Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Fri May 11, 2018, 09:53 PM May 2018

Congress proposes funding search for intelligent alien civilizations


By Laurel Kornfeld | 7 hours ago

A bill proposed by the US House of Representatives allocates $10 million to NASA to search for signaturesof intelligent alien civilizations, such as radio waves, over the next two years.

The proposal marks a complete change from 1992, when a NASA Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project involving the construction of two radio telescopes to listen for signals from alien civilizations was shut down by Nevada Senator Richard Bryan.

Now, US Representative Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who previously served as head of the House Science Committee and is also a denier of human-caused climate change, is advocating funds for a revamped SETI program "to search for techno-signatures, such as radio transmissions, in order to meet the NASA objective to search for life's origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe."

According to astronomer Jill Tarter, who served as director of the independent SETI Institute for 35 years, $10 million would fund the design and construction of new instruments capable of collecting data for analysis worldwide.

More:
https://thespacereporter.com/article.php?n=congress-proposes-funding-search-for-intelligent-alien-civilizations&id=146370
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Congress proposes funding search for intelligent alien civilizations (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2018 OP
Maybe they should fix some of the messes they made here on earth first. nt procon May 2018 #1
Alien Hunters Are Very Excited By This One Sentence In A NASA Bill Judi Lynn May 2018 #2
A very reasonable approach SCantiGOP May 2018 #5
That's all good and well but nobody wants to visit this rock. The universe has got the word out that Afromania May 2018 #3
Hopefully they do not try searching at the upcoming RNC as cstanleytech May 2018 #4
Wonderful. MicaelS May 2018 #6

Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
2. Alien Hunters Are Very Excited By This One Sentence In A NASA Bill
Fri May 11, 2018, 10:18 PM
May 2018

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has long had to rely on private funding, being regarded somewhat as a fringe science. That could all be set to change though, as NASA is looking to fund SETI for the first time in more than 20 years.

That revelation comes from a new House of Representatives bill, as picked up by The Atlantic, which sets out a vision and funding for NASA’s future. The bill, which still needs to make its way through the House and the Senate, discusses how NASA might go about searching for life in the universe. While that's historically referred to looking for microbial life or potentially habitable planets, things could be all set to change.

“NASA shall partner with the private sector and philanthropic organizations to the maximum extent practicable to search for technosignatures, such as radio transmissions, in order to meet the NASA objective to search for life’s origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe,” the bill states.

More:
http://www.iflscience.com/space/alien-hunters-are-very-excited-by-this-one-sentence-in-a-nasa-bill/

Afromania

(2,767 posts)
3. That's all good and well but nobody wants to visit this rock. The universe has got the word out that
Fri May 11, 2018, 10:53 PM
May 2018

only one of 3 things happen when you visit Earth and none of them are tourist friendly.

cstanleytech

(26,085 posts)
4. Hopefully they do not try searching at the upcoming RNC as
Sat May 12, 2018, 02:04 PM
May 2018

they would find zero signs of any intelligence what so ever.

MicaelS

(8,747 posts)
6. Wonderful.
Sun May 13, 2018, 02:45 PM
May 2018

I hated Sen. William Proxmire D-Wisconsin with a white hot passion for his opposition to space exploration, colonization and SETI. And yet the hypocrtical motherfucker voted for dairy price supports to benefit his home state of Wisconsin. I don't give a fuck what else good he did, his opposition to space exploration still pisses me off to this day, and he's been dead for over 12 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Proxmire

Proxmire was head of the campaign to cancel the American supersonic transport and particularly opposed to space exploration, ultimately eliminating spending on said research from NASA's budget. In response to a segment about space colonies run by the CBS program 60 Minutes, Proxmire stated that; "it's the best argument yet for chopping NASA's funding to the bone .... I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy". Proxmire introduced an amendment into the 1982 NASA budget that effectively terminated NASA's nascent SETI efforts before a similar amendment to the 1994 budget, by Senator Richard Bryan, terminated NASA's SETI efforts for good. With these positions Proxmire drew the enmity of many space advocates and science fiction fandom. Arthur C. Clarke attacked Proxmire in his short story "Death and the Senator" (1960). Later, the short story "The Return of William Proxmire" (1989) by Larry Niven and the novel Fallen Angels (1991), written by Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael F. Flynn, were directed against the senator.

Proxmire was noted for issuing his Golden Fleece Award, which was presented monthly between 1975 and 1988, in order to focus media attention on projects Proxmire viewed as self-serving and wasteful of taxpayer dollars.

Proxmire's critics claimed that some of his Golden Fleece awards went to basic science projects that led to important breakthroughs. In some circles his name has become a verb, meaning to unfairly obstruct scientific research for political gain, as in "the project has been proxmired". In 1987, Stewart Brand accused Proxmire of recklessly attacking legitimate research for the crass purpose of furthering his own political career, with gross indifference as to whether his assertions were true or false as well as the long-term effects on American science and technology policy. Proxmire later apologized for several cancelled projects, including SETI.
Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Science»Congress proposes funding...