50 years of seeking E.T.

Magic Dragon — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:50:06 GMT

There are 'E.T.s' working in Beijing, China, at this very moment!

50 years of seeking E.T.

Brian Glanz, Seattle — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:04:59 GMT

Alan, I missed Drake mentioning refigured livability for planets near red dwarfs with sufficient magnetic fields -- considering that rosy finding, what factors in the equation are the most elastic? What of the red dwarfs finding: does that affect (ne) the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets, (fℓ) the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point, or even (fi) the fraction of the aforementioned that actually go on to develop intelligent life?

On the general question of our SETI success, I have to go with "We've looked at something like 10-5 of the possible combinations" -- Drake, as the definitive observation. Thank you for jotting that one down :) I'm looking forward to a more diverse approach through SETI@home, too in time. Here I am over there:

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/view_profile.php?userid=149431

BG

50 years of seeking E.T.

Don, New Brunswick Canada — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:08:40 GMT

...Maybe listening to radio signals is like someone trynig to contact us using smoke signals? It would seem to me that any advanced interstellar civilisation would us a more sophisticated method (and much faster) than radio waves. Lately scientists are making progress with quantum teleportation, and if I understand- they aren't actually teleporting matter- but the entangled "qubit" instsntly from one area to another. Scientists are excited because tghis would result in munch faster "quantum " computers, but what if this technique could be used as a communication device? We could instantly send messages across vast distances. (the manned Mars mission for example) Thisleads me to infer that maybe other civilisations would logically use this technique as well.(Why wait hundreds of years for a message through radio when you could get an instant reply through "quantum" communicators?)
Mind you I'm just an average Joe, and not a scientist, so I really don't know if my theory is even plausible, but if it is, then maybe those are the signals we should be looking for!

50 years of seeking E.T.

Steve, Seattle WA — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:15:01 GMT

It's possible that "they" wouldn't use technology at all in an effort to communicate. At least not technology as we currently understand the term. They might have means to directly impact the central nervous systems of creatures of a certain complexity (us). I believe something of the sort was suggested in "Close Encounters", but never really said outright. I suppose in a universe as vast as ours, anything's possible.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Mr.Black ,Earth, MilkyWay — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:15:09 GMT

GIVE IT TIME ___ THAT"S ALL WE CAN DO ___BUT BE CAREFUL WHAT U SEARCH FOR BECAUSE YOU MIGHT JUST FIND IT. THAN WHAT??????????????????????????????????????

50 years of seeking E.T.

James Fox, Allentown, PA — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:15:36 GMT

The real problem is that if a civilization a million years more advanced than ours is still using radio waves, it will be in highly compressed, encrypted broadband form. It will just look like noise, and we will not recognize it as an intelligent signal at all.

When you look at the assumptions SETI is making, they are really assuming an advanced civilization is going out of its way to send us a high-powered, simple-to-understand beacon. I doubt it, whether a robot or otherwise. I have given up running SETI on my PC, and will devote it to more practical scientific searches.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Mike Franklin, Phenix City, Alabama — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:16:01 GMT

No disrespect intended to either Seth Shostak or the SETI Institute but... mainstream science doesn't have a very good batting average when it comes to looking beyond the near horizon. Just a little over a hundred years ago, many of the best minds of the age were making it quite clear that heavier-than-air flight was simply impossible. A few hundred years before that, the Earth was flat and at the center of the universe.

Time-honored scientific truths have a habit of crashing like rookie NASCAR drivers.

Half the time when someone DOES see something that looks like ET, there's the old 'swamp gas' theory to make sure the idea never gets off the ground. The science community is in a constant state of conflict over the very basis of the notion of life 'out there', if not forms of outright denial.

The result is a tough, public cynicism towards mainstream science just like their is towards the mainstream media and... well, mainstream anything else. And please, don't blame us... we didn't invent debunkers, skeptics, Fox News or the US Air Force.

Aside from all of that... best of luck, you know?

...

50 years of seeking E.T.

Troy Boyle, Erlanger, KY — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:20:27 GMT

I think the fat lady has sung on whether or not there is life teeming throughout the galaxy. It is a mathematical certainty. The problem, as I see it, is one of contemporaneous development. Certainly, the possibility remains that intelligent species have flourished; but their civilizations may have peaked and faded millions of years ago, or may be millions of years yet in the making.

50,000 civilizations with permanence of approximately 10,000 years seems overly optimistic to me. The microcosm implies the macrocosm and so, if we study our OWN development, we can see how quickly technological civilizations can bring themselves to the brink of ruin. Who's to say that ANY civilization has lasted much beyond the ability to poison its own biosphere?

I don't mean to be bleak, but the human race has only been technologically "visible" for a little less than a hundred years. In that time, we have developed weapons and technology that could conceivably sterilize the planet. It may be a test that intelligence always fails.

50 years of seeking E.T.

John Tennessee — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:37:51 GMT

They could point the things at congress for 50 years and come up empty there as well

50 years of seeking E.T.

Paul, Atlanta — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:49:05 GMT

Here's the question: When we do meet up with another life form, will they think we look like we just might taste good?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Matt B, Portland, Maine — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:14:49 GMT

Life on Earth has existed for about 4.5 billion years, but only within the last 100 years has that life developed the technology to send & receive interstellar signals. There may be other intelligent life forms somewhere in our galaxy, but their technology could very well be far too primitive, or too advanced, to be detectable by us.

50 years of seeking E.T.

John Toro, Hicksville NY — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:20:51 GMT

The whole approach is just wrong, dead wrong.

We are looking for life as we describe it.

What IS life?

Is it an entity that breathes an atmosphere? That consumes things to keep itself sustained?

Why? Because this is what we know.

What about the sheer distances involved? If we rely on conventional radio (with its inherent lightspeed limitation, can't get around that) then whatever we may come across this way is likely long dead billions upon billions of years ago anyway. Even futher to the point, why would any "race of beings" (for lack of a better term to describe something we haven't even seen yet) even USE radio waves? What if there is a technology that can transmit data hige distances at speeds we can't even come close to reaching with conventional light speed limits? Would we even know if we have already received such data - since we can't measure it in "our way"?

I strongly believe that not only are we looking in the wrong places, we are also looking in all the wrong ways. At this rate, we may never find "life" out there - because we wouldn't know how to identify it even if if has been screaming at us for eons.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Ron Bennett, Surprise, Arizona — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:21:39 GMT

Our first real contact may have already happened buried beneath the Phoenix Lander.

You may be looking at the first Microscopic Martians here YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhfSjJeQf58

I find it interesting that the Phoenix Lander Science team has determined buried just blow the Lander exists all the necessary ingredients for life to thrive on Mars today, which makes the worm-tube-like object from the Phoenix Microscopic Imager shown before on CNN American Morning UFO segment in November, and the scorpion-like object later shown on above Youtube moving around even more interesting. In other words just beneath the Phoenix Lander is an extremophiles paradise, remember the darker surface conducts more solar radiant energy from the sun during the daytime then the air just centimeters above it.

50 years of seeking E.T.

JS, daytona fl — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:36:04 GMT

I agree with mr black...maybe we shouldnt look. why take a chance on meeting with et's. We dont have the capability (that we know of) to go beyond the moon. If they come to us, they definitely have the capability to travel beyond their moon and into our solar system. If they made it this far, they probably have weapons we have only seen in science fiction movies. Leave it alone for a few more generations. It's reckless and dangerous. Good luck and God speed 2150.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Laer Carroll, Burbank, California — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:47:08 GMT

A more advanced civilization might not use such a primitive way to communicate as electromagnetic radiation. Instead they might, for instance modulate gravity waves. Or link via quantum entanglement. Or something we primitive humans haven't discovered, as Matt B points out.

We also envision intelligent life as like us. They might be electromagnetic life forms living in our ionosphere. Or in the chromosphere of the sun. And living at a pace much faster than ours.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Timothy Guy — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:52:19 GMT

It amazes me that you all still refuse to see that evolution is a flat out lie. A complete and utter deception that is easily disproven on many levels. The universe does not spontaneously generate its own life. The universe did not come into being on it's own. The universe is not gaining complexity it is losing complexity.

We live in a created universe and ALL quality science demonstrates that. Stop explaining away the obvious and living in intentional ignorance. The Day of the Lord is almost at hand. Find out what that means.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Earl Cox, Redondo Beach, CA — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:54:20 GMT

We often confuse SETI with simple SETL - the search for extraterrestrial life. I would bet that the universe is teaming with life. But I would also bet that intelligent life of the human order is very very very rare. We can make lots of excuses why SETI has failed to find intelligent signals, but the life time of the universe (13.7 BY) and the apparently rare conditions necessary to have a turbulent evolutionary process (such as we have on earth) tells us that really advanced civilizations are probably rare. We should expect a few earth-equivalent civilizations within 50 parsecs of us but we haven't found any. If intelligence extraterrestrials are machines, we expect them, as Von Neumann said, to be here by now. My own feeling is that we are very much alone in the galaxy (but probably not in the universe, if that is any consolation).

50 years of seeking E.T.

anniemargret — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:57:43 GMT

Aw..fer cryin' out loud. They can't see the forest for the trees. We have empirical evidence that some UFOs are alien lifeforms. If these guys would take the blinders off, they might just learn something. When they say, 'there is no evidence of aliens visiting earth' what they really mean is that they haven't spent a nanosecond looking at the mountains of it. Because if they did, they might have to admit that their 'radiowaves' looking for ET signals is nonsensical given what the world knows already about UFOs. SETI's arrogance is disgraceful. It's right in front of their eyes, but are willingly blind.

50 years of seeking E.T.

hammster, hawaii — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:08:22 GMT

Shostak and Drake are part of the coverup. Aliens are here on earth and they know it.

Ladies and gentlemen, SETI is lying to you. HERE is the truth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8YG6qt0jo

50 years of seeking E.T.

Mike Angove, Herndon, VA — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:10:13 GMT

"the fat lady has sung on whether or not there is life teeming throughout the galaxy. It is a mathematical certainty."

Right--as long as we are correct in assuming that life, including intelligent life, arises completely on its own given time and raw materials holds. But what about the alternative--that intelligent life is the result of purposeful intent. Isn't this result just as interesting? peace.

50 years of seeking E.T.

oneil, opelousas, louisiana — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:13:12 GMT

strongly agree with don. best possible way. but how we we entangle quibits to eavesdrop on them? good answers appreciated

50 years of seeking E.T.

Courtney, Seattle, WA — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:17:54 GMT

As our knowledge grows we should just keep looking, we may invent new ways (ie the person who posted above about a quantum communicator, or in the article with the burst of light and such) but we should keep searching with the old ways as well as the new, and hope for the best! We may never find anything then again we MAY find something as well if we dont try we NEVER will

50 years of seeking E.T.

human, planet earth — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:38:45 GMT

still nothing about Dyson Spheres!!

50 years of seeking E.T.

Glenn, Wellington, NZ — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:39:33 GMT

Does anyone realize that the radio signals we are listening for have to have been sent over 20 million years ago or what ever millions of light years away potential earth like planets are away from us? How long did it take intelligent life on this planet to figure out how to send a radio wave? Well, if you accept the age of the universe, the age of the earth and how long evolution took to create a species that can transmit radio waves, you can only assume that it has roughly taken that long for another planet to create a species with the capable technologies. In order for us to get a radio signal from them right now they would have had to produce the signal over 1 million years ago. I don't accept the notion that we will ever hear a radio signal from ET in my lifetime or in time span of humans.

50 years of seeking E.T.

don glenum , miami ,fl — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:39:40 GMT

How long has man kind been around ? Skeletons seem to indicate millions of years. How long have we been searching, 59 years? If we get a civilization 100 light years away it would take 100 years there and a hundred back .
Keep searching, guys. We have a long time to go or maybe it's tomorrow

50 years of seeking E.T.

Barry, Spokane, Wash — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:55:07 GMT

Personally, I'm not sure I want to be found by other life out there. Why do we assume it would be a good thing? If they are anything like us and are more advanced we're screwed.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dave New Britain, CT — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:01:09 GMT

No No No - Aliens won't have anything to do with us until we achieve warp drive capability. Everyone knows THAT!

50 years of seeking E.T.

Want2Racer — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:43:14 GMT

I'm still waiting for signs of intelligent life on this planet.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Stan Littleman — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:53:30 GMT

In my opinion here are some possible reasons why we have not made contact with E.T. on other planets:

1) They are using an advanced form of technolongy to communicate with us

2) Maybe they do not want to communicate with us since we are not as advanced as they are. Like the Prime Directive in Star Trek

3) We are assuming that they are advanced and possible have failed to consider the possiblity that just maybe evolution for E.T on other planets might have started late. And if they started late it is possible that they do not have the technology to communicate with us.

50 years of seeking E.T.

James, Sydney, Australia — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:59:24 GMT

While it's probably true that other advanced civilizations use communication methods other than radio waves we still have no idea what they are, so we can't devise ways of detecting them even if we wanted to.

Our best hope is to keep listening out for radio signals that are sent to us with the specific aim of getting our attention. If we were trying to contact a remote Amazonian tribe (without actually visiting them) we'd use the simplest, most basic form of communication that they could see. We wouldn't beam them a signal from a satellite. That's why I'm guessing ET would use radio waves (or lasers). If, however, ET ISN'T deliberately trying to contact us then unfortunately there's very little chance of us intentionally eavesdropping on their conversations.

I suppose the bottom line is that the only way to find out is to look. Everything else is just baseless speculation, so lets get on with SETI type approaches until we can come up with something better.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Manuel, Los Angeles, CA — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:01:15 GMT

I'm not sure I would want to meet any aliens we would encounter through SETI. Human beings are cruel enough to each other, despite being of the same species. What would another species do to the human race, especially if they saw us as nothing than talking monkeys who can cobble together iron-ore buildings and make "primitive" tools like fiber-optics, cars, and radio waves?

I'm not sure E.T. will be cute and cuddly.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Bill, Florida — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:09:28 GMT

A minimum number of planets with life on them would be about 100 billion. That's a conservative figure. It's based on this simple formula: One planet per Galaxy. It seems to take about 200 billion stars to be able to produce 1 planet with life on it such as our own Earth. There's about 200 billion stars in our galaxy. This might mean that it takes 200 billion different conditions to be just right for a planet to support life. Here's just a couple: the size of the planet, the habitable zone of orbit, does the planet have a magnetic field to protect life from radiation, does the planet have water, and billions of other conditions that we can't even think of that have to be just right. So you could say one planet per galaxy. In just the areas of the universe that we have been able to explore, the estimate is 100 billion galaxies. There are most likely many more that have not been discovered yet.

