Skies to be swept for alien life

[rounds]

The switch has been thrown on a telescope specifically designed to seek out alien life.

Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen the finished array will have 350 6m antennas and will be one of the world's largest.

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will be able to sweep more than one million star systems for radio signals generated by intelligent beings.

Its creators hope it will help spot definite signs of alien life by 2025.

First light

The ATA is being run by the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory from the University of California, Berkeley.

"For SETI, the ATA's technical capabilities exponentially increase our ability to search for intelligent signals, and may lead to the discovery of thinking beings elsewhere in the universe," said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in a statement.

On 11 October the first 42 dishes of the array started gathering data that will be analysed for signs of alien life and help with conventional radio astronomy.

The first test images produced by the array are radio maps of the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy.

Paul Allen, AP

Mr Allen provided the funding for the first stages of the array

The ATA is pioneering a novel design for the antenna that will scan the sky.

Rather than being hand built, each 6m antenna is made of a mass-produced dish and off-the-shelf components. Behind the scenes, digital signal processing software is used to analyse data and clean out man-made interference that would otherwise make the captured information useless.

The layout of the antenna has also been carefully plotted so the instruments work in unison to take a single snapshot of huge swathes of the sky.

The ATA's creators claim that even with only 42 antenna on-stream the instrument already rivals larger instruments in its ability to carry out brightness, temperature and point source surveys.

When all 350 dishes are gathering data the ATA's creator's claim it will allow the gathering of data on an "unprecedented" scale.

The finished instrument will be able to study an area of the sky 17 times larger than that possible with the Very Large Array in New Mexico.

Mr Allen has provided SETI and Berkeley with a $25m grant to fund the initial construction work on the instrument. Other sponsors are being sought for the other $25m needed to complete the project.

It is expected to help improve understanding of such phenomena as supernovas, black holes, and exotic astronomical objects that have been predicted but never observed.

The array is situated in Hat Creek, California which lies about 290 miles (467 km) north of San Francisco.

SOURCE: BBC News

[Hum]

Coolness ... but the Aliens have already been found. Let's pressure those in-the-know to admit it. ;)

[Panacik]

Coolness ... but the Aliens have already been found. Let's pressure those in-the-know to admit it. ;)

/me takes out poking stick

Admit it

Admit it

Admit it

Admit it

Admi...

You get the idea.

[hotdog666al]

It's ridiculous to claim there is no other life in space.

Chances are they will be boring things like Bacteria and Plants, though.

Either that or just strange animals.

Imagine planets with high gravity, the creatures will be so powerful compared to us.

[vincent]

They'd have better luck if this array was in space, or at least use equipment that is capable of seeking out tell tale signs of life ( oxygen, or other atmoshperic conditions that will bring them further to findings, possible.)

I can't wait for NASA/ESA to launch the Darwin mission

[EduardValencia]

But can they get my hair to grow again.

THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION!!!

:laugh:

[snyper]

Coolness ... but the Aliens have already been found. Let's pressure those in-the-know to admit it. ;)

lol.

Hum.. you're at it again.. this make believe stuff ;)

It's ridiculous to claim there is no other life in space.

Chances are they will be boring things like Bacteria and Plants, though.

Either that or just strange animals.

Imagine planets with high gravity, the creatures will be so powerful compared to us.

Not necessarly, if there is life out there, which im certain there is, its quite plausable that they could be rather advanced.

[raskren]

Didn't SETI set out to find this "alien life" and fail?

It's ridiculous to claim there is no other life in space.

Chances are they will be boring things like Bacteria and Plants, though.

Either that or just strange animals.

Imagine planets with high gravity, the creatures will be so powerful compared to us.

This project is betting on the fact that the aliens are advanced enough to generate radio frequencies in some form. Even if there are molds, yeasts, algae, etc. we'd never know with this device.

[samg]

This project is betting on the fact that the aliens are advanced enough to generate radio frequencies in some form. Even if there are molds, yeasts, algae, etc. we'd never know with this device.

Now, i've always wondered about this. What if they didnt "find" radio waves? They use an alternative etc. Or dont use it at all.

These tests assume there isnt something else they can communicate with, which in the scheme of looking for aliens millions of miles away isnt too far fetched...

