with the billions and billions of suns that exist and the amount of planets they are now finding you can't tell me there is no life anywhere even if it is only microscopic life.
Benefits -- well there are many. it really depends on the technology level we find with the alien race we meet. also i believe it will radically affect our own population's belief system.
Dangers -- could be a humanlike race with our own destructive nature. could pose a biological/chemical threat to our own species. also much room for misunderstanding on our own part and there's as we both adapt to the fact we are not alone.
Why do i run SETI? because i believe in the long run it will be to our benefit to discover we aren't alone. plus all the technological and sociological benefits. However it will require patience and a much deeper understanding of our place in the scheme of things. I hope this project succeeds as it will affect the human disposition more then anything that has ever been seen or done before. and hopefully promote a better level of understanding between ourselves.
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.
