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February 24, 2000: SETI Project - Seth Shostak
Published 1 year, 6 months ago
Description
Art Bell connects live with Seth Shostak at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, where the SETI Institute is conducting Project Phoenix, the most sensitive search for extraterrestrial intelligence ever attempted. The interview features a groundbreaking live webcam feed showing Shostak and colleague Jill Tarter, the real-life inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in Contact, inside the observatory control room.
Shostak explains that the system monitors 28 million frequency channels simultaneously, scanning nearby stars for artificial signals. He describes the Arecibo dish as 18 acres of aluminum panels with 70 decibels of gain, capable of detecting a 20,000-watt transmitter from hundreds of light-years away. Art asks why humanity does not actively transmit, and Shostak outlines the diplomatic concerns, the impracticality of waiting thousands of years for a reply, and the reasoning that older civilizations should bear the burden of signaling.
The conversation also addresses a recent book arguing Earth may harbor the only complex life in the universe. Shostak pushes back on this thesis, noting that only 500 of the galaxy's 500 billion stars have been examined so far. He describes plans for a dedicated telescope capable of surveying a million stars, a threshold where detection becomes statistically meaningful.
Shostak explains that the system monitors 28 million frequency channels simultaneously, scanning nearby stars for artificial signals. He describes the Arecibo dish as 18 acres of aluminum panels with 70 decibels of gain, capable of detecting a 20,000-watt transmitter from hundreds of light-years away. Art asks why humanity does not actively transmit, and Shostak outlines the diplomatic concerns, the impracticality of waiting thousands of years for a reply, and the reasoning that older civilizations should bear the burden of signaling.
The conversation also addresses a recent book arguing Earth may harbor the only complex life in the universe. Shostak pushes back on this thesis, noting that only 500 of the galaxy's 500 billion stars have been examined so far. He describes plans for a dedicated telescope capable of surveying a million stars, a threshold where detection becomes statistically meaningful.