The search for extraterrestrial intelligence

Wilson, Thomas L.

doi:10.1038/35059235

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…We make the additional assumption that only signals from emitters within an observable radius R o from the Earth are searched for. In principle, R o may represent the distance beyond which the signal becomes indiscernible from the background noise [in that case R o depends on the luminosity of the signal and the receiver sensitivity 8,9 ]. For the moment, however, we shall treat R o as a free parameter that ranges from a few light-years up to the maximum possible distance R M of an emitter from the Earth.…”

Section: Single Emittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Signal coverage approach to the detection probability of hypothetical extraterrestrial emitters in the Milky Way

Grimaldi

2017

Sci Rep

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The lack of evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life, even the simplest forms of animal life, makes it is difficult to decide whether the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is more a high-risk, high-payoff endeavor than a futile attempt. Here we insist that even if extraterrestrial civilizations do exist and communicate, the likelihood of detecting their signals crucially depends on whether the Earth lies within a region of the galaxy covered by such signals. By considering possible populations of independent emitters in the galaxy, we build a statistical model of the domain covered by hypothetical extraterrestrial signals to derive the detection probability that the Earth is within such a domain. We show that for general distributions of the signal longevity and directionality, the mean number of detectable emitters is less than one even for detection probabilities as large as 50%, regardless of the number of emitters in the galaxy.

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Section: Single Emittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Signal coverage approach to the detection probability of hypothetical extraterrestrial emitters in the Milky Way

Grimaldi

2017

Sci Rep

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“…The SETI project is an excellent example of this (Wilson 2001). Neither would we have been able to detect, say, short optical pulses as carriers of information, since these would be smeared out, i.e.…”

Section: Constructions By Extraterrestrial Civilizations?mentioning

confidence: 96%

A search for ‘frozen optical messages’ from extraterrestrial civilizations

Weinberger

Hartl

2002

International Journal of Astrobiology

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For a quarter of a century we have been engaged in a systematic examination of high-quality photographic (optical) sky surveys in the search for new celestial bodies of various kinds. It took about 5000 hours to cover the whole northern celestial hemisphere and half of the southern one. In total, about 12 000 new objects were discovered. From the very beginning of our programme we also searched for objects (or groupings of them) of rather peculiar morphology. The motivation was to detect objects revealing exceptional physical processes, on the one hand, but also to discover constructions possibly created by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs), on the other hand. A number of very peculiar objects were indeed found (these were mostly studied in detail later), but none of these appeared likely to be the product of alien masterminds. We may conclude that at least within about 10 000-20 000 lightyears around the Solar system no highly advanced ETCs intend to reveal themselves through such objects.

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“…radio and optical signals) and artifact technosignatures (e.g. megastructures and artificial lights); for reviews of this subject, the reader may consult Tarter (2001), Wilson (2001), Wright et al (2014b) and Cabrol (2016). The survey volume, i.e.…”

Section: Number Of Worlds Detectable Through Technosignaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Likelihood of Success in the Search for Primitive versus Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life

Lingam

Loeb

2019

Astrobiology

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We estimate the relative likelihood of success in the searches for primitive versus intelligent life on other planets. Taking into account the larger search volume for detectable artificial electromagnetic signals, we conclude that both searches should be performed concurrently, albeit with significantly more funding dedicated to primitive life. Based on the current federal funding allocated to the search for biosignatures, our analysis suggests that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) may merit a federal funding level of at least $10 million per year, assuming that the average lifetime of technological species exceeds a millennium.

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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence

Cited by 23 publications

References 15 publications

Signal coverage approach to the detection probability of hypothetical extraterrestrial emitters in the Milky Way

Signal coverage approach to the detection probability of hypothetical extraterrestrial emitters in the Milky Way

A search for ‘frozen optical messages’ from extraterrestrial civilizations

Relative Likelihood of Success in the Search for Primitive versus Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life

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