Slashdot Mirror
Allen Telescope Array In Action
DIY News writes "36 of an eventual herd of 350 dishes are now operational in a remote area 250 miles northeast of San Francisco. These antennas, 20 feet in diameter and the height of a football goal post, are the first installment of the Allen Telescope Array, and they are ideal for short SETI projects while the array is being built." From the articel: "The young ATA's first foray into SETI will be known by the straightforward (if not overly galvanic) name of Inner Galactic Plane Survey. The word 'survey' may surprise many who are familiar with this telescope's design. After all, it's being finely tuned to speedily examine large numbers of star systems in a so-called "targeted search". The completed array will be exceptionally nimble at such individual scrutiny, and will leave previous targeted searches in the data dust."
Got my hopes up, i thought i had read "Alien Telescope Array In Action." Drunk and bored, *sigh*
In the patchwork of dry, cow-fouled ranch lands 250 miles northeast of San Francisco, an unusual crop [antennae] is poking above the dusty shrubbery.
Unusual crops and alien life (SETI responders) would not stand out near SF.
Table-ized A.I.
Uhhh...no! The would not be a waste of time. The culture shock this would have all around the world would shatter our very perspective of the universe around us.
While we wont be able to communicate back with them in real-time, it would spawn a whole new field of science dedicated to the decoding of the transmission and any potential science discoveries to be learned from the original aliens that transmitted their discoveries. It could potentially be a passive version of a "galactic alien library" beamed out to space! Second, it would spur the desires for the younger generation to dive into math, science, and engineering in hopes to one day discover meathods for FTL travel. While the idea is far-fetched, at least there is now a definitive goal to strive for.
Life is not for the lazy.