Are we alone in the universe? How well have we checked so far? PLEASE COMMENT

 I am a fan of Fraser Cain's.  I encourage SolderSmoke listeners, readers, and viewers to check out his work:  https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain  

Having grown up with a steady stream of Carl Sagan ("billions and billions") and Star Trek, I naturally accepted that there must be some other intelligent civilizations out there.  But maybe not.  Lately I have been hearing from some very well informed people that we may be alone. This video explains why.  It also has a lot of good information on how to carry our a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  

Please let me know what you think about all this. 

Arthur C. Clarke Talks about Satellites, SETI, Remote Work, and Wrist Radios (1976 Video)

He was, of course, right about the impact of satellites, but he was the inventor of the geo-stationary concept.  I wonder how he would react to the low-earth orbit Starlink system we are now using. 

He coments about how contact with extraterrestrial civilizations could come at any time, but notes that false alarms are common -- this made me think of recent explanations of the famous "Wow!" signal. 

His "Communicate don't Commute" idea seems to foreshadow the "remote work" via  Zoom that kicked in during the pandemic.  

And he talks about Dick Tracy-like wrist radios.  I sort of have one now (thanks to Elisa), in the form of my Apple Watch.  But it may be that putting a camera in there would be a bit too much... 

The Art of Electronics #7 -- Paul Horowitz on Ham Radio, and on SETI (audio)

Radio Contact · “We didn’t find anything, so the search goes on”

Above is a seven minute audio podcast in which Paul Horowitz talks about ham radio and SETI. 

See also:  https://radiocontact.org/portfolio/paulhorowitz/

and  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Horowitz

The Art of Electronics #5 Paul Horowitz on SETI (and lots of other radio stuff)

In 2016 Paul Horowitz  talked about SETI at Google. Fascinating stuff.  Paul did an especially good job of weaving in a lot of radio/electronic and computer info.  

-- I was pleased to learn that one of the early radio astronomy antennas used plywood covered with copper.  I hope it was copper tape! 

-- I didn't know that the Fast Fourier Transform was something developed in the 1960s. 

-- Parkes Telescope!  Yea! 

-- Paul's "chirping" of receivers to screen out targets that are NOT doppler shifting (i.e. terrestrial signals). 

-- Paul tells the group that "amateur" does not mean unprofessional -- it means that the person is doing it for the love of doing it.  Amen. 

-- SETI at Home. 

-- Tube op-amps!  (was that two 12AX7s?)  

--  A variometer!  Wow!  I have two here -- one in the ET-2 regen receiver  (a gift from Pericles HI8P), and another that I homebrewed using a 35mm film can.  

Great stuff from Paul. 

SETI, Proxima Centauri, The Parkes Dish, and Intermodulation Distortion?

 

https://www.sciencealert.com/exciting-mystery-space-technosignals-were-indeed-produced-by-sentient-life-us

A cosmically interesting troubleshoot.  But I'm not sure about their explanation.  Why would the intermod disappear when they moved the Parkes Radio Telescope off of Proxima Centauri?  

The Parkes Radio Telescope Picks Up a Possible "Wow" Signal from Proxima Centauri (maybe)

An article about SETI and our favorite dish.  From Scientific American:  

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alien-hunters-discover-mysterious-signal-from-proxima-centauri/

6EQUJ5 -- SNR, the Big Ear Radio Telescope, and the "Wow" Signal

https://hackaday.com/2020/11/25/the-wow-signal-and-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence/#more-448808

This Hack-A-Day article explains the significance of 6EQUJ5 on the paper readout of the Big Ear radio telescope.  It is a signal-to-noise readout. 

The article also has interesting information about the radio telescope that was used.  

I have on my shelf John Kraus W8JK's wonderful book "Big Ear Two -- Listening for Other Worlds."  John Kraus is the guy who built the Big Ear.  In a reminder of how new radio technology really is,  Kraus got his start in radio as a ten year-old boy in 1920.  He ripped the wire out of the ignition coil  of a Model T Ford to make a tuning coil for a crystal radio.  He took the earpiece out of the family telephone.  His father gave him a chunk of Galena.  He used the crystal radio to listen to the early broadcasts of WWJ in Detroit. 

