Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

SETI@Home 2nd Look at Possible Hits

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the wouldn't-that-be-spiffy dept.

cpk0 writes "This article from MSNBC discusses how data returned from SETI@Home users is beign retested by the Institue for a possibility of alien radio signals being included. At just over 4 years old, I think this would be the first big break for SETI@home." This is a followup to a December Slashdot story. Apparently this is getting some major attention in the mainstream media lately.

7 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Issue by k3v0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    i believe that the powers running SETI@home send out redundant data and compare, so as to reflect a more accurate statistic

  2. Re:What a waste by adpowers · · Score: 2, Informative

    Idle cycles that could go to other better projects.

  3. Space.com article by lucretio · · Score: 2, Informative

    There is also an article here.

  4. Re:Hack by sethaw · · Score: 4, Informative

    Thats why they send every packet to multiple people to verify the results. Conflicting results should appear and the scientists can execute tests on that data. However, even if there are positive results this doesn't mean anything is found. This is why we have to go back and look for signals where they were found in the past, because there is justified skepticism in any result that says "we found aliens."

  5. Re:could be just what we need... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Yeah, the 80s series had a few of nice 5 minute ones like that.

    "A Small Talent for War"
    http://www.thetzsite.com/pages/tz1985/index. html

    I also liked "I of Newton"

  6. Re:What a waste by LMCBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    You are correct, time on large radio telescopes is a precious resource. The decision of who gets to use a telescope is almost always left to a panel of experts called a Time Allocation Committee (TAC). Astronomers write proposals to use the telescope, and the TAC weighs them by scientific merit, awarding time to the best of the proposed projects.

    So, apparently the TAC at Arecibo also thinks that a few nights for SETI are resources well spent.

    --
    Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
  7. Re:Or even better.. by oni · · Score: 2, Informative

    But to say that everybody's going to die anyway, so why bother is the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

    Fortunately, you did not hear it in the comment you replied to. He didn't say "so why bother" and he didn't imply that medicine was worthless - just that in the larger scheme of things it's futile.

    His comment was more about the relative importance of healing one individual human vs. contacting an alien race.