Mountain View’s SETI Institute Suspends Search For Alien Life

[onehandle]

Source: CBS

The SETI Institute in Mountain View has suffered a major financial setback – specifically, facing a $5 million gap in funding for day to day operations – and as a result, is shutting down its deep space listening program.

That means SETI – the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence – will mothball its array of radio telescopes, dealing a massive blow to the search for life on other planets.

“It’s challenging,” conceded SETI Institute CEO Tom Pierson. “We’re motivated to fix it just as we were in the 1990s when the NASA SETI program went away and I believe we can do so.”

Indeed, NASA had provided the financial backing for some early SETI projects, but that funding dried up under Congressional scrutiny, with some lawmakers criticizing the “chase” for Martians and flying saucers.

Read more: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/04/26/mountain-views-seti-institute-suspends-search-for-alien-life/

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The war on science continues.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Ah, I used to contribute processing power to SETI

Sad.

[onehandle]

2. Me too. On three Macs, 24/7 for a while. nt

[Renew Deal]

6. A lot of DUers did.

And freepers too.

[lunatica]

11. Me too. On two Macs

[dipsydoodle]

3. The truth is still out there.

Somewhere or other. ;)

[inna]

4. "the war on science", exactly, on so many levels. kr, nt

[drm604]

5. Is this the SETI@Home project?

I contributed CPU cycles to it for years. It's still running on my machine at home.

[Posteritatis]

20. SETI@Home's a component of the broader program. (nt)

[Wilms]

7. What? They needed to divert the funds to wiretapping Americans?

:shrug:

[AsahinaKimi]

8. There are some Republicans who will applaud this...

To them searching for life in the universe is a huge waste of time and money, and besides they believe we are the only intelligent life in the entire universe, that the universe, (Despite what Galileo said) revolves around this planet. They scoffed at going to the moon, just to bring back a bunch of rocks, dirt and dust, that anyone here, can pick up at their Home and Gardening store!

Anyway, Science and Education is not for the masses! Science is a bunch of theories, and as all Republicans know, a theory is something thats not proven, just something thats speculation. Whats more important is FAITH! Now there's a concept! Faith that we have dominion over the plants and the animals to do with, what man wishes! Dump that garbage into the ocean, who cares!! It doesn't matter because its the END TIMES anyway..and everyone .. bla bla bla.. well you know the rest.

Why the hell should Freepers, Republicans and Tea Baggers care about anything that has to do with Science...its all so Elitist!

(Meh, what a bunch of ignorant fools they are!)

[JuniperLea]

12. Well said...

Why do I feel the need for a New Renaissance? They really are trying to live in the dark ages!

[Keith Bee]

9. Probably just as well

I mean, they haven't found intelligent life here on Earth yet, so why bother looking for it elsewhere?

[petronius]

10. That just proves that they've found the ETs, and are hiding the truth

:tinfoilhat:

[Roland99]

13. Anyone that wants to keep PCs active doing distributed computing, join DU's Folding@Home team>>>>>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7270348

[Sonoman]

14. There are no coincidences. "UFO" Jim Ledwith is in my office, right now.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=jim+james+ledwith,+ufo&cp=22&qe=amltIGphbWVzIGxlZHdpdGgsIHVmbw&qesig=qWc_-1_85lX2tl4x8KxJ8Q&pkc=AFgZ2tmHf9NHaDVFMh8wIEaQjHj10S9Waz8fapvkMayeQVmxzhjC5ZMGEbunE-9m9kA1uzQbH5a-rIXfjyllJ-QsTwfiQXSZGQ&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=jim+james+ledwith,+ufo&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=efa329ff265db1bb&biw=1280&bih=597

"UFO" (we call him ooh-foe) Jimmy is in my office with GF, who is updating his site.

Jim Ledwith is absolutely one of the coolest guys on the planet. Check out a couple of links at the Google page at the link I posted above.

Sonoman

[Sonoman]

15. SETI is basically without worth.

All of their findings went to and through NASA.

NASA has a very anti-extraterrestrial bent. That's the bunch who should be de-funded, in spite of the fact that NASA invented Stro Thurmond's hair dye.

Sonoman

[Baclava]

16. Bummer

The SETI Institute have been forced to temporarily shut down Allen Telescope Array (ATA) operations due to a lack of funding.

The ATA in Northern Califonia, managed by both the SETI and the University of California, Bekeley, is a series of 42 small dishes used for researching radio astronomy and even alien life forms. More recently, it has been used to detect space debris. Money to create and maintain the structure had originally come from donations to the SETI's CEO Paul Allen. It was also funded by the State and the National Science Foundation (NSF), so the university used it for observations and writing academic papers, a few of which were published.

Sadly, due to the funding from the State and the NSF being cut considerably, UC Berkeley and SETI made a reluctant decision to put the ATA in hibernation--though it will still be routinely maintained. Of course, this also means layoffs for staff at the Hat Creek site.

However, the potentially good news is that if the Air Force Space Command might consider using the ATA for "space surveillance"--snooping and tracking objects in space. Plus, it is not a permanent hiatus. When the California economy picks up and more donations pour thorugh, the telescope ensemble could get back on its feet, or at least help examine NASA's finds on the Kepler Mission. When that is, though, is anyone's guess.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/226326/setis_telescope_array_forced_into_hibernation_et_gets_a_break.html

[randr]

17. SETI is not a search for Martians or flying saucers

It is the search for intelligence in the universe. Assuming most intelligent forms of life may one day discover use of radio frequencies, it would be most important to know of the event.

