Profile: Martin S

Personal background
My name is Martin and I'm from Toronto, Canada. As for my occupation, I work in Information Systems for a large Canadian Insurance company. I have always had an interest in Science, particularly in Astronomy, although I haven't gone as far as a friend of mine who actualy built a small observatory in his backyard, complete with a dome! On a moonless night, I love lying on our dock along the shore of Georgian Bay and gaze up at the Milky Way, watching the odd Satellite go by and the occasional Meteorite fly through the sky. What do I wish for when I see one you may ask? Why, that my computer is the one that processes the penultimate work unit, the one that will have an impact every Human Being on earth...that we are not alone in the vast expanse of the universe.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I do believe that life exists out there. There are some 100 billion stars in our Galaxy, with roughly one quarter like our own, stable enough and in the required size range to be able to sustain life on a planet orbiting it at just the right distance. Afterall, the Drake equation can't be wrong can it?? With the recent discovery of a plantery system, how long could it be before an earth-like planet is discovered? Since it is much easier to send a single than to listen to one, one can argue that civilizations capable of sending a single would do so. Given the age of the universe, there could have evolved a multitude of advanced peoples capable of sending a single out into space. The fact that we haven't heard anything yet shouldn't discourage us. To quote from Lawrence M. Krauss: "...for those of you who are disheartened at the idea that our first contact with extraterrestrial civilizations will not be made by visiting them in our starships, remember the Cytherians, a very advanced civilization encountered by the Enterprise who made outside contact with other civilations not by travelling through space themselves, but by bringing space travelers to them. In some sense, that is exactly what we are doing as we listen to the signals from the stars".

It was an episode on Radio Astronomy by either Nova or the Discovery Channel (I can't remember which) that interviewed a Radio Astronomer from SETI who happened to mention Seti@Home while she described her research which got me started.

I'd like to thank the hard working members of Seti@home for allowing us, the general public to participate in actual research. They are helping to keep Carl Sagan's vision alive.

Thank you SETI.
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