50 years of seeking E.T.

J. A. Williamson,Arizona City, AZ. — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:13:56 GMT

Search the WEB... READ information from Dr.Dan Burisch, Phil Schneider(CHECK--his(Phil's') back ground..first!!). READ about the MAJESTIC 12. READ about the existing "Shunkworks" projects. READ about ALL of the "BLACK" projects our so-truthful GOVERNMENT.. has kept from ALL of the us! I believe SETI is just a "cover"--for the REAL TRUTH! In fact I'm certain of it--no doubt in my mind.
Don't believe me? Well then... Check out what I've stated.
Believe me--there is SO much more to find out, and actually "prove", IF--you have the mind,and stomach for it... IF--you really want to know the REAL TRUTH!
THE "TRUTH"--IS OUT HERE.

50 years of seeking E.T.

John Doe, Brooklyn, NY — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:15:28 GMT

We seem to be assuming that an intelligent life out there would want to communicate with us. Given the mess we've made of our own planet, we may be flattering ourselves.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Ian, Redmond, WA — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:43:16 GMT

My beef is that SETI assumes ET is trying to call us and others. However, we are not doing that so why should they? If everyone doing it the way we are, then we're all waiting for the phone to ring and no call is coming.

Shouldn't SETI look for routine radio chatter rather than signals directed at us?

Put it another way: SETI assume ET has found our reruns of "Star Trek" and is now beaming us a direct signal to say "hi." Should we not be looking for the same thing from them?

Look at the FCC spectrum chart. 1.6Ghz (the water hole) is tagged for "radio astronomy" and that is where most of the listening happens.

Meanwhile all around that is our mobile phone and other services.

Why not ask "what frequencies would ET use in daily life?" and listen there. That is hard, because we use them too and filtering false positives is hard, but since the standards used for communications are well documented identifying terrestrial digital or analog signals is possible, even in an automated fashion.

50 years of seeking E.T.

anonymous. — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:53:04 GMT

There recently was our own retired astronaut who says
we are not alone. Of course we are not alone, the idea
of SETI to me is ok but I don't think they would re-
spond to a I love lucy signal or music or anything we
could send out.We are too primitive and they are way
too advanced for us. We are still living in a cave to
them and probably look at us like some kind of dumb animal and a very poor excuse of a intelligent being.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Thomas Walsh — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:15:41 GMT

Alien life may comunicate to other life forms with fundemental principles that we do not know. Our level of knowledge, based on greater expendetures of energy and the deifing of strength, my be seen as belonging to a dangerous phase of development.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Slater, iowa — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:25:24 GMT

Always interesting to be reminded of how big the universe is. We certainly wouldn't be suprised to find communicative life, but certainly hard to have have a conversation. But I suppose anything worth saying should take some time.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Marc, Delaware(see there are smart ppl here) — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:42:02 GMT

Radio signal break up after a couple of light years and there's no way for sound to travel through the vacuum of space so why are people wasting tax payers money(goverment grants) and there time on something stupid like this. I believe in life on other planets but thats no reason to through everything we know about physics out the window so a bunch of well paid sobs to sit around and listen to nothing all day

50 years of seeking E.T.

CJ, San Diego, CA — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:18:15 GMT

The biggest question, I think, is the contemporaneous development in the same technological direction. We're looking for boradcast wireless signals.

But at the same time, our society is moving *away* from high-power broadcast wireless signals. All those high powered TV and radio stations are going digital, a lot of use use cable instead, and satellite is directional! (Down, in case you were wondering.)

So there's really a fairly short (100-200 years) period where *we* could be detected via what the SETI folks are looking for. We may have already looked in the right place, but were looking at a society who never developed wireless transmissions (went straight to cable TV for example) or was already wired by the time we started looking.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dave BC WA — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:21:37 GMT

If a galaxy containing billions of stars can pass through another galaxy without the stars ever hitting each other because they’re too far apart in miles, it would seem likely that billions of ET’s could come and go without ever seeing each other because they’re too far apart in time.
My hypothesis; for every star in galaxy ‘A’ that hits a star in galaxy ‘B’, that’s how many ET’s we can find.

50 years of seeking E.T.

john pleides, chicago, IL — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:19:17 GMT

If the government did make contact, do you actually think that they would tell us? Most of the information the government deals with these days is classified top secret. I believe E.T.'s have already tried to communicate with us by way of crop circles. If you did some serious research into the phenomenon it will be obvious that they are created by advanced technology & have messages encoded in them. Pull your head out of the sand already Mr. Boyle.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dan W — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:19:41 GMT

I can't be the only one terrified that the aliens will find us firstand hop onto Myspace or some ultimate fighting fansite or Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic archive. Seriously: let's assume they reach us first and receive some sampling of internet traffic. Odds, anyone, that their initial findings would literally make them rip their own homeworld from standard orbit for the sole purpose of relocating several thousand additional lightyears from us.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Tom — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:13:55 GMT

I remember several years ago (almost 20), hearing a story on 20/20 one night. They were reporting on a brilliant young scientist who mysteriously vanished. He and his father had been working on usning unstable gravity waves for almost instantaneous communication over stellar distances. Has anyone else heard of this?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Ian Parker, Gloucestershire, UK — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:29:21 GMT

If communication is by means of lasers they are likely to be highly directional. Chance of picking a signal up that is not meant for us - zero.

Throughout the years there have been reports of flying saucers. Fact is though that if ET really had travelled here extensive use would have been made of nanotechnology. Any spacecraft we would have been able to observe would have been the size of a large insect - if that.

No, I think it is clear that SETI is a complete waste of effort.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Josh — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:31:03 GMT

We have to look no further than our own planet, do your homework. We didn't evolve from apes, we are more related to dolphins than anything else. They work among us and we ourselves may be them.

50 years of seeking E.T.

JQuinlan — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:36:06 GMT

Those of us in the Northeast fondly remember our "snowball" fights as kids. As we busily built our snow forts and constructed our weaponry from the late winter sun's softened snow. The "fight" would start with pitcher's arm speeds and deadly accuracy, until.........the one smart ass would lob a lazily thrown one pounder high into the sky while the opposing army would watch with mouths agape; arms and hands hanging at their sides. THEN, a fusillade of 80 mph pitches would hit the gawkers in the face catching all of them off guard!........watch out for the lobbed pitch.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Frank Klepeiss — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:37:10 GMT

After 50 years of fruitless searching for ET isnt it about time we realize we really are special in this universe we are truly all alone. If we aren't alone than we should not be attempting to communicate with an advanced race it will not go well for us. We are advanced compared to every species on this planet and look how we treat them. Perhaps we should be more like the rabbit hiding in the woods hoping not to be spotted by a predator.

50 years of seeking E.T.

John Carter, Redlands, Barsoom — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:47:09 GMT

I believe that Troy and Matt have got it right. When we look through our telescopes at deep space and make assumptions about the viability of stars and their satelites we are looking back in time. We could be looking (or listening) to their equivelent of the age of the dinosaurs. It's too early, by maybe millions of years, to say we are alone. Alas, with our short attention spans and our human need for instant gratification I imagine we will hang up long before ET has a phone to answer at the other end of the line.

We're also very egotistical with regards to our technology. Surely an advanced civilization (like us) would have similar technology and would be able to phone our home. Not necessarily.

