Episode Details
Back to Episodes
SETI@home: How Millions of PCs Hunted for Alien Life
Season 3
Episode 299
Published 1 month, 1 week ago
Description
For over 20 years, SETI@home turned millions of personal computers into a global supercomputer, analyzing massive radio data in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
This pioneering crowdsourced project processed billions of potential signals, eventually narrowing them down to 100 top-priority targets. Today, scientists are using China's gigantic FAST telescope to re-observe these promising locations for signs of alien technology.
While no breakthrough discovery has been made yet, SETI@home revolutionized the field by setting new sensitivity benchmarks and creating powerful algorithms to separate real signals from earthly interference.
Join us as we explore how distributed computing and public participation forever changed modern astronomy!
This pioneering crowdsourced project processed billions of potential signals, eventually narrowing them down to 100 top-priority targets. Today, scientists are using China's gigantic FAST telescope to re-observe these promising locations for signs of alien technology.
While no breakthrough discovery has been made yet, SETI@home revolutionized the field by setting new sensitivity benchmarks and creating powerful algorithms to separate real signals from earthly interference.
Join us as we explore how distributed computing and public participation forever changed modern astronomy!