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Astronomers want public funds for intelligent life search
bbc ^

Posted on 02/15/2020 11:04:54 AM PST by BenLurkin

The UK's Astronomer Royal, Professor Lord Rees, is the chair of the organisation's international advisory group. He told the BBC that, given that the multi-billion pound Large Hadron Collider had not yet achieved its aim of finding sub-atomic particles beyond the current theory of physics, governments should consider modest funding of a few million pounds for Seti.

"I'd feel far more confident arguing the case for Seti than for a particle accelerator," he said.

"Seti searches are surely worthwhile, despite the heavy odds against success, because the stakes are so high".

Nasa once funded the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence to the tune of $10m a year. But the funding was scrapped in 1993 following the introduction of legislation by Senator Richard Bryan, who believed it to be a waste of money.

"This hopefully will be the end to the Martian hunting season at the taxpayer's expense," he said at the time. There has been no significant public funding for Seti in the US or anywhere else in the world since, although so-called astrobiology searches for evidence of simple organisms from the chemical signatures in the atmosphere's of other worlds receives increasing backing.

At the time, the first few planets orbiting distant stars were discovered, but it was not known if this was the norm. We now know that it is - nearly 4,000 have been discovered to date.

It is this development, according to Dr Siemion, that has persuaded many respected scientists that the search for intelligent life on other worlds should be taken more seriously.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; boondoggle; lordrees; nasa; richardbryan; science; seti; xplanets
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1 posted on 02/15/2020 11:04:54 AM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

There is no “intelligent life” in the communist party.
Oh..wait...they’re talking about outer space.


2 posted on 02/15/2020 11:06:17 AM PST by lgjhn23 (It's easy to be a liberal when one is dumber than a box of rocks...)
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To: BenLurkin

Finding intelligent life in Washington DC or in the Brit Parliament is tough enough. As interested as I am in the answer to their question, it’s not worth spending tax dollars to find out.


3 posted on 02/15/2020 11:06:32 AM PST by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: BenLurkin

chances are very good that aliens are not using outmoded radio to communicate with each other


4 posted on 02/15/2020 11:07:10 AM PST by Cyclops08
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To: BenLurkin

Hold a bake sale.

L


5 posted on 02/15/2020 11:07:51 AM PST by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: BenLurkin

Funding astronomy in general and physics particle research is more likely to be successful in finding intelligent life than Seti’s approach.


6 posted on 02/15/2020 11:08:29 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: BenLurkin

We are not alone. We have never been alone.

(History's "Ancient Aliens")
7 posted on 02/15/2020 11:15:23 AM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: BenLurkin

SETI here in the US is privately funded. Astronomer Royal, Professor Lord Rees, you are free to contribute your own money to this cause. Like I have.


8 posted on 02/15/2020 11:18:55 AM PST by null and void (The democrats just can't get over the fact that they lost an election they themselves rigged!)
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To: KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Mmogamer; ...
Thanks BenLurkin.
 
X-Planets
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

9 posted on 02/15/2020 11:19:15 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: BenLurkin

They should go after some of that funding wasted on public education.


10 posted on 02/15/2020 11:21:14 AM PST by clearcarbon
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To: carriage_hill

I love having that show on in the background while doing other things.

Whenever the narrator says “Is it possible...,” I say “no” before he gets to the next wacky proposition.

Loads of fun.


11 posted on 02/15/2020 11:21:35 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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Is it even possible? Yes, it is.
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos
"But I am not really willing to accept your premise, because it may well be that the means of communications they have are of a kind that we do not know how to receive, and that they would not have the means of communicating with sufficiently powerful radio or optical signals. That is something which, technologically, is too difficult for them but they would have some other means we would not recognize." -- Thomas J. Gold, 'Communication with Extraterrestial Intelligence' (Sagan, ed)
"To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field of millet, only one grain will grow." -- Metrodorus, 4th c BC Greek philosopher
"Heaven and earth are large, yet in the whole of space they are but as a small grain of rice. How unreasonable it would be to suppose that, besides the heaven and earth which we can see, there are no other heavens and no other earths." -- Teng Mu, 13th c AD Chinese philosopher

12 posted on 02/15/2020 11:21:54 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: BenLurkin

Since there is presently no concrete evidence for extraterrestrial life, any funding for its search is government funding of someone’s (or a group of such folks) personal belief. Now that’s not to say it’s irrational, just that it’s a matter of belief (or faith, if you will). And I thought the government wasn’t supposed to be in the business of funding people’s beliefs.


13 posted on 02/15/2020 11:29:55 AM PST by Stosh
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To: BenLurkin

Hi.

If UK’s Astronomer Royal, Professor Lord Rees is serious, then start on earth first.

And stay outta Brooklyn.

5.56mm


14 posted on 02/15/2020 11:31:43 AM PST by M Kehoe (DRAIN THE SWAMP! Finish THE WALL!)
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To: BenLurkin

I do the same thing!

Could there be...
Perhaps there is...
Is it possible...
Maybe it occurred...
Are we being visited...

ad infinitum, ad nauseum


15 posted on 02/15/2020 12:04:37 PM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: BenLurkin

If they are looking for intelligent life in the DNC they will never have enough money.


16 posted on 02/15/2020 12:09:07 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (If you don't recognize that as sarcasm you are dumber than a bag of hammers.)
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To: Cyclops08

Yup—total waste of time.

No advanced alien race would be stupid enough to give away their location with radio signals.

Corollary 1: Humans are _not_ an advanced race—we are rock stupid!

Corollary 2: Humans love wasting money on insanely stupid projects like the one discussed here.

Corollary 3: Any advanced alien race that knew about us would hide themselves and observe us in ways we could not detect.

Corollary 4: They could be right in front of our noses and we wouldn’t know it.

(Example: We are right in front of ant’s noses but they have no clue about our nature, purpose, intent, or intelligence level—because they aren’t intelligent enough to figure out stuff that is right in front of them.)


17 posted on 02/15/2020 12:09:27 PM PST by cgbg (The Democratic Party is morphing into the Donner Party)
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To: BenLurkin

Why not give half the money to microbiologists ?

Nonsense to think intelligent life can only exist in things larger than you.


18 posted on 02/15/2020 12:30:27 PM PST by jcon40 (The other post before yours really nails it for me. IOr keep people from / PC ing in ver and alway)
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To: BenLurkin

Have you watched “Project Blue Book” on History? It’s into its 2nd season now.


19 posted on 02/15/2020 12:47:48 PM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: BenLurkin
They live among us.

20 posted on 02/15/2020 12:48:52 PM PST by BigEdLB (BigEdLB, Russian BOT, At your service)
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