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SETI@Home Revisits Its 100 Best Signals

cmbrothe writes "The Planetary Society is running an article about SETI@Home's plan to revisit its 100 most promising signal candidates. The article also outlines the criteria for selecting the candidates."

33 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. the criteria... by jaredcoleman · · Score: 5, Funny


    the signal must sound like a humpback whale...

    1. Re:the criteria... by CastrTroy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or, perhaps a sperm whale. They often appear in space when missles are fired at spaceships using infinite improbability drives.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    2. Re:the criteria... by platypus · · Score: 4, Funny
      I have a friend at SETI, and he sent me the code for the best signal. They are waiting for computing time at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to further analyze it:
      nyy lbh onfrf ner orybat gb hf


      fhpxref
  2. The problem with doing it this way by Transient0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that the REAL signals will obviously be coming from starships in nearby space which have either warp/hyperdrive and will therefore be NOWHERE near where they were when the signal was first detectred months or years ago.

    1. Re:The problem with doing it this way by librex · · Score: 3, Funny

      except of course if the signal went through a space anomaly that we havent encountered before..

      Read your Star Fleet manual ensign!

    2. Re:The problem with doing it this way by Blindman · · Score: 2, Funny

      However, you are overlooking the fact that signals broadcasted while travelling at warp speed retain warp characteristics for about 0.5 seconds after transmission which would allow the signal to arrive exactly 23.7 hours before the ships arrival assuming it is headed towards Earth. If it has another destination, the calculation will naturally get a little more complicated.

      --
      I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person that I'm preaching to.
  3. Re:Suppose we get a signal... by Shimbo · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Ah, a signal. Quick, beam a signal back, and...uh...wait 30,000,000 years for a reply! Cool!"

    sounds like your typical tech. support query.

  4. Wait a minute.... by John+Harrison · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wasn't that telescope destroyed in Goldeneye? How are they still using it?

  5. I have to wonder... by craenor · · Score: 3, Funny

    If they've done any research to correlate the number of possible signals to the frequency of radio broadcasts featuring Michael Jackson...just a thought, I mean, they are looking for aliens...

  6. Re:formula for likelihood of life by ari_j · · Score: 5, Funny

    Empirically. You find places that it says there is life. Then, you go and check for life. The correlation ratio between the two sets of results should give a very good indication of the validity of said formula.

  7. Obligatory comments here.... by CSG_SurferDude · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obligatory comments here...

    • From the religious right, about how there are no aliens, and if there are, they are the work of Satan.
    • From the ignorant masses, about how this is a waste of money that could be better spent on (Insert pet project here).
    • From the biologists, about CPU cycles that could have been spent finding a cure for cancer.
    • From the Optical SETI folks, about what a waste of time RADIO SETI is.
    • From the /. crew about "Isn't this a dupe?"

    Did I miss any?

    1. Re:Obligatory comments here.... by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, you missed a few:
      - beowulf clusters
      - something about hot grits
      - something about natalie portman.
      - something about all your base belonging to us
      - links to goatse.cx
      - business plans that end in Profit!
      - offtopic rants about the DMCA/RIAA
      - informative posts about how this works in soviet russia

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    2. Re:Obligatory comments here.... by Plutor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't forget unfunny karma whoring "obligatory comments" lists!

    3. Re:Obligatory comments here.... by quintessent · · Score: 5, Funny

      offtopic rants about the DMCA/RIAA

      Well, I'm sure they are looking at this list harder than anyone. What if the aliens are broadcasting music without a license?

    4. Re:Obligatory comments here.... by jeti · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm sure you got this backwards.

      Obviously any evolved civilisation must have a
      counterpart of the RIAA. Once we catch some alien
      music, we'll broadcast it on TV, worldwide. Then we
      only have to wait for their lawyers to make the first
      contact.

      That's the plan, isn't it?

    5. Re:Obligatory comments here.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Or what if those radio signals are simply wireless answering machines that broadcast the "We're not home right now as a species, please leave a message after the supernova"?

  8. The best signal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    After many years of work, it's great to see good results. This is only ascii, but this graph represents the best signal so far:




    SETI: Wasting your tax dollars for more than 30 years.

  9. Number One on the SETI "Top 100" Hit Parade: by DuckDuckBOOM! · · Score: 5, Funny

    A cover of "Peppermint Twist" recieved from a point near Epsilon Eridani, played on what sounds like oil drums and unlubricated condoms using a 68-tone scale. Great beat and you can dance to it if you have five legs.

