Category Archives: SETI

Exoplanets, SETI

Seth Shostak interview + Video discussion of exoplanet Kepler 186f

Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute is interviewed: FutureDude Visits Seth Shostak at the SETI Institute, Part 2 – FutureDude™.

But, how does it affect the world if we did find something? I think that depends. I mean, if you can actually find a message in that signal, and you can understand it, maybe you’re in touch with an intelligence beyond ours. So, then perhaps you could learn some really important stuff, man! Maybe we could get to those futures we never seem to get to. But, I don’t know if that would happen.

What I do think would happen for sure is that it would change the way we look at things—in the same way Copernicus changed the way people looked at things. Copernicus, 400 years ago says, “You know, Earth’s not the center of the cosmos.” He said the Sun was and he wasn’t right about that. But at least he moved the center away from the Earth.

But people still went to work, still got married, or worried about their incomes, doing their taxes, or whatever. But on the other hand, things really were changed. Philosophically they were different. I think if we discovered a signal, it would have a big impact.

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Here is a SETI Institute video of a panel discussion led by Jill Tartar with Elisa Quintana, Tom Barclay, and Jason Rowe, who were among the authors of the paper on the discovery of the  first earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone of its star. (Quintana is the lead author.) See post here and also Paper Announcing Kepler186f Available for Download 0 SETI Institute

SETI, Space Arts

Video: SETI artists in residence event

The SETI Institute had a recent event in which their two artists in residence discuss their work:  Greater than the Sum. A SETI Artist In Residence Special Event – YouTube

The third installment of the SETI Artist in Residence Program speakers series will feature two authors: Edward Frenkel, professor of mathematics at U.C. Berkeley, and Marc Weidenbaum, whose new book, for the 33 1/3 series, is about the Aphex Twin album Selected Ambient Works Volume II. Frenkel will talk about his recent book, Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality (Basic Books), which the New York Times, among others, has praised for its passionate depiction of why “math deserves to be an integral part of our culture.”

Weidenbaum will describe his development of a globe-spanning network of hundreds of musicians and sound artists who have participated in the Disquiet Junto, his weekly series of compositional prompts that explore restraint as a creative springboard. Frenkel and Weidenbaum will pose questions to each other at the end, and the evening will be moderated by SETI’s first artist-in-residence, Charles Lindsay.

Greater than the Sum. A SETI Artist In Residence Special Event – YouTube

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History, SETI

Video: Interview with SETI pioneer Frank Drake

Today the SETI Institute posted this interview of Frank Drake conducted during the June 2012 SETIcon by astronomy educator Andrew Fraknoi.

 The discussion ranged widely over Dr. Drake’s career and current thinking, and included reminiscences of Project OZMA, the very first experiment searching for signals from civilizations among the stars, and his current view of the Drake Equation (estimating the chances of intelligent life out there). He also reflects on a number of modern developments, including the discovery of numerous planets orbiting other stars and new ways of searching for extra-terrestrial civilizations.

Also from the caption:

Special Note: The audience at this special event received a reprint of Frank Drake’s personal history of the Drake Equation, published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in a series edited by Andrew Fraknoi. Because of its historical importance, this article is now available freely on the web at: http://www.astrosociety.org/wp-conten…

Astronomy, Exoplanets, SETI

Video: A galaxy full of planets – discussing the Kepler conference results

SETI Institute scientists  Jason Rowe, Doug Caldwell and Kepler mission scientist Natalie Batalha discuss the latest Kepler exoplanet findings and the plans for the future in this Google+ Hangout  moderated by SETI Institute scientist Franck Marchis.

Check out also the recent talk by SETI pioneer Frank Drake: Kepler and Its Impact on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Exoplanets, SETI, Space books

Interviews with Lee Billings, author of “Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars”

Here are two interviews with Lee Billings, author of the new book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars, which reports on the discovery of exoplanets and what it means with regard to the search for signs of life off earth: