...and are shy.
"SAN FRANCISCO – In the mountains of Northern California, a field of radio dishes that look like giant dinner plates waited for years for the first call from intelligent life among the stars.
But they're not listening anymore.
Cash-strapped governments, it seems, can no longer pay the interstellar phone bill.
"Astronomers at the SETI Institute said a steep drop in state and federal funds has forced the shutdown of the Allen Telescope Array, a powerful tool in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an effort scientists refer to as SETI.
"There's plenty of cosmic real estate that looks promising," Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the institute, said Tuesday. "We've lost the instrument that's best for zeroing in on these better targets."
"The shutdown came just as researchers were preparing to point the radio dishes at a batch of new planets.
About 50 or 60 of those planets appear to be about the right distance from stars to have temperatures that could make them habitable, Shostak said."
That is a real shame.. but not surprising that something like that would get it's budget cut in this economy
That sucks. I remember when you used to be able to have your home computer process SETI files during the night, which was awesome.
No Shuttle, no SETI. In the words of Professor Farnsworth, "I don't want to live on this planet anymore".
T.J.
SuperDork
4/27/11 1:51 p.m.
Alien? No, he finally showed his birth cert today. 
Of course they do. They're called Chinamen. Also, wasn't that the plot for 'Contact?'
bludroptop wrote:
...and are shy.
"SAN FRANCISCO – In the mountains of Northern California, a field of radio dishes that look like giant dinner plates waited for years for the first call from intelligent life among the stars.
But they're not listening anymore.
Cash-strapped governments, it seems, can no longer pay the interstellar phone bill.
"Astronomers at the SETI Institute said a steep drop in state and federal funds has forced the shutdown of the Allen Telescope Array, a powerful tool in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an effort scientists refer to as SETI.
"There's plenty of cosmic real estate that looks promising," Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the institute, said Tuesday. "We've lost the instrument that's best for zeroing in on these better targets."
"The shutdown came just as researchers were preparing to point the radio dishes at a batch of new planets.
About 50 or 60 of those planets appear to be about the right distance from stars to have temperatures that could make them habitable, Shostak said."
I’m a huge fan of Seth Shostak’s.
I went to Puerto Rico on unrelated business a few years ago and he actually took the time to arrange a VIP tour of the Arecibo Radio Telescope for me.
Seth hosts a webcast called “Are We Alone” which is very well done and attracts a wide range of leading scientific speakers…I highly recommend it.
Are We Alone
The search for intelligent life among the stars? Have we found it here yet?
A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you're thinking about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.
I'll give you another instance: You know the way everybody's into weirdness right now? Books in all the supermarkets about Bermuda Triangle, UFOs, how the Mayans invented TV, that kind of thing? For me it's exactly the same. There's no difference between a flying saucer and a time machine. People get so hung up on specifics, they can't see the whole thing.
Take South America, for example: There, thousands of people go missing each year. Nobody knows where they go. They just disappear. But if you think about it, you realize something: There had to be a time when
there was no people, right? Well, where did all these people come from? I'll tell you where: the future. Where did all these people disappear to? The past? - That's right! And how did they get there? Flying saucers. Which are really... yeah you got it... time machines.
Ow! Ow! Ow! Kill the pow... It kills! My pack! Ow! Turn it off! Turn it off, Kip!
It's a piece of crap it doesn't work!
Uncle Rico: Well, I could've told you that.