[4tehlulz]

Not necessarly, if there is life out there, which im certain there is, its quite plausable that they could be rather advanced.

Maybe. And if they're advanced enough, they may know that they don't want us to find them.

[samg]

Didn't SETI set out to find this "alien life" and fail?

This project is betting on the fact that the aliens are advanced enough to generate radio frequencies in some form. Even if there are molds, yeasts, algae, etc. we'd never know with this device.

grumble grumble stupid double post grumble

[Bryan R.]

They'd have better luck if this array was in space, or at least use equipment that is capable of seeking out tell tale signs of life ( oxygen, or other atmoshperic conditions that will bring them further to findings, possible.)

Why do so many people always assume that life has to be sustained by oxygen..and water. It's so naive

to think that all life has be anything like humans. The phrase "life as we know it..." needs to be shot down. Life could evolve in an infinite number of ways that we may know absolutely nothing about. All we know is our planet, how we got here. Someplace in the Andromeda galaxy there could be creatures I can't even imagine that can't live off anything but some phantom energy...er somethin'.

[+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹]

Didn't SETI set out to find this "alien life" and fail?

This project is betting on the fact that the aliens are advanced enough to generate radio frequencies in some form. Even if there are molds, yeasts, algae, etc. we'd never know with this device.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Now, i've always wondered about this. What if they didnt "find" radio waves? They use an alternative etc. Or dont use it at all.

These tests assume there isnt something else they can communicate with, which in the scheme of looking for aliens millions of miles away isnt too far fetched...

"Radio" waves are radio waves. They either are part of the electromagnetic spectrum (incl. light, IR, UV, x-rays, gamma rays) or not. It doesn't matter how they're produced. (Well, what you call the parts of the spectrum does... oddly enough it's not the wavelength that determines the name, it's how it's produced... but they dumb down the article and say they're looking for "radio waves" instead of "electromagnetic waves".)

[snyper]

Why do so many people always assume that life has to be sustained by oxygen..and water. It's so naive

to think that all life has be anything like humans. The phrase "life as we know it..." needs to be shot down. Life could evolve in an infinite number of ways that we may know absolutely nothing about. All we know is our planet, how we got here. Someplace in the Andromeda galaxy there could be creatures I can't even imagine that can't live off anything but some phantom energy...er somethin'.

Im not very educated in these matters - but we are a product of the universe and as such all life would require the same basic factors to survive.

[Dane]

Maybe. And if they're advanced enough, they may know that they don't want us to find them.

Thats right, bad news travels fast!

"stay away from them!"

:alien:

[Bryan R.]

This topic is also assuming that the technology that humans know of, is absolute. Like other life hasn't found some other form or some other "spectrum" of energy or waves. Once, again we may know nothing even close to what other solar systems and even galaxies have conjured up.

Im not very educated in these matters - but we are a product of the universe and as such all life would require the same basic factors to survive.

Ok...we have evolved from virtually nothing but the scrap off of a meteorite. Those bacteria had found a way to live off of what our planet had to offer. Who's to say that maybe other bacteria didn't land here as well and couldn't survive off the same "basic factors"? But just maybe somewhere else, they could...and did/would.

[+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹]

Im not very educated in these matters - but we are a product of the universe and as such all life would require the same basic factors to survive.

Well, what constitutes life? Wikipedia says:

1. Homoeostasis: Regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, sweating to reduce temperature.
   
2. Organization: Being composed of one or more cells, which are the basic units of life.
   
3. Metabolism: Consumption of energy by converting nonliving material into cellular components (anabolism) and decomposing organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homoeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.
   
4. Growth: Maintenance of a higher rate of synthesis than catalysis. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter. The particular species begins to multiply and expand as the evolution continues to flourish.
   
5. Adaptation: The ability to change over a period of time in response to the environment. This ability is fundamental to the process of evolution and is determined by the organism's heredity as well as the composition of metabolised substances, and external factors present.
   
6. Response to stimuli: A response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism when touched to complex reactions involving all the senses of higher animals. A response is often expressed by motion, for example, the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun or an animal chasing its prey.
   
7. Reproduction: The ability to produce new organisms. Reproduction can be the division of one cell to form two new cells. Usually the term is applied to the production of a new individual (either asexually, from a single parent organism, or sexually, from at least two differing parent organisms), although strictly speaking it also describes the production of new cells in the process of growth.
   