The suggestion that we look at our own development and the ways various life forms (other than human) communicate on THIS planet might give us some ideas about other ways to communitcate with ET that he/she/it might actually understand. Maybe the intergalactic equivalent of whale song, crickets rubbing their legs together, or hormonal signals?

And for those of you who believe that ET will only be interested in "How to Serve Man", with recipes from his inter-stellar cookbook. Well, I think you've seen a little too much science fiction. When we visit other worlds are we looking for fast food? Then why should ET?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Steve, Tulsa — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:19:48 GMT

The galaxy is billions of years old we think. Perhaps more or less that has not been nailed down yet. But there is a lot of time for civilizations to evolve, develop technologically and eexpand.
If our point in time coincides with another races point in time and is close enough we can detect it as well we will be almost more than lucky. But on that chance alone, there would be no greater advance for both our races. The simple fact thet we would then know that other thinking beings have survived all the radicalness of their times and their children have lived on and not killed themselves off would be fantastic. That possibility of hope in and of itself would have a greater inpact on our society than any of us can understand in our current hate, radical and greedy environment. Just as kids in slum gang ridden neighborhoods change when they start seeing and believing they can get out to a larger less hate driven world. Maybe we all could as well. Maybe we just need that example as adults that our kids need to feel the possibility is real and not imagined.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Darrell Messbarger, Earth — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:32:27 GMT

Isn't it sadistic of the alien presence on Earth to remain hidden from us? Just think how much time, trouble and money they could save us by just coming "out of the closet".

50 years of seeking E.T.

One who knows life beyond this world — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:54:50 GMT

STOP the WASTE of TAX PAYERS money. This God hating travesty has has so weakened our intelligence. All good things come from God for the good of those who Love him.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Ray S, Racine, Wisconsin — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:03:17 GMT

Not to mention the problem is simple distance. Our galaxy is 100,000 light years across, and we are, relatively speaking, out in the boonies. On a cosmic scale, nothing we have sent out has reached further than the house next door. On the flip side, we're looking for thousand year old shout outs.

And suppose somehow we did find proof positive that there was nobody else, anywhere. I mean, would it be possible to feel more lonely? Putting the whole religious aspect aside, one would have to then wonder what the point of all of it being there is?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Neil Dziadulewicz, Milwaukee, WI — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:06:39 GMT

It is amusing that we (as humans) try to rationalize why we have not heard common-band radio signals from ETs. Even if ETs do use some advanced form of communication, they would likely still have used radio waves in the beginning. If these ET worlds follow the same laws of physics that we adhere to, than radio waves would have been discovered (and used) by ET's also. We should be intercepting these 50,000 year old signals now. Keep up the search! Maybe if we find intelligent life out there, we can ask them for a cure for cancer (even though they probably have a silicon-base body, rather than a carbon-based (remember that Star Trek episode?)

50 years of seeking E.T.

Exeder — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:11:12 GMT

The idea that someone could estimate the number of habitable worlds in this galaxy is absurd. We barely even understand the mechanics of planet formation. Sure, we can see all the stars like ours and assume that all those white dwarfs and other stars emitting lethal radiation to us wouldn't be habitable by us, but we can't say the same for a species living under those stars for a few billion years.

It is even more absurd to try to catch radio or optical signals from other worlds. The distances are just too vast and the times just too long to successfully pull that off. Until we develop FTL communication there's little point in even managing to find a radio signal from another world. By the time we transmit back every alien who knew anything about it will be dead and buried.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Truly Amazed — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:51:11 GMT

funny, why is it that we humans think that IF there is intelligent life out there, (not a mathematical certainty, as someone has stated, but a possibility) it is far more advanced than us? also according to the article, we feel that ET's may well be attempting to contact us (or any other intelligent life). for fifty-plus years, we have been searching on the assumption that ET's have visited us in the past, yet, since our scientific advances, THEY have decided not to make contact with us?
personally, i find that odd, even disconcerting...
we have yet to prove the existence of even microbial life on any planet/moon short of earth, yet, some are apparently certain that intelligent life IS out there. hmmmmmm, to quote arte johnson, "verrrry interesting"

50 years of seeking E.T.

BamaBoy — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:59:14 GMT

I'm with Troy Boyle. I'm of the opinion that it's rare for a civilization to make it much past the nuclear age. I am also of the opinion that AI machines may be the only thing left after the originating species is no longer in existence or is no longer in charge.

AI machines are truly immortal. They would view time as only a slight obstacle to their plans to colonize the entire universe and certainly their home galaxy. All they have to do is send out self-replicating colonization drones that build more drones upon arrival at a suitable planet or asteroid and, in so doing, have an exponentially increasing army of colonizers.

If we created AI would it eventually think that we are a threat to its continued existence? Would it destroy us? Would it view other civilizations across the galaxy as threats or perhaps trade partners? It poses some really fantastic questions.

To answer the question though, I wonder if we haven't heard anything yet because civ's eventually destroy themselves in one way or another.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Guy Newell — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:28:54 GMT

what if ET is doing the same thing we are? Just listening and watching? Why? Becuase that's safe. Broadcasting your location my not be a smart thing to do. It's safe to assume that the galaxy is a rough neighborhood.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Astronomy Link List — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:03:29 GMT

This article has been added to the Astronomy Link List.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Frank Glover — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:14:11 GMT

"...Maybe listening to radio signals is like someone trynig to contact us using smoke signals? It would seem to me that any advanced interstellar civilisation would us a more sophisticated method (and much faster) than radio waves."

That's entirely possible. 'They' may well be using physics we don't know (or at least fully understand) yet. Unfortunately, we have to use what we *do* know, and remain open to other possibilities.

Since we aren't likely to stop using communications in the electromagnetic spectrum if/when we also understand these other modes, it may be that another civilization also still 'leaks' radio frequency energy we can still detect. But the search becomes more difficult, since we might then not expect intentional RF 'beacons' if the time between discovering radio and discovering 'X' tends to be a very small fraction of a civilization's lifetime.

50 years of seeking E.T.

JGHenson — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:14:58 GMT

Are we really expecting advanced civilizations, thousands or millions of years more advanced than ourselves to be using Earth's 20th century radio technology of communication? There are two sides to this, those that follow the archaic logic, and those that say open we already have these answers dating back almost 60 years. An apparent dead end either way, at least as far as the public is concerned.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Cliff — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:19:43 GMT

I think the question I would like to have answered is with the SETI listening for alien communication "out there" how is it they do not here any communication between spacecraft? We've seen them here, why don't we hear them communicating between each other?

Maybe, aliens are communicating through the people who have been abducted. Maybe, aliens are communicating thru the metal implants that are inexplicably found in people during x-rays or operations. Maybe we don't get the message due to shortsighted thinking or the evidence that is actually here has been dismissed by the press, military, government, religious stigma, and friends of the people who have been abducted?

All different aspects to the equation. There is life out there. The real question is are we intelligent enough to realize communication when we experience it?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Ravi Kiran, Chennai ,TN,India — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:20:23 GMT

Trying to look for radio signals from ET is like someone in Europe looking for smoke signals from America. Smoke signals are good for short range communication but not for long range, similarly Radio waves are ok for communication in our solar system but not for across stars and galaxies.

