""The U.S. may not continue to lead this work," Werthimer said.

"I would find that disappointing," Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., responded."

So would the rest of us.

The US led the Space Race & to see them back away now is a big disappointment.

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Just saw a mention of this on Space.com

"We'll Find Alien Life in This Lifetime, Scientists Tell Congress"

Congressman Ralph Hall is 91 years old. We better find life yesterday.

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Good news ,keep working.

Congressman Ralph Hall is 91 years old. We better find life yesterday.

Ralph Hall is not going to be a U.S. Representative for much longer...he was defeated in a primary.

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Hey...hello back! This is not the thread, however, to greet people!

Thanx

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Thanks for telling us about this, Matt.

+1

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Hey all, hope your all well. Its been a few years since I was lat on here..its great to be back and I am crunching data like mad....great work we are all doing...

Welcome back Andyroo !

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I wonder what the point of these hearings is. After all, the people who can judge best if good science is done and a project deserves further funding are other scientists.

Having politicians ask question usually puts scientist in the role of being a teacher, teaching non-scientists about what they are doing (as seen in the video). This approach seems to be pretty US-unique.

In about every other country around the world the government pays their experts (who are scientists themselves) to recommend what they should fund.

I wonder what the point of these hearings is. After all, the people who can judge best if good science is done and a project deserves further funding are other scientists.

It is in the Constitution that Congress makes the budget. Just to get a hearing shows it is good science but funding is limited . The hearings are open and public; all sides, if there are sides, are welcome to present their case then the public decides. Write your congressman it works*.


*Offer valid only for US citizens.

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Thank you for your answer. Just for clarification:

It is in the Constitution that Congress makes the budget.
...

That's the same over here (and probably in most democracies). In the end the parliament (called "Bundestag") decides.

But the recommendations about what should be funded come from the Ministry for Science and Education which is closely working together with the scientific institutions and universities. If additional input is needed the Bundestag has its own group of experts called "wissenschaftlicher Dienst" (approximate translation: "scientific service").

Just to get a hearing shows it is good science but funding is limited . The hearings are open and public; all sides, if there are sides, are welcome to present their case then the public decides.

So the purpose is not to check wether scientific standards are met, as these checks are already done at that point, but rather to inform politics and the public? (So they can prioritize the amount of funding given to the projects, and of course to spark public interest)

This seems to make sense. Maybe I was mislead by the juristic wording. ( e.g. "hearing", "testimony"). In my ears it just sounded like there are doubts about wether good science is done with public money.

This seems to make sense. Maybe I was mislead by the juristic wording. ( e.g. "hearing", "testimony"). In my ears it just sounded like there are doubts about wether good science is done with public money.

The committee is looking for more than pure science as a reason for this funding. A project that generates public interest in science, like SETI, has an advantage.

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This seems to make sense. Maybe I was mislead by the juristic wording. ( e.g. "hearing", "testimony"). In my ears it just sounded like there are doubts about wether good science is done with public money.

The committee is looking for more than pure science as a reason for this funding. A project that generates public interest in science, like SETI, has an advantage.

A project that is likely to get the politicians votes in the next election has an advantage. Everything else, including the public good, is secondary to that. Sad, but true.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I watched the video of the hearing, and in Mr. Werthimer's PowerPoint presentation he noted that Seti@home involves the "screen saver" that crunches the data when computer not in use. Appears that's no longer the case with the current software, as the screen saver animation just illustrates what data the program is crunching. I haven't used the screen saver for some time to save processing power on my older machines, and use this power to actually crunch.

Just an observation. I assume the graphics might bring the curious on board initially?

I watched the video of Dan Werthimer at the U.S. House of Representatives.

I found it inspirational! It reminded me of the end of the film "Contact" with Jodie Foster, and she gives here testimony before the jury.

Well done Dan Werthimer, you gave it your best shot!

Johnney Guinness.

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Thank you for posting the link to the video. I found it very informative and hopefully the funding will continue. In addition, SETI may gain a few new data crunchers now that the students in attendance had the opportunity to learn about SETI.

Nice to see that things are happening. Funding are important, but so are publicity.

Dear Byron Leigh Hatch

Thank you for your gift of $1,000.00 via Visa on 09/04/2014.

Your gift will benefit the following area:

SETI@home - $1,000.00

Your confirmation number is: 136657