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Microsoft's Paul Allen Funds ET Search

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the if-you-got-it-use-it dept.

Chris Gondek writes "Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, one of the richest men on Earth, today pledged to donate $US13.5 million ($17.99 million) for research into extra-terrestrial life. With the contribution, Allen will have given $US25 million ($33.32 million) for construction of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a network of 350 radio telescopes being built to find signs of life in space, said Thomas Pierson, director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute."

2 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Just... by Bishop,+Martin · · Score: 5, Informative

    A little interesting... What does SETI.org run?

    --
    Setec Astronomy
  2. Should not say "Microsoft's Paul Allen" by angle_slam · · Score: 5, Informative
    For those who don't know, Paul Allen co-founded MSFT with Bill Gates back in 1975. He left the company in 1983 due to health reasons (Hodgkins Disease), though he kept much of his stock holdings and a seat on the Board of Directors. He later became a "Senior Strategy Advisor" to MSFT after he left the Board, though it is not clear that he still has that position with MSFT.

    While Paul Allen was an integral part of the formation of MSFT, he has had little say in the Windows era of the company and I don't think it is correct to say "Microsoft's Paul Allen".