Similarly the Drake equation does not take into account millions of things that are unique to our planet for example the ratio between the size of moon and sun is almost equal to the ratio of distances between moon and sun, this is why we get perfect eclipses. If you add all those things I bet the probability will come down drastically.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Frank Glover, Rochester, NY — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:30:13 GMT

"funny, why is it that we humans think that IF there is intelligent life out there, (not a mathematical certainty, as someone has stated, but a possibility) it is far more advanced than us?"

We don't assume that. But obviously someone *less* advanced than us won't be generating radio frequency energy that we might detect.

Everybody else will have to wait until interstellar travel becomes possible for us and we can go look for ourselves. (Or at least until we meet someone who *has* done exploration and is willing to share their knowledge of non-technological intelligences they've discovered...)

"On the flip side, we're looking for thousand year old shout outs."

and...

"By the time we transmit back every alien who knew anything about it will be dead and buried."

So? Even knowing of a civilization that *once* existed, will still tell us something meaningful. Archeologists deal with studying the remnants of dead civilizations all the time...

"what if ET is doing the same thing we are? Just listening and watching? Why? Becuase that's safe. Broadcasting your location my not be a smart thing to do. It's safe to assume that the galaxy is a rough neighborhood."

And that, too, is a possibility...

50 years of seeking E.T.

Diego — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:33:40 GMT

What a bunch of garbage, ever heard of fallen angels?
Nephelims?, do not be deceived. It is all in the Bible.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Frank, Dallas, TX — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:18:03 GMT

"He pointed out that only a thousand stars or so have been studied, over bandwidth that accounts for just a few percentage points of the potential spectrum."

Exactly why are we not listening to the entire spectrum?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Bob, Northern Virginia — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:23:12 GMT

This subject is so speculative that it is difficult to make serious comment. The article points out that what we're really talking about is how many civilizations with technology similar to our own may be trying to contact us. As a practical matter, an advanced civilization seeking to communication across the interstellar expanse would want to employ a faster-than-light medium, such as tachyons, if such a medium is available. After all, even the proverbial I Love Lucy reruns could not be detected any farther away than approximately 50 light years as of the present time, and that is not very far in terms of galactic distances. However, we are not aware of even the first principles of a faster-than-light communications system, suggesting we are not capable of looking for the type of a signals most likely to be used for interstellar communication. This is extremely significant. Even assuming the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence, unless intelligent life is very common elsewhere, ours may be the only intelligent species within hundreds of light years (or more, since our part of the galaxy is less densely populated by stars than some other parts). Also, note how much our technology has advanced during the past 100,000 year -- or even 10,000 years. And note how the pace of technological advance has increased by orders of magnitude as more technology is developed. Noting these phenomena, and generalizing from them, a civilization that is 10,000 or 100,000 years beyond our present point of technological development might have only limited interest in us -- especially if intelligent, tool-using species such as ours are not unusual and others have already been intensively studied by academics. Perhaps our existence was catalogued and various records made of human Paleolithic civilization, under circumstances where it would not be normal to come back for another look until several thousand years from now. Or perhaps there have been political developments that mean either (1) that it is unlikely anyone is familiar with the records of our existence or (2) that it is unlikely that resources would be made available to learn anything new about us. After all, resource constraints are fundamental to the laws of physics (matter can neither be created nor destroyed) and that even highly advanced civilizations would be confronted with finite resources. Alternatively, maybe there is an alien communications device, a la 2001: A Space Odyssey, in our solar system which has already provided a signal that the species under observation has crossed some threshold of technological development. Or perhaps the receiver for some 2001-style signal from our solar system is no longer operational or is no longer actively monitored (it might, for example, simply be receiving and recording signals after having been forgotten 10,000 year ago when interest in the project waned). Maybe the signal has been received and the invasion force (that being the purposed of the signal) is on its way. Or maybe the signal has been received but the invasion force is not on its way because the civilization on the other end no longer has the resources or the know-how to outfit such a force. Or maybe there is no signal and no one to receive it. All of this is pure speculation, and the only thing valid to say about the subject is to admit that there are many possibilities, but we simply do not know the truth.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Andrew W, Colorado Springs, CO — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:26:45 GMT

It's a double-edged sword: On the one hand, given how we have progressed from simple radio signals to microwave communications, it's easy to see that as we progress in our communications we make less of a beacon to be seen. "I Love Lucy" is flying out to the stars, but the various cable and satellite mediums mostly in use today stay here on the planet. It may be that we haven't seen E.T. because we'd have to be looking right when they were in that early radio stage.

On the other hand, what is SETI to do? We can only hope they are *trying* to reach us, and that we'll pick up a signal that was specifically designed to reach somebody like us. The effort is not hopeless, just necessarily limited in its methodology.

50 years of seeking E.T.

john doe — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:35:44 GMT

hi i hate et

50 years of seeking E.T.

Mark, Stillwater, Oklahoma — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:42:34 GMT

Why couldn't they just create SETI Satalite that orbits our planet and scan galaxies. By taking in a wide spectrum of radio signals an lights like you said, then single out the constant ones for further study? Maybe the only reason they are not contacting, are the fact we are not trying to contact first? Either way, I think it should be like Hubble and be in space were we can upgrade its communication devices while getting a clear picture of the universe without interfering signals from our own little world.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Mike, Englewood Cliffs, NJ — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:52:47 GMT

I think that even with quantum entanglement (by definition between a pair of quantum particles or there is no entanglement to speak of), you would have to get one the particles over to where you want to send the "message". Once that set up is achieved, then changes in spins are instantaneously "conveyed" to the other particle, but you still could not go around the speed of light limit getting one the particle there. Another point, what if WE are the ones a million years more advanced than anyone else out there. I think if there were civilizations a million or more years more advanced than us, and looking at the rate of our technological advances in just the last 20 years, I would venture to say they would have found a way to contact us, without any fear of us being a threat to them. Us who still use vehicles that rely on friction (!!!) between road and tire or on air resistance (!!) to move about our daily lives... On a personal note, I think there are probably many, many of alien civilizations out there, but we are all stuck with a lack of means to communicate outside of time restrictions which come with the speed of light limit and the huge distances involved. To put into perspective, a space shuttle flying at 8 km/s would take 1.2 Billion years to reach the center of our galaxy...Certainly doesn't hurt to keep looking, just in case we're just wrong about most of our assumptions about the universe...

50 years of seeking E.T.

Hungry Lizard Person, remote jungle, near pyramid — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:09:18 GMT

Maybe the mini-series "V" was right we are just a feeding ground for some alien race and with our population on the ride year after year they just harvest us every 5 or so years. Dang pyramids, Aztec ruins, and Atlantis just mere ports of gathering around the globe.

50 years of seeking E.T.

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:27:25 GMT

We must keep looking. I hope that we aren't the only intelligent life form out here in the galaxy. Otherwise we are in serious trouble. We could learn much from those out there as hopefully they would learn from us.

50 years of seeking E.T.

