The milky way Galaxy I might add is millions of years old. Should anyone have sent out a signal 1 million years ago within a 1 million year radio radius of this planet, it should be here about now. So why would anyone not expect to see anything in their lifetime. 1 million years covers an awful lot of space.

It has been estimated that there are probably 1 million stars within 1000 light years from our solar system.

The Milky Way galaxy, like other galaxies, is BILLIONS of years old and contains hundreds of billions of stars. The latest findings indicate that probably most of those have planets. The odds are very high that the conditions suitable to support life have occurred many times in many places. It is also likely that some of those places, given enough time, have developed intelligent life. If it happened here, it must have happened elsewhere. That seems mathematically inevitable.


Whether or not these intelligent life forms could, or would even want to communicate with us cannot, I think, be determined by mathematics (The Drake Equation notwithstanding. Too many unknown variables, IMHO).

Space is big, very very big.

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"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.

It has been estimated that there are probably 1 million stars within 1000 light years from our solar system.

The Milky Way galaxy, like other galaxies, is BILLIONS of years old and contains hundreds of billions of stars. The latest findings indicate that probably most of those have planets. The odds are very high that the conditions suitable to support life have occurred many times in many places. It is also likely that some of those places, given enough time, have developed intelligent life. If it happened here, it must have happened elsewhere. That seems mathematically inevitable.


Whether or not these intelligent life forms could, or would even want to communicate with us cannot, I think, be determined by mathematics (The Drake Equation notwithstanding. Too many unknown variables, IMHO).

Mathematics may be of some help, though. Given the great number of possible manifestations of intelligent life, it seems probable that some of them could be of a mind to communicate with their stellar neighbors, capable of doing so, and close enough to our level of development to make such communication of interest to both parties.

We haven't sufficiently explored the parameter space (possible combinations of wavelength, signal format, sky direction, signal strength, and so forth.) to make any assumptions about the presence or absence of extraterrestrial signals.

I really enjoyed your point of view! I think it is very likely that there would be some kind of cover up if we were to find something significent ~ I would like to think SETI would have the power to release their findings to the world.

Welcome to the forum, Tara.
Information about a candidate SETI signal would probably be withheld for a time, so that it could be properly studied, and confirmed by independent observers. That's just part of the usual scientific method, not really a coverup. It wouldn't be so good if they made an announcement too soon, and then it proved to be a 'false alarm'!

yes I supose thhat would be the intelligent thing to do but that could take months, maybe even years and then who knows after that???

I pronounce BOINC like "boink" or "bo ink"

Usually the first one. :)

I pronounce BOINC like "boink" or "bo ink"

Usually the first one. :)

There are those that pronounce it BOINC, but personally I'm going to keep saying BOINC.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
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When I first started with SETI@Home 18 years ago, I was still a kid in his late 40's who was under no illusions that an extraterrestrial civilization would be discovered anytime soon, but we live in hope, Dexter.

I'm no longer a 40-something kid, and I'm starting to glimpse the Big Bright Light at the end of the tunnel, but I still live in hope that the inevitable discovery will take place in my lifetime. I absolutely cannot believe that the human race - who are at best a 500 million year long series of evolutionary accidents - is the only intelligent species in the universe. Frank Drake cannot be denied; only postponed.

If we haven't found ET yet, perhaps it doesn't wish to be found, by us, anyway; or perhaps we're looking in the wrong place; or we're looking in the wrong way; or we haven't the right tools yet. After all, if your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like nails.

Or maybe, just maybe we're too damned stupid and immature as a species to know what we're doing.

Maybe what we need is a better script writer. Where's Rod Serling when we really need him.

“It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.” - Rod Serling

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I think the question we must ask, is the following: if SETI @ home was or has already found alien signals will be able to reveal it.

+1, And also whether Seti would receive full credit for the discovery.

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I find it significant that since the question came up about whether or not SETI would be permitted to independently release information regarding a definite ET contact that we haven't heard one single word from anyone officially connected to the project. Volunteer moderators and testers have chimed in, but no one from the project itself. Not one word.

It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that 1) a signal has already been found, 2) a cover-up is already in place, and 3) project scientists are participating in and supporting this cover-up.

Not too much of a stretch at all.

One wonders...

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One thing is this project for Eric and team, is essentially a side project without funding that is what it is. And so we haven't heard anything from the project is probably due to other commitments such as Eric writing academic papers that somewhat keep the project going, also Matt is at work for breakthrough listen.

I agree that the United Nations would probably be the worst offender. They try to master the art of crowd control through spreading fear, which I am not buying into. If full disclosure was available to the public, I would like to think people would find it far more exciting than frightening. I don't believe aliens would be hostile, although if I was an alien, I would find plenty to be hostile about on this planet.