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It's been a quarter of a century since Congress cut off NASA's funding for extraterrestrial intelligence research, or SETI, but now the space agency is revisiting the subject under another name: technosignatures.
"I am delighted to announce that NASA is taking the first steps to explore ways to look for life that is advanced enough to create technosignatures: signs or signals that, if observed, would allow one to deduce the existence of technological life elsewhere in the universe "Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA's Scientific Missions Directorate, said in a tweet today.
The research is at the center of a workshop this week at the Houston Lunar and Global Institute, with experts in the search for exoplanets, artificial radio signals and other potential indicators. The chairman of the scientific committee of the House, Lamar Smith, R-Texas, must give a welcome message.
It was way back in 1993, when Senator Richard Bryan completed a congressional effort that killed NASA's 10-year-old SETI program, known as the High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS). "We hope it will be the end of the Martian hunting season at the expense of the taxpayer," said Bryan at the time.
Previously: Scientists broaden their spectrum in the search for extraterrestrial life
Since then, many things have changed: philanthropists, including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Seattle technology pioneer Nathan Myhrvold, have kept SETI alive. Ironically, NASA focused on finding signatures for life on Mars (which has never been a target of NASA's SETI campaign). And astronomers have begun to discover planets beyond our solar system, many of which seem potentially habitable.
NASA's Kepler and TESS missions are at the forefront of researching extraterrestrial lands – but as lists of potentially habitable planets grow, how can scientists determine which world is home?
This is the subject of a pile of research papers. Some studies suggest looking for the spectral signs of chemical imbalance in the atmospheres of exotic planets, or a thermodynamic imbalance that may indicate the existence of an energy-consuming civilization. Others call for signs of bad behavior ranging from global warming and nuclear explosions to air pollution and light pollution in foreign cities.
A well-known case has even led scientists to wonder whether an extraterrestrial megastructure was at the root of the seemingly confusing pattern of fluctuations in the brightness of a distant star. (They finally gave up the idea.)
And then, there are the traditional SETI strategies used in the search for artificial models in distant radio or laser broadcasts.
NASA stated that this week's work was aimed at "assessing the current state of the field, the most promising research leads in technosignatures, and areas where investments could be made to advance science".
"One of the main objectives is to identify how NASA could best support this business through partnerships with private and philanthropic organizations," said the space agency in its preview of the workshop.
Innovative initiatives, supported by Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner and other heavyweights in technology, are sure to feature in this part of the equation. One of the initiatives, Breakthrough Listen, is spending $ 100 million on a 10-year SETI campaign. Executive Director Pete Worden, formerly Director of NASA's Ames Research Center, is among the speakers at this week's event.
Other presenters come from the California-based SETI Institute, which built the Allen Telescope Array radio scanning system, with early support from Allen and Myhrvold; and the Seattle-based Blue Marble Space Science Institute, which has focused on the problem of technosignature and other cosmic issues.
The workshop will begin very early Wednesday and there will be a Reddit AMA chat at 1 pm. ET (10am PT) Thursday. NASA promises that the entire procedure will be broadcast live. Which even means E.T. could tune in
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