[Spike89]

18. The irony and challenge is huge

So, the assumption that all intelligences will someday discover radio is based heavily on us, yet even in the early days, we simply didn't broadcast strong radio waves into space. The fantasy of radio and early TV broadcasts reaching hundreds or thousands of light years into space has been debunked. At best, the highest powered signals from those days may have been coherent for a dozen or so light years, probably much less.

Even more challenging is the fact that we all but stopped high powered broadcasting. Most modern signals are digital (much less power required), satellite (narrow beam), or direct link (cable, fiber-optic, etc.). Even if aliens were looking for us, we basically "yelped" once, weakly, then went mostly silent.

Perhaps truly advanced civilizations only use "sub-space harmonics" or other unknown communication methods. Radio might be as fleeting and as consequential as smoke-signals to the search for alien intelligence.

[randr]

21. The irony is that seeing smoke signals was first contact for many peoples

[and-justice-for-all]

24. +1

It would be the most important discovery in Human history.

[freshwest]

19. All the ET's have been exposed on youtube. They're here now. Some at Tea Party rallies. OEM.

[Turborama]

22. $5 million a day? Not according to this article. Plus"Suspends" means they could be doing it again.

Which I hope they will, as soon as the Teahadist austerity hawks are eradicated from congress.

SETI Institute suspends search for alien signals

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor | Wednesday, April 27, 2011



State and federal budget cuts have forced astronomers operating the 42 telescopes at UC Berkeley's famed Hat Creek Radio Astronomy Laboratory to suspend their search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.

SETI Institute astronomer Jill Tarter said Tuesday the entire laboratory in the remote Lassen National Forest near Redding is being "placed in hibernation" because $2.5 million in funds from the National Science Foundation and from UC's astronomy budget have dried up.

Other money expected from the Air Force for tracking orbital debris and satellites in space is awaiting congressional budget action, said Jack Welch, an astronomy professor at the UC Berkeley graduate school and a former director of the radio astronomy laboratory.

The suspension is a blow to the SETI Institute, whose astronomers have been seeking signs of life in distant space for more than 30 years. In recent years, the telescopes have cost about $1.5 million a year to operate, and another $1 million has gone to the SETI search, Tarter said.

Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/26/MNCO1J7UDF.DTL

The article goes on to quote Jill Tarter as saying that they are... ..."hoping to raise at least $5 million to return to full operations and assure the future of the telescopes".

[and-justice-for-all]

23. "the “chase” for Martians and flying saucers."

is exactly what SETI is NOT doing. It is simply listening for any sign of Intelligent life via broadcasting and receiving the signal. Richard Branson can and would fund them. "Congressional scrutiny" is not that intelligent.

[Turborama]

25. Has Branson said he's going to fill the funding gap?

I can imagine how he'd be able to link it with with the marketing of his space tourism venture.

[and-justice-for-all]

26. No, I was just suggesting him as a private funding source..

"I can imagine how he'd be able to link it with with the marketing of his space tourism venture." I agree.

[RedCloud]

27. maybe we should figure out if "itch" signals are being sent?

Just because we can't do it doesn't mean others can't.
Are you itchy just thinking about the itch signal? What if it really had some intel behind it?

I am itching like crazy just thinking about alien itch signals.

[Baclava]

28. take the blue pill

the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe

[Baclava]

29. There is a bottom line though - - SETI just isn't making science - - we humans demand results

Alien World Tour: The Exoplanets Around Star Gliese 581



The announcement... of two newfound alien planets circling the star Gliese 581 adds to the nearby solar system's intrigue, further cementing its status as a top candidate to harbor extraterrestrial life.

One of the two newly discovered planets, known as Gliese 581g, is a small, Earth-like world that likely lies within its star's habitable zone ? the just-right range of distances that allow liquid water to exist.

Astronomers have now detected six planets orbiting Gliese 581, the most known to circle any star beyond our own sun.

Meet Gliese 581g

It is orbiting within the habitable zone of its parent star. Gliese 581g is three to four times as massive as Earth, is most likely rocky, and may have an atmosphere, scientists say. It orbits about 0.146 AU from the central star. Liquid water could exist on some part of the planet's surface, which seems to have an average temperature between minus 24 and minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31 to minus 12 degrees Celsius). Gliese 581g completes an orbit every 37 days or so.


link for planet tour...

http://www.space.com/9229-alien-world-tour-exoplanets-star-gliese-581.html

[Spike89]

30. Haven't heard anything on the telegraph for a long time...

Evidently no one exists. Still, must keep listening for telegraph signals.

By all means, continue searching for extraterrestrial life, but don't assume it'll be in a format we barely use any more. Coded laser messages might have been splashed all over the radio receivers, they'd never pick those up. Radio is a poor interstellar communication medium, much worse than we originally thought. Considerably less than a century from widespread adoption of radio waves, we've basically gone dark ourselves. If we only had a few decades of radio "visability" and it was actually limited to perhaps a mere dozen light years, why would we expect alien civilizations to be any different? In other words, not only would they need to be inplausibly close, we'd have to have almost perfectly aligned development so that they didn't discover radio 200 years ago, or 200 years from now but almost exactly when we did. In a universe of just 6000 years, that would be incredible, in one billions of years old, it is more likely you'd hit the lottery three weeks in a row.