New and Improved SETI

nomrniceguy writes "The new year is sure to be memorable for SETI, as glossy new instruments come on-line. At Harvard University, a survey telescope designed to sweep massive swaths of the sky in a hunt for extraterrestrial laser flashes is becoming a reality. In Puerto Rico, the famed Arecibo telescope is getting a new feed that will speed up searches by seven times. And in California, the SETI Institute and Berkeley's Radio Astronomy Lab will soon be scanning the star-clotted realms of the inner Milky Way with the first-stage implementation of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) and will eventually boast 350 antennas, each 20 feet in diameter. This impressive antenna farm will be spread over about a half square-mile of terrain."

Comments

And yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

And yet the giant orange somethings in the sky won't register as a single bleep on these new shiny instruments...

350 Antennas

[Tackhead]

> "... 350 antennas, each 20 feet in diameter. This impressive antenna farm will be spread over about a half square-mile of terrain."

~fitzprrklpop~ople of Earth, can you hear us now?~fwopzzwwep~

Re:350 Antennas

[Anonymous Coward]

What?! They do in all the films! Are you telling me I can't trust Hollywood as good source for all my information? Now that's just silly

'Extraterrestrial laser flashes'?

[Anonymous Coward]

So do they expect to be able to see space battles between Klingons and Romulans or something?

Re:'Extraterrestrial laser flashes'?

[Linker3000]

Vader (increasing death grip on pilots neck from a distance of several metres): SO! master pilot, tell me why the new Death Star - the pride of the Empire - was damaged by a collision with a small moon while establishing a parking orbit at Omega-4?

Pilot: Sir (cough, splutter), it's not my fault - we were completing our orbital parking procedure as per instructions when this a**hole from Sol-3 shone this frickin' blinding laser beam into the cockpit and we missed the last orbital beacon.

Re:How'd they get the funding?

[gardyloo]

This is the traditional reason to take on graduate students. They (usually) have two eyes, you know.

Re:How'd they get the funding?

[Anonymous Coward]

Regarding the funding for Seti and some other things that may encourage your discussion, the following jpg pages from the early '80s may help:

http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ct44.html

http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ct45.html

http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/ct46.html

Source: http://www.flyingsnail.com/missingbbs/index.html

They describe the early days of "CETI", which was being directed towards a giant array of dishes pointed at space.

The main argument against this was... what it one attracted Darth Vader.

The laser project is similar to the searching of light that was inititiated by Nick Marshall's Project Starquest (the group before Kent Cullers' Project Seti).

I personally have enough problems with Redmond Borg... and really don't want to see the 'real thing' attracted by a search for E.T.

Classical "there is more pressing problems"

[ArcticCelt]

Research for health is IMHO a priority for what we can do at the moment on earth.

Long time ago in some cave...

Ogtor! I told you to stop wasting your time with that wheel invention thingy and don't even think to start working on that metal melting process waste of time. There is much more important stuff to do like hunting animals with rocks and sleeping to regenerate.

Alien lasers

[Batte]

"At Harvard University, a survey telescope designed to sweep massive swaths of the sky in a hunt for extraterrestrial laser flashes is becoming a reality."

a.k.a. the "Alan Parson's Project".

New and improved

[Tablizer]

Now we can detect new and improved aliens, not those scrappy ones who crash saucers in New Mexico, poke people in the ass for kicks, and gobble up Beagle Mars probes.

Friends in Space

[lildogie]

Our planetary network ports are open. Send us your packets!

Re:folding@home seti@home

[SB5]

I already use a program that uses all of my extra computer cycles/time. Its called WindowsXP you might have heard of it. Its a resource hog.

Um.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello,
I regret to inform you that as the representative of the Official Geek Organization (OGO), I must revoke your Official Geek Badge. Your failure to recognize the obvious reference to DNA's H2G2 series is a serious breach of our Geek Code, and cannot be taken lightly.

Given your rather interesting post, future reinstatement of said badge is likely... but you're gonna need to read the books first.

Sincerely,
Anonymous Coward
Official Geek Organization /. Rep.

Frickin' laser

[cno3]

Hopefully they can uncover why the aliens are shooting lasers at our pilots.

I suspect it's something along the lines of "Clear the air space! We've got to get us some red staters to anally probe."

Re:Could we be the first?

[tryone]

Seriously, could we be the first advanced civilization?

Sure, in a few thousand years...

Re:How'd they get the funding?

[some guy I know]

This is the traditional reason to take on graduate students [as LASER detection devices]. They (usually) have two eyes, you know.

... until one of them detects a LASER.
"Do not look at LASER with remaining eye."

uhmmm....

[scheuri]

...well, then lets hope we wont get DDoSed (or slashdotted) by any interplanetary scriptkiddies or get hacked and used for a DDOS against, uhhmm..Alpha Centauri...

scnr
scheuri

Re:How'd they get the funding?

[jridley]

Yes, I think telemarketers should go to Mars. Here's a buck.