Seth Shostak on SETI

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, specializes in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Seth Shostak

In the November 2010 issue of Sky & Telescope, radio astronomer and author Seth Shostak described the latest technologies and methods being employed by SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Shostak also described some of the locations that are most likely to host other civilizations, and speculated that some of these societies might consist of machine intelligence.

To follow up Shostak’s article, S&T editor in chief Robert Naeye recent interviewed him. Unfortunately, the original interview was lost due to a technical glitch, and we are only now getting around to posting a new interview.

Shostak speaks about many various issues related to alien civilizations, such as the different search strategies being tried, whether we’re endangering ourselves by attempting to communicate, and whether they're likely to exist in the first place. Shostak also discusses his thoughts on recent sci-fi movies that depict aliens, specifically Avatar and District 9.

Click here to download the 22-megabyte, 22-minute interview with Shostak.