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Microsoft's Paul Allen Funds ET Search
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."
Microsoft is looking to hire!
"Give away the stone, let the oceans take and transmutate this cold and faded anchor." - Maynard James Keenan
He mentions $US and $? What is the anonymous $ value?
The radio telescopes will measure the density of the early universe, the formation of stars and magnetic fields.
They will also be capable of searching for "possible signals from technologically advanced civilisations elsewhere in the galaxy," according to a SETI statement.
The announcement of Allen's donation coincided with the completion of the project's research and development phases, which Allen funded with an $US11.5 million ($15.33 million) donation.
The $US13.5 million donation will pay for the first two phases of construction of the ATA, according to the statement.
One network of 32 telescopes will be available for research by the end of 2004 and the entire network of 350 telescopes will be completed "late in the decade," it said.
SETI and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory of the University of California at Berkley teamed up for the ATA project.
"I am very excited to be supporting one of the world's most visionary efforts to seek basic answers to some of the fundamental question about our universe and what other civilisations may exist elsewhere," Allen said in a ceremony in Mountain View, California, where SETI is based.
Darl McBride's cranium first. Lots of space there.
"And now, Frank N. Furter, your time has come. Say 'goodbye' to all of this, and 'hello'... to oblivion!"
What software will be used to interpret any readings gathered by these telescopes? I mean using a trojan infected XP box could lead to an intergalactic incident if these telescopes wind up port flooding the aliens' array.
This is obviously part of a grand scheme to transmit free copies of Microsoft Office to nearby star systems.
thank you, i'll be here all night
will he get the blue busy signal of death?
A little interesting... What does SETI.org run?
Setec Astronomy
" ...many schools are still overcrowded, don't have money to make crucial repairs, and our jobs are still being outsourced leaving many people struggling. But darn it, let's find those aliens!" ...and spend the rest of the money for the war against terror.
Seems like a lot of an ATA array. I can get 'em off newegg for $100!
Of course -- Microsoft _needs_ to find new customers. We both know that...
The negative thoughts that many /.ers have for Microsoft in general and their top men in specific, Both Gates and Allen have long been active philanthropists. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation benefits "global health and learning" (directed by Bill Gates' father).
As mentioned in the story, Paul Allen has been a SETI supportor and funded the ATA.
I like to think that if I commanded that sort of wealth I would be as generous (as long as I'm dreaming, I'd be *more* generous).
Damn straight. And while we're at it, shut down that stupid Carnegie Endowment for the Arts -- how dare those arrogant rich blowhards pay someone to sit around doodling when there are hungry kids on the street? I mean, who cares if it's their money; what right do they have to say what it's spent on when there are obviously higher priorities out there?
I wish I could recall the reference, but you'd like to pour all of that money into the poor, the downtrodden, the unlucky? Spend it as fast as it's made?
:(
Where do you think that money will end up? Is he handing them dollar bills that are then burned to generate power to scan the sky? Nope, it's paid.
My neighbor is a teacher at an inner city school. The kids talk about getting old enough to stay home so they 'can get their check' from the government. That's their sole purpose in life- to get a government welfare check.
We've already got enough broken goods in this world. Lets search for solutions and reach for problems that might just lift us and build a new foundation, and just not try to shore up an already crumbled one.
Contrary to StarTrek, you will not feed, clothe, and educate every single person in the world. No matter how much I, and you, wish it might be possible
There are ways to kill a person, but killing the dreams and hopes are the most cruel.
if you want to fund life search, you have to GO THERE
I was reading a NASA report on the prospects for interstellar travel. Basically, you would have to create a self-contained biosphere that would function for hundreds or even thousands of years; construct an enclosure that would last that long under erosion from particles with relative velocities that are a significant fraction of the speed of light; find a power source that would last that long and provide propulsion to accellerate such an enormous vehicle to a significant fraction of light speed; find a way to accurately navigate interstellar space, when our knowledge of stellar positions is imperfect; and find volunteers who would not only have no chance of returning to Earth, but who would have children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who would never live anywhere except the spacecraft, in total dedication to the mission. Even assuming the technical hurdles could be overcome (which the report said are beyond existing or forseeable technology), the report noted that this last point would require extreme devotion that challenges the most stringent religions on Earth.
To solve the human factor, I think it's inevitable that interstellar astronauts will have to be genetically altered humans, possibly with qualities such as extremely long lifespan, low food requirements, devoted obedience, and hibernation.