China and SETI: What Happens if China Makes First Contact?

Here is a really amazing article from The Atlantic.  It is very thought provoking.  Mind blowing.  Strongly recommended. 

You can read it here: 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/what-happens-if-china-makes-first-contact/544131/

Or you can listen to a reading of it (like a podcast) here: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-154380542/what-happens-if-china-makes-first-contact-the-atlantic-ross-andersen

Thanks to Mike Rainey AA1TJ for alerting us to this. 

A Signal for SETI? HD 164595

That's the Russian radio-telescope that picked up what was thought to be a possible signal from an extraterrestrial civilization.   This article from the SETI Institute has some interesting tech info on antennas and power levels.  Definitely not QRP!

http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/a-seti-signal

Listening UP for KIC 846

Update on a story we mentioned a few weeks ago:

Since October 16, the SETI institute has been using its Allen Telescope Array to observe KIC 846 2852 over a wide range of radio frequencies (1 to 10 GHz), looking for any artificial signals. Keep in mind that this star system is relatively far, roughly 1400 light-years away. That's more distant than the Orion Nebula, and getting there (if you feel the need) would require a 23 million year ride in our fastest rocket. But more to the point, any signals detectable here on Earth would have to be exceptionally powerful.

We're continuing to analyze the data. In another week, our SETI team will once again observe KIC 846 2852 using some new receivers being affixed to the Allen Array - known as Antonio feeds - that will increase the sensitivity by a factor of two. Check this space.

Meanwhile, consider KIC 846 2852 as something suggestive of cosmic company, but no more than a suggestion.

http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/news/alien-engineering-around-strange-star

Real DX: The Mysterious Flicker of KIC 846

Artist conception of a Dyson Sphere Alien Mega-structure

This story somehow seemed appropriate for Halloween.  But it is for real (this is Halloween, not April 1!). The role of amateur scientists in this matter is especially interesting, as is the radio-astronomy follow-up.  Stay tuned!

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/

http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-mysterious-flicker-behind-star-kic-8462852/

http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/news/alien-engineering-around-strange-star

http://www.cnet.com/news/the-full-story-behind-the-alien-megastructures-scientists-may-have-found-but-probably-didnt/

Interview with Paul Horowitz (W1HFA) -- A Giant In Radio Electronics (Video)

I've been hearing about this book for years, but until I watched this interview, I knew nothing about the author.  Thanks Lady Ada.  (And thanks to Farhan for the alert.) 

As a native New Yorker, I'm pleased to include in the blog yet another reminder that the Big Apple is not all fashion and finance -- a lot of solder has been melted in my home town. 

Paul Horowitz has a truly awesome bio.   He got his ham license at age eight.  QST tells us that lots of little kids do this, but unlike some of the youngsters we see in the magazine I suspect young Paul really mastered the theory.  Paul Horowitz has "The Knack."  Big time.

PhD from Harvard.   Author of "The Art of Electronics."  Pioneer in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Carl Sagan is believed to have  modeled the main character in "Contact" partly on Paul.  Check out the wiki  page:

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

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Amateurs and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

Interesting article.   The author mentions a connection between SETI and the Homebrew Computer Club:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/aliens-in-the-backyard-how-amateur-astronomers-will-help-find-et

We had a SolderSmoke "SETI at Home" team.  Anybody know how are we doing?   

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Arecibo Birthday

Thanks to Bob Crane for this birthday alert:

The Arecibo Observatory opened on this date in 1963. At a diameter of a thousand feet, it's the largest single-aperture telescope ever built. It's also got the largest focusing dish in the world, which gathers electromagnetic waves from space. Located near the city of Arecibo in Puerto Rico, it's close to the equator, which enables it to "see" (via radio waves) all the planets in the solar system; within six months of its opening, it enabled scientists to study the rotation rate of Mercury and determine that it rotated every 59 days, rather than 88 as was previously thought. It's also been used for military purposes like locating Soviet radar installations by tracking their signals as they were reflected off the moon. It's provided the first full imaging of an asteroid and also led to the first discovery of planets outside our solar system.

