When Will We Discover the Extraterrestrials?

Google TechTalk
April 24, 2007

Speaker: Dr. Seth Shostak
The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now into its fifth decade, and we still haven't uncovered a confirmed peep from any cosmic company. Could this mean that finding aliens, even if they exist, is a project for the ages -- one that might take centuries or longer?

New technologies for use in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) suggest that, despite the continued dearth of signals from other societies, there is good reason to expect that success might not be far off -- that we might find evidence of sophisticated civilizations within a few decades.

Why this is so, what contact would tell us, and what such a discovery would mean, are the subject of this talk on the continuing efforts to establish our place in the universe of thinking beings.

This Space Exploration series talk was hosted by Boris Debic.

Category:

Science & Technology

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[mjmunn1903]

i would suggest Seth uses humour to keep the presentations upbeat, to keep people listening, otherwise folk switch off, nothing wrong with that, it's a technique used by many good public speakers

[martinbondesson]

Tough crowd. Seth didn't get nearly as many laughs as he deserved. Sure, it wasn't stand-up, but still... He's a funny guy.

[jamesregmorris]

They would not leak that much, if there receivers where efficient they wouldn't have to send a strong Sig at all. Maybe they comunicate inter dimensionally, we would know where to start with that.

[Firdaush0]

If they are robotic society would they not "leak" signals all over the place. Going bleep bloop is what robots do best? That isn't to say that robotic societies will have the same chip sets as us. Hell it may even be an organic chip set who knows. But none the less would they not leak something?

[worldwiderelease]

ETs are here already and operate secretly. What their plans are with us and how life is like in our region of space is described here: google: CONTACT WITH INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE.

[Mr007eds]

well it dosent hurt to expand your wildest imagination like this guy anyway i have to conquere the universe so later :D

[Apjooz]

Haha, a monolith (10:30). I just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[ericdisney1]

@mjmunn1903 WHEN I NOTICE IT I DONT LIKE IT. BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN BE FUNNY

[Alexplus20]

@AlienshateU tbh is rather live in a NWO society then an Islamic Caliphate.

[TheOneRebornElyrize]

@taosimplicity or people simply stop moving.. but i guess they are too dependent for that :P im not planning on getting a drivers license tho..

[CorkSkeptics]

Nice to see Seti up and running again, note to presentor 46:50 Tesla invented the radio. (In 1943, the radio patent by a vote by the United States Congress was reversed and given to Nikola Tesla)