Crypto-currency Craze 'Hinders Search For Alien Life' (bbc.com)

Scientists listening out for broadcasts by extra-terrestrials are struggling to get the computer hardware they need, thanks to the crypto-currency mining craze, a radio-astronomer has said. From a report: Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers want to expand operations at two observatories. However, they have found that key computer chips are in short supply. "We'd like to use the latest GPUs [graphics processing units]... and we can't get 'em," said Dan Werthimer. Demand for GPUs has soared recently thanks to crypto-currency mining. "That's limiting our search for extra-terrestrials, to try to answer the question, 'Are we alone? Is there anybody out there?'," Dr Werthimer told the BBC. "This is a new problem, it's only happened on orders we've been trying to make in the last couple of months."

Comments

Protecting alien's privacy

[WoodstockJeff]

Aliens have a right to not be monitored, too.

Re:Protecting alien's privacy

[The Grim Reefer]

I don't think they would be that interested in our level of "intelligence," unfortunately.

Sure they would. We'll make great Pets

Re:Protecting alien's privacy

[Excelcia]

They are not looking for modulating of a star. No one is thinking an alien race is going to be modulating a star. Stars don't emit on the hydrogen line. Lord.

When looking for a frequency to search for transmissions on, you can't use nice round numbers and expect that those nice round numbers for us are going to be nice round numbers for them too. 1.000000GHz for us won't be 1.000000GWhatevers for them because every race will have a different measurement for time. So they look for frequencies that are built into the fabric of the universe and use those as the base reference, with the belief that if that idea makes sense for us it would make sense for others too. Hydrogen is the most basic element, the most abundant element in space, and the precession frequency of neutral hydrogen atoms (1.42ishGHz) is a radio frequency that propagates reasonably well. The hope is if that idea makes sense to us, it will make sense to an alien race who might be looking for a frequency to send on that others will think to listen to. Hydrogen line times pi is another one.

Re:Protecting alien's privacy

[Wycliffe]

Hydrogen is the most basic element, the most abundant element in space, and the precession frequency of neutral hydrogen atoms (1.42ishGHz) is a radio frequency that propagates reasonably well. The hope is if that idea makes sense to us, it will make sense to an alien race who might be looking for a frequency to send on that others will think to listen to. Hydrogen line times pi is another one.

But we aren't actually sending out that frequency either. What if everyone is listening and no one is transmitting?

Worthless

[Anonymous Coward]

It's disgusting that all that important computing power goes to something so utterly pointless. They should stop this nonsense and just let the cryptocurrency miners have the GPUs.

Re:This is too easy

[arth1]

This is not SETI@Home, but SETI proper, where they need graphics cards to quickly analyze data, not wait for weeks or months. SETI@Home is high bandwidth, but terrible latency.

Proof of space

[Idou]

More reason to switch to Proof of space. Then SETI will be able to buy a bunch of used GPUs on the cheap. . .

Re:Or they could wait and mine stored data later

[Wycliffe]

THere's no rush to mine seti data. it doesn't matter if we detect alien signals now or in 20 years. so just store it and then mine it all in a single day with quantum processors in 20 years.

Or just wait for the cryptocurrency market to either collapse, get more efficient, or move over to ASIC and all those cheap no longer needed GPUs flood the market.

Other computing projects too.

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how much Folding@Home is affected and other more useful computer projects.

Conspiracy! :P

[Koreantoast]

How do we know SETI doesn't want the GPUs to mine cryptocurrency themselves to fund their program? :P

Re:The solution to fermi paradox

[Tenebrousedge]

We all need to listen to Frank Drake (founder of SETI) on this one. We are not ever going to detect any alien communications (unless they are specifically targeted at us with that intent). We have a hard enough time talking to Mars: that whole 'Sun' thing makes for a terrible SNR. Not only that, but broadcasting high-energy analog signals is extremely wasteful. Humanity had about a 50-year period where we did this. Now, as you say, we use waveguides. We also don't send anything in analog form any more. Digital data that you don't know how to decode tends to look an awful lot like noise, even without being encrypted or compressed.

What SETI is doing is completely pointless, even compared to cryptocurrency mining.