SETI
Bertrand Russell wrote, "There are two possibilities. Maybe we are alone. Maybe we are not. Both are equally frightening (Jakosky 1)." The question of life in the universe is one that leaves many in a state of bewilderment. It becomes even more interesting when it leads to another question - that of intelligent life in the universe. Finding other intelligent civilizations among the interstellar space would greatly affect every aspect of our existence. Conversely, not finding such a civilization would force us to examine the purpose of our own existence. To help answer the question, astronomers and scientists set up a program in search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This program, or SETI, was set up to verify, by observation that extraterrestrial life does exist. SETI tries to prove this by picking up and analyzing radio signals by means of satellites and advanced computers (Heidmann 116). The history of the SETI program is quite interesting. It started back in 1959 with the help of two famous Cornell University physicists, Guiseppi Cocconi and Phil Morrison. Both claimed that it would be possible to communicate with other potential extraterrestrial life in space by the use of techniques used in radio astr
Many researchers believe that extraterrestrials, if they exist, are so sophisticated that they would use lasers for their communications rather than radio waves. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. The search for radio waves is a prime example because we cannot guarantee success of finding any signals from outer space, especially if we do not know if they are even using radio signals. It is the fear of the unknown that drives many of the researches onward into the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, and hopefully one day, all this hard work will pay off! Works Cited1. Scientists may reason that the extraterrestrials do no exist based on his/her research and hypotheses. For two tedious months, Drake pointed an eighty-five foot antenna in the direction of two starts the same age as our sun, Tau Ceti and Epsil. Seth Shostack, an astronomer for SETI, argues against Ward's view in the interview. Through research and scientific study, we one day may be able to determine the answer. Congress then decided to not allow NASA to support SETI and terminated the funding ("History of SETI"). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. In order for life to exist many unusual happenings would have to occur for complex life to exist.
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Acceptance Essays