B.H., Fairfax, Virginia — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:30:57 GMT

Our curiousity and ever ending drive for understanding of the unknown makes us who we are, human. Whether we find intelligent life outside our planet or not, it's our nature to search and discover, grow and evolve. If there wasn't a SETI project, it wouldn't stop humans from continuing to explore. The existance of the SETI project is cultivating the imagination of the next generation of scientists, engineers, educators, and researchers.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dale T, Portsmouth, Ohio — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:15:45 GMT

I think Dave BC WA is onto somthing.....not only do you have the situation he describes but you have the factor of time.....there may have been thousands upon thousands of intelligent civilations millions of years ago in this galaxy just not now, or in a time frame that make them detectable to us. The opposite is also true. The task of finding them is truly like the needle in the haystack.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dale T, Portsmouth, Ohio — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:27:04 GMT

Maybe we should view it as a dire warning that so called advanced civilations simply do not survive long enough to get a audible call out. If our civilation died tomorrow then there is roughly 100 years of audible sound making its way to an advanced civilation they would have 100 years to detect it, what are the odds?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Aaron Westphal, Mass. — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:49:34 GMT

It amazes me how religious anti-science nuts continue to say science proves their point...yet they must defend those "proven" points so vehemently and with such venom against others. I call that "on the defensive".

They refuse to believe that maybe God created life outside Earth, too, and just hasn't felt the need to tell us. A little experiment, to see what happens when he changes this or that. God's science project. Oh I'm sure they'll jump on me hard for that phrase.

But to the point, SETI has a valid mission, however, it is like many have stated. We may be running up against civilizations that cannot yet transmit signals, or maybe can't *translate* our signals. Or maybe they don't care. Who can really say? There are planets believed to be capable of supporting life, but who's to say that life is in any way compatible with what we call life?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Jane, Sparks, NV — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:28:23 GMT

Wow. I must be a pessimist... when I put my numbers into the drake equation I get ZERO intelligent aliens!

On another note... no one has mentioned extra-dimensional (or intra-dimensional) travel. Maybe that is why we can't catch those rascals... they just turn the dimensional corner and disappear from our reality.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Steve, Chicago, IL — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:35:37 GMT

It can now be revealed that Dick Cheney is, in fact, from another planet.

50 years of seeking E.T.

DonRoberto, Louisville, KY — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:39:01 GMT

First, SETI receives no government grants --- it is funded entirely by private donations, so the comments about wasting taxpayers' money are immaterial.

Second, despite the fifty years since the first SETI attempts, we have so far explored only a tiny portion of the available "phase space" --- so SETI is really only just beginning.

Third, any signal strong enough to be detected would have to be fairly close --- within a thousand light years or thereabouts, for intentionally beamed signals, or much closer than that for "leaked" incidental signals. Motions of planets around their suns complicate the matter by introducing varying Doppler shifts in the frequency over time --- so catching a signal almost has to happen by accident, and we can easily miss signals even if they are intentionally broadcast towards us and we know the carrier frequency.

Last, we don't know if ET still uses the electromagnetic spectrum to communicate --- maybe we are fifty years away from learning how to send and receive neutrino signals. Or maybe the "dark matter" physicists are struggling with is evidence of the rich information content of some other form of communications. Bottom line, we know more than we did, but are still woefully ignorant of what lies beyond Earth orbit.

50 years of seeking E.T.

The Man of Constant Sorrow, Texas — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:38:51 GMT

My assumption is that we will eventually find primitive life (bacterial) is common, advanced life (animals, trees) is rare, intelligent life (humans) is even rarer, maybe one or two per hundred billion stars. It is one of my greatest dreams that we will someday find proof of another civilization, but I am not optimistic.
My question for scientists is: in the event we are it in the Milky Way, is there any chance we can see the fine light from other galaxies where intelligent aliens might reside?

50 years of seeking E.T.

Michael / Michigan — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:43:08 GMT

A few answers to comments posted above:

1) SETI is NOT broadcasting a signal to potential aliens. SETI is all about listening. If you wish to hide the Earth from potential aliens, you wouldn't shut down SETI - you would have to shut down every radio and TV station on the planet, and especially, shut down military radar. SETI is a passive search.

2) Several comments have implied that radio is not a useful medium beyond the Solar System. That's not correct. In fact, our own broadcasts (listed above) have actually made the Earth brighter than our Sun in the radio spectrum! A radio astronomer working on Planet X many light years away may notice that the radio signal from our Solar System has gotten much brighter. Our alien astronomer friend could even figure out that the signals are coming from a planet with a 24-hour day (as different transmissions sweep out the sky in that time).

3) Those of you who don't want tax money spent on SETI, please rest assured - SETI (in this country) is completely funded without government money. SETI relies on private donations. (You didn't pay for SETI, and it isn't hurting anything, so what's your beef with the project?)

DISCLOSURE - I am an astronomer, working on finding exoplanets (planets that orbit stars beyond our Sun; so far we have found 347 planets). I do not have any direct connection with SETI, but I watch their work with great interest.

~Michael

50 years of seeking E.T.

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:36:43 GMT

You have to approach this as space fantasy. The only reality is developing grand technologies that can peer into distant solar systems and pin point earth-like planets.

The galaxy should be teaming with long since passed signals from come and gone civilizations. But it isn't ! The chance of evolution taking place in such a way that guarantee's beings that are conscious of themselves and the universe and possess the means to exploit their worlds and nature over and over again is fantastical but not of zero probability.

I just think we are stuck here so get used to it and treat this world right. It's the only one we have and will have for untold time.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Jim Lewis — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:47:15 GMT

Great article Alan and very good video on the Drake Equation. Nice to see Seth. He does a good job, too. In addition to searching for ET, it is equally important to send out signals and messages to help ET find us, especially if 50,000 other civilizations could be looking for us.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Wes — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:39:40 GMT

It seems to me that there are a number of things that would make the probability of successful SETI much lower than someone might intially think.

1) ETI may use more advanced communications, but it's also just as likely that they may use more efficient versions of technologies we use. Laser communications, directional transmitters. Why waste your power broadcasting to the universe? We only did that in our technological infancy and waste less with every new generation of technology.

2) Security. Evolution tends to create competing groups for the same resources, with technology competition tends to create a need for security and obfuscation. Think about encrypted credit card transmissions, military communications, even commercial satellite communications are secured so people can't get free satellite tv easily. Why wouldn't other technical civilizations choose to secure or obfuscate their emissions for competitive, economic or other unfathomable reasons?

3) We're searching for a slice of a sphere. Our broadcasts move out (generally) spherically from our planet but the magnitude of many of these signals is decreasing quickly as we move towards fiber optics, laser communications and directional broadcasts. Meaning? There's a band of about 100 years of noise moving away from our planet that other races might detect and that band has to pass their planet at a point in time where they are listening using the same type of technology as us.

4) Maybe they're smarter than us? Maybe there are good ETI's and bad ETI's out there and any race surviving long enough learns that you don't broadcast your location? And broadcasting so that primitives like us can find it would be easily detectable by the far more advanced "bad ETI's", hence no broadcasts.

5) Or there are more fun and speculative ideas, like maybe our galaxy is part of a universal "nature preserve" where things are left in their natural state. =)

wes

50 years of seeking E.T.

John D, Troy, Michigan — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:09:26 GMT

1) An advanced civilisation would seed the sky with exploratory nanobots, that would then seek out other civilized beings.
2) When civilized beings are found, the nanobots evolve to secretly watch their communication networks.
3) SQUID devices in nanobot form latch onto the transmission lines through hijacked naturally occuring lifeforms that must be common, ordinary, nonintrusive...

So a good place to look for advanced alien life?
SQUID nanobots in bird excrement layed upon telephone lines ! (anyhow, Very easy to dis-prove with a borrowed electron microscope and a tall ladder)

50 years of seeking E.T.

