| 5th of October 2016 |
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| ATNF Colloquium |
| The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence |
| by Ron Ekers (CASS) |
| Abstract. With the discovery of many planets outside our solar system there is renewed interest in the search for life on other planetary systems. In its most extreme form this becomes the search for intelligent life outside earth. I will review a little of the history and sociology of this rather curious area of scientific research. This will include a summary of a series of workshops in Silicon Valley which lead to the SETI2020 roadmap for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and a status report on the new initiatives being funded by the Breakthrough Foundation. These include the Breakthrough Listen initiative to search for signals at optical and radio wavelengths, as well as the Starshot project to develop the technologies needed for a journey to the Alpha Centauri system. In this talk I will emphasise the radio techniques with which I have most familiarity. Image: for more information see here |