Allen Telescope Array
With millions of dollars in funding pledged by two of the men behind software giant Microsoft, the search for intelligent life on other planets got a big boost August 1, 2000 as officials unveiled plans for a massive new telescope to scan the skies. The Allen Telescope Array - named for Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, who put up $11.5 million for the project - will be "the world's most powerful instrument designed to seek out signals from civilizations elsewhere in our galaxy," the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute said. Reuters

Because humans base their search for extraterrestrials on their experience of life forms as they search for world that has similar characteristics of Earth, it limits mankind’s search for intelligent life. Since there is a possibility that the aliens have developed advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, the search should include sentient alien machines.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, says aliens may have shed their biological bodies for digital forms, then the search should be in regions where digital life forms would be attractive. The likely places are the centre of the galaxy or places where there are plenty of minerals because these are regions rich in energy, Futurism reports.

At the same time, Shostak warns of the lack of plans by the US government in case such aliens would attack Earth, Express reports. He compares the situation to the US Air Force having an encounter with Neanderthals with their primitive culture and defence.

Shostak says to his best knowledge, the US military has no plan in case of an alien invasion. However, he admits the lack of preparedness is also due to false alarms raised by SETI, a California-based institute whose mission is to explore, understand and explain he origin and nature of life in the universe.

Seth Shostak
Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, says aliens may have shed their biological bodies for digital forms. SETI Institute

He explains that over the years, the organisation had several false alarms, with the most prominent incident in 1997. SETI astronomers thought they were getting signals from alien life form, but the signal turned out to emanate from a European satellite.

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