    --
    Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
  10. Re:The "Wow" Signal by spakka · · Score: 5, Funny

    They need to devise a better naming scheme for these events, or else we'll end up with

    1. The 'Hey, Bob, look at this!' signal
    2. The 'Jesus Christ!' signal
    3. The 'Fuck me!' signal
    ...
    (97 others)

  11. migrating aliens by mydigitalself · · Score: 3, Funny

    i understand the 100% scientific approach to weeding out certain stars that have not been around that long:
    When it comes to scoring signals, however, not all stars are equal. This is because, according to SETI wisdom, some stars are more likely to host a communicating alien civilization than others. Thus, for example, only main-sequence stars are considered for signal-scoring purposes, excluding red giants and white dwarfs. Short-lived stars, whose lifespan is only a few million years, are also excluded from consideration, since complex life would not have had time to evolve in such an environment. Nearby stars, on the other hand, get "extra credit" in their scoring, since it would be comparatively easier to communicate with civilizations in our galactic neighborhood than with those in distant parts of our galaxy or beyond. Finally, the more similar a star is to our own Sun, the higher its score, since it would be more likely to host a civilization similar to ours.

    and maybe this sounds really really stupid and like i should stop watching star trek - but i don't actually watch it! but surely a far advanced alien race could be migratory and move to one of these less advanced planets. like maybe for the sunshine?

  12. Re:formula for likelihood of life by stratjakt · · Score: 3, Funny

    >> That's easy -- it's clearly wrong. It's saying the Sun gets the lowest possible score according to the 3rd factor, when it should obviously get the highest score.

    There's no life on the Sun, ya goofball!

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  13. Re:Playing the Odds by passion · · Score: 3, Funny

    the message would probably say something along the lines of... "first post!", or "hello world!...?"

    --
    - passion
  14. Re:Suppose we get a signal... by Phosphor3k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Unless they had time travel. And encoded the instructions to build the time travel device in the radio wave. Then we could build it, go back in time, and respond before they even sent the first message. Of course then they would have never sent the instructions in the firrst place....

    *sound of head exploding*

  15. Re:Promising? by Rogerborg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Indeed, who needs billions of bogomips of processing when you have a deaf guy and a lesbian to notice the one signal that really matters. Wait, wasn't there a token black guy as well? And do we need a golden haired child, or was that the lesbian as a kid? Oh god, I can't remember! It's hopeless, I tell you, hopeless, there are too many variables.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  16. SBI@home.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was hoping people would like to join my project of SBI@home (Search for Buluga Intelligence). I will be puttting a microphone in the middle of the Red River (stationed in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada), in hopes to pick up signals sent directly to us, with intent, from buluga whales. Once we have communication with them, we will attempt to pin point exactly where the buluga whale was when he/she sent this message to us. Even tho the signal may have taken 1000 days to reach us, and even tho we would be analyzing signals sent from the buluga whale sometime in september of 1998. THEN - We will attempt to decipher the message and send back the signal with a witty 'first reply' joke ... Which will be the first intergalactic joke. (next to seti@home that is) ...

    THEN - me and the buluga will chill and have beers

  17. Re:Are we broadcasting, too? by ryanvm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or are we braodcasting something barycentric? Can I tune in?

    Yeah, we are - but you don't want to tune in.

  18. Re:Playing the Odds by Nintendork · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, they'll say that it's light refracting off the gases of venus causing radio interference in a very improbable way.

  19. WHOOOOHOOOOOO! by chersk · · Score: 4, Funny

    100 Best Singles!... Thats what i'm Talking about!.. 100 hot alien singles with hot alien bod's and hot.... uh... oh.... signals.... dang..

    never mind....

    --
    "just another ugly toad waiting for a kiss from a princess"
  20. Making it harder for considerate aliens? by sbaker · · Score: 4, Funny

    So we little green aliens go to all the trouble to put the
    transmitter far away from any other radio sources (like stars
    and galaxies) - we shift the frequency to compensate for the
    orbit of your planet around your sun - we listen to your
    transmissions and send ours back on channels we know you
    must be listening to - and we get modded down for all of
    those things? Damn!

    So what DO we have to do to get more Karma at Seti?

    --
    www.sjbaker.org
  21. K-Tel Compilation by GuyMannDude · · Score: 4, Funny

    Actually, I was thinking that SETI@Home should not only "revisit its 100 most promising signal candidates" but burn them onto a CD-ROM set and make a deal with the record company whose name is synonomous with compilations, K-Tel, to sell them. The perfect gift for the geek who has everything...

    GMD

  22. The first message will be something like... by Lobsang · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dear Sir/Madam/Globunsk/Srhamel/Goot:

    I'm the ruler of Andromeda-3, an M Class Planet in the constellation of Andromeda. My father, the fifth ruler in the Pfthoskkkrkfhhdfkfk dinasty has been robbed. If you could lend me your intergalactic bank account so I can transfer my funds to Alpha Centauri... :)

  23. Re:The "Wow" Signal by Tenebrious1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    #100 - The "All your base are belong... oh shit!" signal.

    --
    -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
  24. Really hope they don't have an RIAA by Antity · · Score: 3, Funny

    Imagine some alien RIAA-like organization finds out about this SETI project that distributes their valuable inter-universal IP-protected radio signals to thousands of computers all over a damn whole planet!

    Hopefully there's just a flat yearly fee we're allowed to pay to the broadcasters...

    Their lawyers will go nuts if they ever find out.

    --
    42. Easy. What is 32 + 8 + 2?