SETI Institute suspends search for aliens

Mercury News ^ | 4/25/11 | Lisa M. Krieger

[NormsRevenge]

If E.T. phones earth, he'll get a "disconnect" signal.

Lacking the money to pay its operating expenses, Mountain View's SETI Institute has pulled the plug on the renowned Allen Telescope Array, a field of radio dishes — popularized in the Jodie Foster film "Contact" — that scans the skies for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.

In an April 22 letter to donors, SETI Institute CEO Tom Pierson explained that last week the array was put into "hibernation," safe but non-functioning, due to inadequate government support.

The timing couldn't be worse, say SETI scientists. After millenniums of musings, this spring astronomers announced that 1,235 new possible planets had been observed by Kepler, a telescope on a space satellite. They predict that dozens of these planets will be Earth-sized — and some will be in the "habitable zone," where the temperatures are just right for liquid water, a prerequisite of life as we know it.

"There is a huge irony," said SETI director Jill Tartar, "that a time when we discover so many planets to look at, we don't have the operating funds to listen."

SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak compared the project's suspension to "the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria being put into dry dock"...This is about exploration, and we want to keep the thing operational. It's no good to have it sit idle."

It is the mission of the SETI Institute to explore the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. This is a profound search, it believes, because it explains our place among the stars.

[Nowhere Man]

We need to find a way to find private fund for this.

[Persevero]

Well, I sure don’t want taxpayer dollars funding it.

[Lurker]

We need to find a way to find private fund for this.

I suggest a bake sale.

[Cicero]

Obama looked at it and said, “No votes there!”

[wastedyears]

There’s one in the White House.

[max americana]

let them try the Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate and sci-fi geek forums..

[gitmo]

This is a profound search, it believes, because it explains our place among the stars.

So far, all it's explained is that we are alone. Very alone. In a very big place.

[Ron C.]

Hey - they don’t need any array to find aliens - they’re lots of them right here in California... what they need to find is a fast way to send them back to where they came from!

[stboz]

"There ain't nobody here, Lieutenant." "Now, why don't he write?"

"Dances with Wolves"

[PGR88]

due to inadequate government support.

Wow - we actually found something the Gov't does NOT spend money on....

[Cringing Negativism Network]

They could look for that birth certificate...

[JoeProBono]

[AnotherUnixGeek]

the array was put into "hibernation," safe but non-functioning, due to inadequate government support.

Convince Congress that aliens might be interested in purchasing US debt, should take care of funding for decades.

In the meantime, interested private citizens should step up to cover the operating costs. The amount spent on endeavors like this is relatively trivial, but a search for extra-terrestrial life is an obvious target to eliminate when things are this bad.

[21twelve]

“I suggest a bake sale.”

I have cookbook I found at a garage sale. “How to Serve Man”.
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And is there anybody else creeped out about why they aren’t SEARCHING for the aliens anymore!?

[garjog]

Don't we have some stimulus money left around somewhere?

[Loyal Sedition]

If you accept Einstein’s theories we have been wasting money on this all along.

Even if we hear some one, we probably could not answer, and they would not be likely to visit with the time involved for the trip.

Which might be the only thing to save us.

[null and void]

Graphic didn’t post...

[Atlas Sneezed]

We could tax science fiction movies.

Or Clearasil.

[null and void]

And is there anybody else creeped out about why they aren’t SEARCHING for the aliens anymore!?

We know they exist now.

Disclosure