SETI astronomers launch new campaign

They're not just pointing it at 'some star'. The array of radio telescopes is growing and is set to number over 300 when completed - that's an awfully large collecting area. Admittedly; we've only scanned a narrow range of frequencies and we concentrate the scanning to the microwave band of the spectrum...because it is the most quiet and relatively free of noise. SETI aren't trying to intercept a broadcast or decipher any information from it - they're looking more or less for the carrier signal, like the "WOW" signal, but continuous. Yes, and Hydrogen is the frequency which they consider to be... [More]

Doesn't SETI search for radio signals? Which is like life on another planet looking for smoke signals coming from Earth... LOL I know what you meant here, but consider how huge our planet is based on radio signals, via radio sphere. The Radio SphereWe have not chosen the radius of this sphere arbitrarily. The RA/Dec coordinate sphere takes on another role when you're away from the Sun. We call it the radio sphere. The radio sphere describes the extent of Earth's radio signals in space. In the early 20th century, radio began to take hold after the discovery that certain radio waves bounce, or r... [More]

I think it just goes to show, that before the 1930's Alien contact was most likely non-existent. Afterward, the possibilities or chances keep rising. It's only a matter of time before we detect life elsewhere. I would imagine that it must be easier for a more advanced species to find us first. Math can closely answer these questions. Not fully, but at least it can give you a degree of reality when considering these things.

Our analogue TV signals will have paled into insignificance. They simply cannot travel for light years and retain their wavelength. No one will be hearing Hitler's broadcast or watching our dramas. They most likely didn't make it our of the solar system. After passing into the Heliosphere, which is a sort of termination shock where the solar wind stops, they would be overcome by all kinds of analogue static. After a few light years; I imagine our broadcasts will only be producing a higher then average amount of background static. I think we have more chance of being detected if we ever conduct... [More]

If aliens want to make contact on a mass scale they will contact us........not the other way around

snip It's amazing, when we think how small we are, in reality we are light years across. We are becoming easier and easier to detect. Especially, since before the 30's we were basically invisible to the rest of the universe. Not really. Due to the inverse square law of electromagnetic radiation and, as Robbo correctly stated, just exiting our solar system are rather stubborn obstacles. I wrote a blurp about that in the How did they find us thread some years back, which I hope you will excuse me for posting Pax, sorry this was a long time coming, but I was quite busy today! QUOTE(Pax Unum @ Nov... [More]

In a vast cosmic experiment equivalent to hitting "redial," astronomers in a dozen countries are aiming telescopes to listen in once again on some of the stars that were part of the world's first search for alien life 50 years ago. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40171488/ns/technology_and_science-space/ Didn't realize telescopes could process sound.

Not really. Due to the inverse square law of electromagnetic radiation and, as Robbo correctly stated, just exiting our solar system are rather stubborn obstacles. I wrote a blurp about that in the How did they find us thread some years back, which I hope you will excuse me for posting Emphasis mine. Hence, the radar signals is by far the strongest signal to be leaving Earth and to detect television signals the receiver gear would have to be 100 times more sensitive. And we will still only be able to reach out to 250 light years. And every time we improve the sensitivity by a factor of a hundr... [More]

I appreciate this won't be a popular opinion, but I don't think we spend anywhere near enough on space exploration. Without getting to dramatic, we have no idea what is waiting up there for us (if anything), if we're being watched, or anything known about us. Whilst we have achieved remarkable things in the past 50yrs, and come a long way, we are still flying blind on this lump of rock. Our priority as the human race should be ensuring we get off this lump of rock permanently, so we don't become a tiny footnote in history, as every other living creature on this planet will become. I don't know... [More]

Earthling Scientists Work on Plan to Call ETs Feb 9, 2011 – 1:20 PM A team of scientists is developing a new series of protocols to more finely tune our efforts to talk to another civilization in the nearby galactic neighborhood. And they're hoping to enlist the public's help. Atri and his colleagues Jacob Haqq-Misra of Pennsylvania State University and Julia DeMarines from the International Space University in France, urge new protocols for future attempts to contact extraterrestrial intelligence. "When you send radio signals, you send them at a specific frequency, and if the detector at th... [More]