Using that definition of life, it doesn't matter what the 'cells' are made from, be them phospholipids like us or possibly a silicone-based structure... it doesn't really matter. All we know is that unless there is some literally strange matter out there that forms similar elements to that found here, the basic building blocks will be normal and chemical like ours - and there's a finite way of organising said elements to get the desired results.

This topic is also assuming that the technology that humans know of, is absolute. Like other life hasn't found some other form or some other "spectrum" of energy or waves. Once, again we may know nothing even close to what other solar systems and even galaxies have conjured up.

One can't "Conjure up" a form of energy, but we can't search for something that we have no knowledge about.

[That Guy Veteran]

We, as humans, are pretty arogant. We always presume that we are the superior species. For all we know, they might have been looking out for us for centuries, and we were just too slow to realise...

[+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹]

We, as humans, are pretty arogant. We always presume that we are the superior species. For all we know, they might have been looking out for us for centuries, and we were just too slow to realise...

Well, we're making enough noise for someone to know we're here... and if they're intelligent enough to know our rough technological capabilities based on our broadcasts.

[Bryan R.]

One can't "Conjure up" a form of energy, but we can't search for something that we have no knowledge about.

I wasn't saying that any being could conjure up energy. I wasn't really strictly speaking. Basically, for clarification, the universe could have different forms of energy, or what have you, that we don't have any idea about.

[BilliShere]

it takes lots of light years for those waves to reach here. so for all we know..there could be life on other planets right now. its just that we cannot see it because we are recieving waves from way before it began on those planets. hence this telescope would be rendered useless in that case.

if it does find life..that life probably existed way before us...they could be extinct..all thanks to the amount of time it takes for light and electromagnetic radiation to reach us.

[webeagle12]

yeah ok, when fish riding a bycicle

[hotdog666al]

To people who replied to me earlier:

I agree totally, I mean, there has to be advanced life our there considering how vast space is.

[Hum]

lol.

Hum.. you're at it again.. this make believe stuff ;)

Tell that to the Aliens. ;)

We, as humans, are pretty arogant. We always presume that we are the superior species. For all we know, they might have been looking out for us for centuries, and we were just too slow to realise...

And a gold star for Sazz181. :yes:

[.Markus]

The switch has been thrown on a telescope specifically designed to seek out alien life.

Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the finished array will have 350 six-metre antennas and will be one of the world's largest.

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will be able to sweep more than one million star systems for radio signals generated by intelligent beings.

Its creators hope it will help spot definite signs of alien life by 2025.

First light

The ATA is being run by the Seti Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory from the University of California, Berkeley, US

"For Seti, the ATA's technical capabilities exponentially increase our ability to search for intelligent signals, and may lead to the discovery of thinking beings elsewhere in the Universe," said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the Seti Institute in a statement.

On 11 October, the first 42 dishes of the array started gathering data that will be analysed for signs of alien life and help with conventional radio astronomy.

The first test images produced by the array are radio maps of the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy.

The ATA is pioneering a novel design.

Rather than being hand built, each six-metre antenna is made of a mass-produced dish and off-the-shelf components. Behind the scenes, digital signal processing software is used to analyse data and clean out man-made interference that would otherwise make the captured information useless.

The layout of the array has also been carefully plotted so the instruments work in unison to take a single snapshot of huge swathes of the sky.

The ATA's creators claim that even with only 42 antennas on-stream, the instrument already rivals larger instruments in its ability to carry out brightness, temperature and point source surveys.

When all 350 dishes are gathering data, the ATA's creators say it will allow the gathering of data on an "unprecedented" scale.

The finished instrument will be able to study an area of the sky 17 times larger than that possible with the Very Large Array in New Mexico.

Mr Allen has provided Seti and Berkeley with a $25m grant to fund the initial construction work on the instrument. Other sponsors are being sought for the other $25m needed to complete the project.

It is expected to help improve understanding of such phenomena as supernovas, black holes, and exotic astronomical objects that have been predicted but never observed. The array is situated in Hat Creek, California, and lies about 290 miles (470 km) north of San Francisco.

Source: BBC Technology