Sending a probe to another star system is probably also beyond existing technology, but would probably be possible within the next century or so. The device would have to weigh at most a few pounds (by comparison, the Cassini probe weighs about a ton), again withstand interstellar pounding, and yet have enough energy to communicate its findings back to Earth (not at all trivial -- remember the inverse square law; with existing technology, Voyager's data rates at Pluto's distance are a few hundred bits per second).
So until about the year 2100, listening is about all we got.
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
This is living proof that no matter how popular, powerful or rich a computer geek becomes, he never leaves his roots. The difference is instead of running SETI@home like the rest of the masses, instead he's funding such projects because he can -- plus it would be nice to have your name attached to an array of radio telescopes. Maybe he has to pay for each letter of his last name -- the latest being 13.5 mil to get the 'N' -- good thing he doesn't have a Russian last name.
They were looking for someone who liked them. It's getting pretty hostile for them here on Earth. Either that or a new customer base. Everyone knows Aliens run Apple. That's why their networks run Appletalk and are succeptable to virusses written on Apple computers. Maybe Microsoft's looking to push into that market.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Well it is his money. If he feels like donating some to help fund SETI, so be it. If he feels like donating it to the educational system, so be it. If he feels like throwing it on his bed and rolling around naked on it , then so be it.
First of all, "sending a signal to different galaxies" won't work. Among other things, it would take several hundred thousand years for a signal to reach even the closest galaxies to us (the Magellanic Clouds, IIRC). If the signal even got there in the first place, which it probably wouldn't because it would weaken and degrade before it got even a fraction of the distance.
On the more far out and paranoid side, it would probably not be a good idea for us to be advertising our existence. What if the first civilization we found was far more technologically advanced that we are -- and also highly aggressive and hostile? It would be a better idea for us, if we find any other alien civilizations, to study them quietly for a while to see whether we even want them to know about us.
Paul Allen gives to education, medical research, arts and music, etc.
in this age of communication i'm just not getting through
... since he's related to Microsoft, this contribution has to be wrong or evil for some reason.
Come on, get those conspiracy theories going already!
Well, if I could venture a guess, given the fact that story is on a *.au domain, that the figure in parentheses is in Australian dollars.
I hate sigs.
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".
Like with Starbucks and Mc Donalds, hasn't Microsoft reached saturation? Gotta sell those licenses somehow. And once they have our computers, further scientific study is EASY. We can just use spyware. :>
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
Microsoft wants to find someone/thing that has NOT heard of Linux.
I had no idea Microsoft owned Paul Allen. I had the idea that Paul Allen holds (or once held) partal ownership in Microsoft.
How about Tech TVs Paul Allen?
That IS a bit more recent and Tech TV has quite an anti-Microsoft bent to boot. Watch the Screen Savers. Leo Laport who's been with Tech TV from the days when it was ZDTV is a Mac Zellot and the Dark Tipper is a Linux supporter.
It seams anyone on Tech TV who is vocal about Microsoft will bash them every chance they get.
Some times Tech TV can be as bad as Slashdot.
And who is behind all this antiMicrosoft bashing? Paul Allen.
In short: Mr Allen dose not have Microsofts best intrests at heart.
And I'm quite happy about that.
I don't actually exist.
it would make more sense to me to make a signal that would shoot out faster than radio and television signals
If you find a way to make a communications device that transmits faster than light, I will personally hand-deliver the Nobel Prize to you, along with twenty prostitutes of the gender of your choice. Oh, and a plaque. Can't be an award without a plaque.
... how many people currently bashing the donation would say the same thing if "Linus" gave it instead.
:)
Paul is also the sponsor of Space Ship One.
If it helps the Microsoft bashing crowd, think of it as a 'tax' on those that don't know Linux is a better solution....
Why do we always just listen and never send? It seems we're afraid of actually making contact. What if the aliens are also being prudent and just listening? We could be listening to each other's silence for millenia.
An alien civilization could be less than 20 light years away. At that distance, you could start a conversation. Sure, it would take decades for every answer, but you wouldn't have to wait for the answer to ask more questions. It would be the most historical event of the millenium, to learn that we aren't alone.
I don't really understand the whole "prudence" argument either. If a civilization doesn't have interstellar travel, they pose no threat. If they DO have interstellar travel and are close enough to receive our signals, it would seem extremely likely they've already visited our solar system, studied its natives, and decided making contact wasn't worth it. Either way, it seems unlikely an alien civilization would show up "independance day"-style to destroy us.
So why aren't we transmitting?
