G/M

Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence , shortened by SETI and that one can translate by “search for an extraterrestrial intelligence”, is a program of American origin which dates from the years 1960. It gathers projects of which the goal is to detect the signals that a Intelligence Extraterrestre could emit, voluntarily or not, since its planet of origin. The projects analyze the electromagnetic Specter coming from space and try to detect the signals in opposition to the random Bruit.

The program does not suppose inevitably that these extraterrestrial tries to contact us. It tries to locate the emitted waves or not in an intentional way. In the same way, the emitted electromagnetic waves of the Earth at every moment could be detected since space without the human ones seeking for as much announcing their presence.

Since the first Ozma project of Frank Drake in 1959, one counts some today more than 70.

Among the initiators of the project, one can quote Carl Sagan.

SETI@Home

One of these projects is called SERENDIP. Needing enormous capacities of calculation, the Université of Berkeley developed a software named SETI@home in 1999.

It consists in using the processors of thousands of computers connected to Internet in order to analyze these data. Calculations are carried out in a transparent way for the user. The results of each calculation are transmitted to a central server who also undertakes to distribute the tasks among the calculating units. The calculation programme of SETI@Home seeks for example Gaussian signals characteristic of a broadcasting transmitter.

SETI@home is the first project of Calcul distributed general public. Since, it was adapted to extend to other projects. The software is called now BOINC and SETI@home is regarded more only as one “module” of BOINC.

Amateurs, like the radioastronomers amateurs and the radio hams, go even until mounting their own radio telescopes SETI on their premises. They use for that, of the receivers very sensitive radios, making it possible to supervise the frequency of neutral hydrogen in the 1420 MHz (UHF) and of small parabolas from 3 to 5 meters in diameters like antennas.

Projects

External bonds

  • Site of chronological Institute SETI
  • Historical of the project
  • French-speaking Alliance
  • a point of view concerning the SETI balance

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