
Searching for Radio Signals (EM) is not the way to find 'them'.
They use a far more advanced method for comm. Something along the lines of quantum entanglement. (Light velocity is bypassed)
SETI needs to RETHINK and Think Different.
SETI has long ago stopped getting meaningful support from the US gov.
As for folding@home, yeah spend time and money and energy so the big pharmaceutical companies can make medication that only works for 10% and is so expensive YOU can't afford it, great idea, they are laughing their asses off.
As for that number of 5.2 million, here's what wikipedia gives:
"As of June 28, 2009 the SETI@home project has over 180,000 active participants volunteering a total of over 290,000 computers. These computers give SETI@home an average computational power of 617 teraFLOPS"
5.2 million... give or take 5 million.
You can't prove non-existence. For them to be able to discover "if" life exists is an impossibility if indeed it doesn't--they'll just keep assuming they might have missed something.
Add in all the wasted energy from the 5.2 million nerds leaving their computer on 24/7 processing SET@Home data, and it would cost this country even more than they estimate. Better to either dedicate your computer to Folding@home or some other useful project, or just shut it down.
@Stunt
You will do it for half, what will you power the array with, your mouth ?
Would this have anything to do with Nibiru?
I'm thinking that perhaps a set of warning buoys around the solar system that alerts any aliens that dangerous and annoying idiots (AKA 'humans') inhabit the area might be a good and worthwhile project.
It's the decent thing to do too.
ELECTRO MAGNETIC RADIATION IS AN EXPANDING SPHERE OF PHOTONS. WHAT REACHES A PARTICULAR OBSERVER IS A THIN SPEAR OF THOSE PHOTONS, A TINY FRAGMENT OF THE TOTAL SOLID ANGLE. NOW ADD IN THE FACT THAT MOST OF OUR BROADCASTS THAT WE SEND OUT TO THE COSMOS ARE ONLY OF THE ORDER OF A FEW THOUSAND KILOWATTS, AND MUCH OF THAT IS OVERRUN BY TERRESTRIAL-GENERATED NOISE. HOW GOOD IS YOUR TV PICTURE BY THE TIME YOU'RE AT THE MOON? WELL THE FACT IS, THERE IS NO TV PICTURE AT THE MOON. NOW GO OUT TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM, THERE'S EVEN LESS THAN THAT. NOW TRY TO PICK UP THE BROADCAST FROM AN ALIEN WORLD, SUCH WORLDS BEING ESSENTIALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO EVEN GET A LOOK AT.
AN ALIEN CIVILIZATION WOULD HAVE TO BE AIMING A HIGH-POWER LASER AT THE EARTH FOR US TO GET ITS SIGNAL, AND WE'D MISS IT IF THE LASER MISSED THE EARTH OR THE ANTENNA INTENDED TO PICK IT UP. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SETI EVEN EXISTS, IT HAS NO POSSIBLE HOPE OF FINDING ANYTHING.
Sounds like a publicity stunt for gov't handouts, I'd rather keep my 3 cents thanks.
They say they need 1.5 million a year and now they're striking! what are they union workers? I'll do it for half!