While I usually ignore postings that have more ad hominem attacks in them than substance, this one triggers a couple of questions I'd like to have answered by someone who obviously thinks that we haven't spent enough money on this declared war:
- With the Billions of Dollars spent since 2001, has the world become a safer place?
- How would you value the loss of privacy and restrictions in personal life as compared to the achieved level of felling a lot more secure?
- How much money would you want to spend on the war and when would you declare it over?
- Who actually benefits from the spending spree on this war? Are YOU safer?
Call me a heretic, but spending these Billions of Dollars on education, healthcare, enhancement of international relations sounds like something that children might actually benefir a lot more from, as opposed to having them trained that every unknown person they encounter is a potential terrorists.
I know your mileage varies, but I fail to see any relation between the war on terror and children dying in the streets. Last time I checked it was the war itself that left children dying in the streets.
And I haven't even talked about the hen/egg problem...
I am not too excited about this for two reasons. Firstly, its seen as a good philantropic action, which the other MS founder Gates is famous for.
What are you, a frigging idiot? You're not excited about this because it is seen as a good philanthropic action? What do you get excited about then? Actions that are seen as pure evil.
He donates the most cash in the world to the poor. Except its not cash, a lot of it is in the form of software, CDs of Office and XP for the poor that cost nothing to make, and have a huge tax back cost for Microsoft. And its a nice way to get the poor locked into windows and not free OS like Linux.
You are confusing Microsoft's charitable contributions with Bill Gates' charitable contributions. They are two separate entities. Actually, there's a third entity: The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation - funded almost entirely by Bill and Melinda Gates. Bill Gates gives cash & stock to the B&M foundation, which in turn funds various charitable activities around the world. You've read one story about Microsoft donating software somewhere and have the whole thing confused up in your muddled head. Maybe you should educate yourself about the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation and exactly what it has donated before you spout about it because otherwise you sound like an idiot. Microsoft does not get a tax benefit from Bill Gates or the B&M foundations donations. BG or the B&M foundation don't get software for free.
Secondly, This much money can buy a lot of equipment to help find life on other planets. Meanwhile on Earth we still have millions of preventable deaths every year. And by preventable I mean deaths of children or the very poor from malnourishment or lack of clean water supplies. If this much money was given to the poor in developing countries, it could save insane amounts of lives. To give so much cash to look for aliens that might not even exist, While members of our own species die in vast numbers for want of clean water, is disgusting. (sorry if that is a bit "High Horse"-like, but its SO MUCH MONEY!
Let me guess, if you had your way, we would stop all research that wasn't going to immediately benefit humanity in some foreseeable way. The only problem would be that it would have to be foreseeable by a short-sighted fool like you. The whole point of research is to investigate avenues that have the potential to provide a multi-fold benefit to humanity in the future - although some of those might not pan out.
Mmmm.. Donuts
This is the same reasoning that I use when I run the Folding@Home distributed project versus SETI.
Nope. Bill Gates donates cash. Not 'software, CDs of Office and XP.'
There's nothing wrong, I suppose, with having an anti-Microsoft sentiment overall. I'm personally in the process right now of moving all my home and home-business operations off Microsoft**. I'm not that fond of Microsoft. But even I know that the Gates Foundation giving is seperate from Microsoft and that it's cold cash they're distributing.
(** why the hell does OpenOffice pop up that damned 'Register Now' dialogue EVERY TIME I open it, even though I've registered it? And why is it such a fucking resource pig, even on this Pentium III 500 machine with 768 megs of RAM? I can run the important bits of Office 2000 reasonably well on my 486DX-2 75MHz laptop. Well, xfig and LyX do most of what I need anyway.)
---
we could tax 70% or more of Allen's money, which would yield billions. THen we could not only fund interesting science like searching for aliens, but we could also fund science research to cure cancer and heart disease and old age. And wouldn't THAT be nice.
Pull your heads out of your asses, fellow Americans: social democracy and progressive taxation is the way to go, not corporate capitalism and flat rate taxation.....
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Godd idea. Then lazy fucks such as yourself can sit on your collective asses while people like Paul Allen pay your way with their hard work while not being properly compensated fot it. Read "Atlas Shrugged", you ignoramus.
a big tax write off for allen.. of course, not everyone in the evil empire is necessarily evil....
but still... might be two things, he might be interested in that stuff, and it will give him a nice tax write off.
Though if I were as rich as these guys, I'd be donating money out whenever I could, regardless of tax, like Carnegie did, he donated a lot of money, and when he died.. he had his entire fortune donated and spread around.