John D. — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:15:07 GMT

My bet is that the first sign of extraterrestrial life would be spectral lines of chlorophyl (or some other biological marker) in the occultation measurements of a gas giant in the habitable zone of another star. The organic material would actually arise from the moons of the gas giant, and to be measured from its rings as they would collect these organic materials from the moons over time.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Frank Glover, Rochester, NY — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:36:47 GMT

"Why couldn't they just create SETI Satalite that orbits our planet and scan galaxies."

Why couldn't they just?

Money.

Massive radiotelescopes on the Lunar Farside and/or in free-fall for SETI (and more mundane radioastronomy) would be a wonderful thing...but at current space transportation costs (though some people are working on that, but it's another issue) are out of the question.

As noted, all SETI work is done with private money. I doubt supporters have pockets that deep.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Neil Dziadulewicz — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:53:45 GMT

To what end is the discovery of other intelligent life forms? A mere curiosity? What would any of us do differently if SETI picked up some ET signal. What relevant information could we exchange? Only with the aid of our wildest human imagination, can we even discuss communication with an ET. The closest star to Earth is 4.5 light years away. The life sustaining planets are even farther. There is no chance of ever meeting and ET under the laws of quantum physics that set the maximum speed as the speed of light.

I ask the question again, what if we did identify intelligent life outside of our Earth? What would it do for you - make you closer to God??? Let's try to communicate with each other before we turn to ETs or some other wild figment of our imagination.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Kvn — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:55:43 GMT

What gives these people the right to listen in on other planets? Has anyone asked them if it is OK or gotten a court order to spy on other peoples? And if they find one them what? Send them a message? What gives SETI the right to make that decision for the rest of the planet?

Look up at the BILLIONS of stars, YA there is probably other life out there. Now shut up and spend the money on something WORTH WHILE!

AND how do we know they are peacefull??? What gives someone the right to possibly doom everyone on this planet??? I could come up with dozens of questions the thoughtless egomaniacs at SETI are ignoring in order to further their own selfish interests!

50 years of seeking E.T.

Dale T, Portsmouth, Oh, — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:39:48 GMT

Kvn what if Native Americans had had the tools to look for other "intelligent" beings across the atlantic or pacific and to try to decode their intentions? My point is that knowledge is a double edge sword...one side can harm you the other can help you. Just because one side can slice you doesent mean you should avoid the sword. We must look and learn we have no alternative....as far as prioritizing and determining what is more worthwhile than anyother issue......I think that your idea that this type of research is not worthwhile is reflected in how we fund these programs and it is pretty obvious that the rest of the population feels the way you do. I just hope that we are not sitting on this world as native americans did waiting to be "discovered."

50 years of seeking E.T.

John D — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:54:39 GMT

To "The one who knows there is life beyond this world"
I do not see one thread of evidence here that anyone hates your god. It is also clear that many more people feel the way you do as it is seen the funding of such projects. I only whish you respected my views as much as I respect yours.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Zane D, Franklin Furnace, OH — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:14:22 GMT

300 years from now a wave of communication siginals will begin to shower down on the earth from another planet that destroyed its self long ago. there will be about 200 years of transmission to listen to. Then the communications will fall erily quiet after 221 years. What will we learn from their signals? Will we even be here to hear the siginals? Will we be able to detect these types of signals? Will we be able to watch alein TV? Will we be able to see their image? How will this event shape society in the year 2210? Is there a possibility you could be living in 2210? If anyone claims to not have the desire to know these endless questions then I would say they are probably not being completly truthful.

50 years of seeking E.T.

astrocat — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:12:47 GMT

Man is reaching out into space for knowledge by whatever means available, but much can be learned here on earth. Note that recently many people have become aware of the “critters” and “rods” that do exist in earth’s atmosphere and above. Are they aliens or space animals? Check the many NASA video clips available on the internet and you will see the bright little disc shaped objects that have become a relatively common site during Apollo and space shuttle missions. At times the discs appear to be cruising along independently, purpose unknown, then disappear and re-appear. There are not just a few, but so many such things that I wonder why scientists aren’t showing more interest. In fact, they rarely even bother to study such phenomena. Why not I ask? I thought that scientists were inquisitive by nature. I’ve got a feeling that the military is very, very interested though. The two mile long discs flying around the space shuttle could be space mosquitoes for all we know, but who knows what they are unless we examine them under science’s microscope.

What’s that you say? They already know what the ufos are, and the world governments are silencing the scientists? The grey aliens are here and working with the governments on secret projects? Just check the Google Earth photos of all the structures in those radiation filled craters at Area 51 and that should prove that something “alien” is going on for sure.

Truth is there’s evidence of ufos all over the earth going back to ancient times. We see it ourselves, in all the videos and photos we’ve amassed over the years, and in all the released government reports, etc. We’ve got witnesses too! There are Colonels, Majors, astronauts, airline pilots, among others, many of which want to be heard in congress. Most wouldn’t make a mockery of their lives just for a brief moment of fame. And remember that due to their professions, such people are more in a position to see alien ships and everything else in the sky!

It appears (and I’ve seen some myself) that ufos abound over our skies almost nightly. Yet they don’t ever say hello or even wave. What the hell? Why come to visit? Is it simply to explore, show off, or possibly pick up a few essential earthly elements or perhaps an occasional human being? Perhaps we’re a weigh station located near some handy black holes, and we appear to the aliens as just a bunch of fish stuck in a fish tank.
“Don’t bother to pet the dog on your way into the store, ET. He bites”

The scientific community ignores most of the ufo evidence we’ve been seeing because as they put it, “There’s no concrete evidence.”

Was there any concrete evidence prior to 1492 proving that the earth was round?

Evidently they’d rather listen to endless space static than examine the evidence staring them right in the face. Ufo buffs know that there is much here to study, but for some reason the bulk of that study is left to ufologists, who are heroes in my book.

They say that Uncle Sam rules the scientists, uses some of them, and quiets the rest, just like they did to all those Roswell folks and military alike.

Forget about searching the vastness of space, Obi Won. You don’t have what it takes yet. A glut of information is available here on earth, but it’s being ignored, hidden and held back by certain governments. Don’t ask the scientists though, about those strange metal alien implants found in so many people, or about those authentic ufo videos, confidential military reports, crop circles, etc. At times there’s nothing wrong with using circumstantial evidence when you don’t have solid evidence to go on.

Why spend billions of dollars and many centuries of effort on finding ET when there is so much evidence at hand now?

Let’s get more proactive on searching our little piece of the universe, namely the Earth, where the best option to waiting for centuries for answers lies. We’re not blind. We know that something unearthly visits us frequently, and lately, even more frequently. If something big is coming, whether it be ET or God as many suspect, we’d better not plan on waiting centuries for insights. We may need the facts right now or risk getting wiped out like the dinosaurs. They were wiped out by a meteor that somehow missed crashing into all those surrounding planets, those which are meant to protect us from just such disasters. It makes me wonder. There’s no “concrete evidence” except for the big hole, and many things can cause a big enough blast to cause that huge crater, so perhaps the aliens decided to “cull” the earth to make room for mankind.

Either way, listening to radio waves is okay, but just don’t confine your search to that.

You’ll miss the boat.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Alan Lee, Melbourne, Aus. — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:14:25 GMT

Quit wasting time and money looking at the skies guys, E.T. is right here and has been for a long time now. These SETI fools must be a part of the ongoing campaign of denial and disinformation about the alien presence here on Earth and elsewhere in this solar system. There's too much evidence of this. Anyone who remains willfully ignorant must be a part of the coverup.

