The WIRED Guide to Aliens

The Search Continues

The search for ET started in 1960, in a tiny Appalachian telescope-town. Today, that same observatory is a big part of a $100 million SETI program called Breakthrough Listen.

NASA’s New Top Astrobiologist Is Spelunking for Alien Life on Earth

To learn about the strange forms way-foreign biology might take, scientists turn to the extreme spots on Earth, and the extreme microbes that live in conditions not totally dissimilar from those on other planets.

Conclusion

The search for extraterrestrial life continues with new research programs, international collaboration, and a renewed interest in hunting down alien technosignatures. While most recent signals have been explained by mundane explanations, scientists remain hopeful that one day they will find something swimming in the community-pool-sized container of observations.

The Search for Alien Life

The search for alien life has been ongoing for around 60 years, with researchers trying to find evidence of smart aliens and their technology.

History of SETI

The modern SETI enterprise began with Project Ozma in Green Bank, West Virginia. Frank Drake pointed an 85-foot telescope at two sun-esque stars, tuning it to the kinds of transmissions that could come from technology and not from stars, gas, or galaxies. This effort kicked off the modern SETI enterprise.

A Brief History of SETI

The Drake Equation

The Drake Equation posits that if you know how often stars are born in the galaxy, what percentage have planets, what number of those planets are habitable, what fraction of habitable planets are inhabited, what fraction of inhabitants are intelligent, what fraction develop interstellar communication, and how long technologically intelligent civilizations survive, you could figure out how many extraterrestrial societies await your discovery.

Current Research

Scientists have continued their quest through programs like Project Phoenix, backed by Silicon Valley’s early tycoons. The SETI Institute has launched its TechnoSearch database to host queryable records of work past, present, and future. Astronomers continue to fill new containers with observations, hoping to find something swimming in a community-pool-sized container.

Modern SETI

The search for extraterrestrial life has been ongoing since 1960, with modern techno-search programs and collaborations between astronomers and other fields becoming more likely in the future. Recent signals such as ’Oumuamua, Tabby’s Star, and fast radio bursts have sparked public discussion, but most are explained by mundane explanations.

TechnoSearch Database

The SETI Institute has launched its TechnoSearch database to host queryable records of work past, present, and future. Astronomers continue to fill new containers with observations, hoping to find something swimming in a community-pool-sized container.

Breakthrough Listen

NASA’s Breakthrough Listen program is a $100 million SETI program that aims to search for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Astrobiologist’s Plan

One astrobiologist still holds out hope for the Red Planet, and scientists are searching for evidence of alien life on Mars and other planets.

Probability of Success

The search for alien life is statistically likely to be successful if smart extraterrestrials exist and are older than humans. Despite the low probability of success, the consequences of finding alien life would be significant, transforming our conception of life, the universe, and everything.

NASA Workshop

NASA has hosted a workshop to determine how best to search for alien technology, and scientists have started new projects and trained more researchers.

The search for alien life continues, with researchers trying to find evidence of smart aliens and their technology. Despite the challenges and uncertainties, the possibility of finding alien life remains an exciting and intriguing one.

Recent Signals

Recent signals such as ’Oumuamua, Tabby’s Star, and fast radio bursts have sparked public discussion, but most are explained by mundane explanations. Scientists consider out-there possibilities for making contact, including finding physical artifacts or engineered planets.

International Collaboration

The US government has also expressed interest in hunting down alien “technosignatures”—the signals that might come from extraterrestrial technology. NASA held a workshop to investigate where SETI stands, what research paths seem most potentially fruitful, and what outside partnerships might be helpful.

Future Directions

Scientists noted which kinds of technosignatures deserve focus, laying out the options on one of those hot-or-not-type charts you often seen at the backs of magazines. The quest for optimal technosignatures could be found with near-term, not-too-costly technology, and they should be signals that aren’t too ephemeral, and that don’t require aliens to decide to talk at us.