I've always been fascinated by SETI. It's such a difficult problem to try to wrap your head around. How would we find a common frame of reference when we have not been able to do the same with other species on our own planet? I admire Carl Sagan, Frank Drake and so many others that put dedicated thought towards finding evidence of intelligent life but also how to tackle to communication barrier.
Seti@home was one of the most ingenious ideas I've ever seen. Let geeks participate in such an important endeavor and produce a supercomputer out of thin air, brilliant.
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.