50 years of seeking E.T.

James, UK — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:18:59 GMT

The answer to this question can be found within our own history, let me explain;

As others have already pointed out, Earth based interstellar communication has only been around for about 100 years, and yet we can already see a time when people will no longer can a fig about the exterior Universe. Think how compelling some of the manmade worlds have become in a little over 20 years, give it another 40 years and the thousands of artificial realities available will dwarf the present reality both in scale, scope and adventure.

In short all consciousness will become digital, all life will become simulated, all reality will be man (or machine) made and no one will look back. In time people will no longer consider this new existence to be fake, it will be the *only* reality.

We can't find intelligent life in *this* Universe, because they have moved into a better one, just as we will before this century is over.

Conscious intelligence is the most powerful force in the Universe, all other forces eventually bow before it.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Joe Strout, Fort Collins, CO — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:12:37 GMT

What's fun about the SETI researchers is that they keep confidently predicting near-term success, and when their predicted success dates come and go, they just move them back and make another rosy prediction. This is not unlike the end-of-the-world doomsayers, in more ways than one.

What's most frustrating about this is the basic ignorance of population dynamics that pervades the whole SETI community. You can see it right there in the Drake equation in your illustration. That equation assumes a steady state, with no growth of interstellar civilizations. Any ecologist, biologist, or population dynamicist can see that it is utter rubbish.

In reality, once the first civilization achieves interstellar migration (which does NOT require faster-than-light travel or any other exotic technology), it will grow and spread from star to star, just like any other living organism in a rich environment. The whole galaxy would be thoroughly settled within a few hundred million years.

So we don't need to look hard at all the obscure combinations and far-out places where ET may be... either he's not there at all, or he's right next door and doesn't wish to make his presence known. We either live in an unpopulated wild, or a nature preserve. SETI's vision of millions of civilizations, each cooped up in one little star system, is just nonsense that I believe comes from watching too much Star Trek.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Filtch — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:01:21 GMT

I personaly think it's a tad narcisistic to think we are the only inteligent life in the universe. Because the universe is infinite it's actualy quite probale there are other life forms that are capable of asking "why" as we are. The real question is where. In my opinion I think the odds of ETs existing close enough to earth to receive and respond to any message we've sent to date within the forseeable future are pretty steep.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Michael / Michigan — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:02:19 GMT

An interesting thread of comments (most of the comments, anyway); but I have not yet seen the central point stated:

There are one of two possibilities - either we are alone in the Universe, or, there is other intelligence out there.

EITHER ANSWER IS EXTREMELY PROFOUND!

Also, there have been many who have commented on this thread that they "know" that life is out there, and others who are equally certain that there isn't.

Neither point is scientific.

We don't know. We won't know until we look.

Until we look all we have are S.W.A.G.'s (Scientific Wild-Alec Guesses). Science does not assume - it investigates. Otherwise, we would instead be commenting on how we "know" that the Earth is flat, and that the Sun orbits us.

DISCLAIMER - I am an astronomer, working on finding exoplanets (planets that orbit stars beyond our Sun; so far we have found 347 planets). I do not have any direct connection with SETI, but I watch their work with great interest.

50 years of seeking E.T.

John , Williamsburg, VA — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:28:49 GMT

Dont'let this blog die. It's important. There's someone out there that has a key idea on cracking the code on this. It can come from anyone - not just a technical person. I, for one, believe that we do not need to accept the current explanation. Open your minds, if they're trying to contact us, there's more than radio waves that can help get us on the right track. So...who's listening? :)

50 years of seeking E.T.

Len Robertson, St Charles, Illinois — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:11:49 GMT

Given the probability that Gliese 581 d has organic life (an iceball world nearly eight times the size of Earth orbiting a red dwarf star one third the size of our sun---who woulda thunk it?!!!), only one step remains: the search for alien civilizations.

My question: shouldn't there be as much effort into using optical telescopes to see civilizations as there is in trying to hear them?

But how can we see alien civilizations many light years away? Flying saucers are kinda hard to see trillions of miles away. I had been puzzling the question for years, but it wasn't until I attended An Inconvenient Truth with my wife, a noted industrial microbiologist, that I had an epiphany.

As the graph showing the spike in CO2 shot heavenward, my wife gasped, "it's never been that high before."

Of course. A common bi-product of civilization is pollution. CO2 grabs the headlines, but light pollution may be the easiest to detect.
Each time a planet is detected in the so-called Goldilocks zone (which may be far larger than imagined years ago thanks to poly extremophiles ---my wife introduced me to Conan the Bacterium which she has seen as her expertise is sludge), it needs to be analyzed for evidence of pollutions.

Naturally, a single exoplanet exhibiting curious atmospheric anomalies like stratospheric CO2 may prove nothing. Two planets that exhibit nearly the same atmospheric anomaly, however, would necessitate a closer second look. If you have three planets with what I would call "cookie cutter" atmospheres, you have strong evidence that a civilization exists, even if those planets are in separate solar systems.

More than three: well, you better trek to Roswell or Chihuahua and look for saucer tracks.

Seriously, the game has changed. Since spectroscopic and partial spectroscopic study of exoplanets is becoming possible, searching atmospheres for evidence of civilizations by their pollution and/or their weather control would seem to be a relatively inexpensive option.

50 years of seeking E.T.

john doe, seattle, wash — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:02:18 GMT

hhaha...what makes you think the aliens want to contact you? think about it, none of you ahve experienced the singularity....perhaps after the singularity a revelation is established that makes searching for 'others' in the universe....either irrelevent or unwise...

perhaps they have dimentionally visited our planet....studied it...and left...perhaps they know what would happen from such an interaction....perhaps self-discovery is the only answer available...

perhaps they just don't respond to texts.....

you never know..:)

think of it, the human race is about 200 years away from the singularity.....after this event...perhaps things will change.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Em, Brisbane, Aus — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:57:37 GMT

We should look at 'why' any lifeforms would be searching for life. It could be the same as us, simply interested in if there are others out there, or it could be something more sinister. Perhaps looking for a suitable home after theirs has been destroyed, or on the verge of destruction. Do we REALLY want other life forms to know we are here? I fear this is playing with fire. What IF we did make contact (hypothetically speaking) with another life form. What would be the consequences?
Also I think I would be more worried about our species treatment of alien species, rather than alien species treatment of us. We as a species are incredibly aggressive. I think if humans found the secrets of successful, fast, space travel all we would be driven to do is conquer everything. We wouldn't be the victims, we would be the aggressors. We would be the bad guys set on universal domination.

50 years of seeking E.T.

Francisco Guiab, Moreno Valley, California — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:29:50 GMT

After 50 years of SETI with no result I am not discouraged. I think that it is exciting that we are refining our methods of search for Intelligent Life and not abandon it altogether. Just seems natural since our understanding of nature and our technology is growing exponentially. Note, "Intelligent life" and not just "life". because it appears that "life" is more prevalent than what we use to think. Based on evidence in our own solar system alone and right here on earth life can exist in extreme conditions. But can life evolve into intelligent life? May be rarer (is that a word?) than we think. Jury is still out for us here on earth. How much further can we go without getting extinguished?
I still think that we will see evidence of intelligent life in my life time (I hope...)