In 1999, it began collecting data for the SETI Institute; SETI stands for "search for extraterrestrial intelligence," and the organization looks for deliberate radio or optical signals from other planets. The Arecibo Observatory also sends data over broadband to the home and office computers of 250,000 volunteers, who, through the Einstein@Home program, donate their computers to be used for data analysis during periods when they would otherwise be idle. A year ago, three such volunteers in Iowa and Germany discovered a previously unknown pulsar, 17,000 light years from Earth.

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LONE SIGNAL: SETI gets cool. Perhaps TOO cool! (VIDEO)

Slashdot alerted me to this new SETI-like effort to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations.  It is called LONE SIGNAL.  Check out their video (above and here:
http://youtu.be/M-XcrnSKUog )

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/crowd-funded-radio-beacon-will-message-aliens-130612.htm

The project has many features that put it in the traditional SolderSmoke area of interest, especially  "the use of a re-furbished radio telescope."   But one look at their video (click above) made me think that perhaps these folks are just too cool for a project like this.  I somehow can't see ANY of these people using a soldering iron.  On the other hand, if WE had videos like this, maybe we'd be able to bring more young people into ham radio!  Yea!  Why can't we be cool too? How about it, ARRL?


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Wow! Great Article on the Wow SETI Signal

Thanks to David Umbaugh (and his son!) for alerting me to this really great article in The Atlantic on one intrepid amateur who has chosen to follow-up on the famous (and possibly extraterrestrial) "Wow" signal.   You will like this article. 

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/the-wow-signal-one-mans-search-for-setis-most-tantalizing-trace-of-alien-life/253093/

Robert Gray's book is available here:

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Opening Scene of Contact (CQ at the end)

Mike Herr's video on his use of an Arduino to call CQ SKN made it onto Hack-A-Day 
yesterday and provoked some discussion there of the meaning of CQ.  One fellow posted 
this opening scene from the movie Contact.   I thought you guys would like it. 

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The Allen Telescope Array

I'm really getting into the SETI Live project. Whenever I get a chance I go to the SETI Live page, log on, and classify a few signals. Today I was looking at the tech aspects of the antenna array. Very interesting, and very appealing to homebrewers. They are making use of dishes that were made for TV reception. And they are using software-defined receiver systems. All of this makes upgrades relatively easy.

Jill Tartar of "Contact" fame is running this project.

Check it out: http://www.seti.org/ata

So, I'll be I'll be using a big array to listen (watch really) for the REAL DX on .5 to 11.2 Gigahertz. I'll let you guys know if I hear any "new ones"!

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SETI Live!

Wow, this is really very interesting. The Allen Telescope Array (seen above) is back in operation and they are looking for on-line volunteers to analyze the signals that are streaming in. But unlike the now-familiar SETI-AT-HOME screensaver system, in SETI Live, they want you to personally evaluate signals -- very recent signals -- from the Allen Array. You'll be looking at waterfall displays similar to what we see with SDR rigs. They want you to mark and classify the signals and then upload your work. They are trying to screen out terrestrial sigs, man-made satellites, etc.

This is just the thing for those days when the solar flux is low and 17 meters is dead!

Check it out: http://setilive.org/

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Messaging ET (METI), and Silicon-based Life Forms

My fellow beacon fans will like this one. The ultimate (REALLY ultimate) beacon! http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21236-lets-build-a-beacon-to-tell-aliens-who-we-were.html?page=1

And then there is this article about silicon-based life forms. (At first I thought they were talking about us!) http://www.universetoday.com/91449/why-silicon-based-aliens-would-rather-eat-our-cities-than-us-thoughts-on-non-carbon-astrobiology/

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