Certainly the history of astronomy shows that every time we thought we were special, we were wrong. — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
A practical way to travel between the stars is a must-have for space opera, and a sine qua non for our frequently… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The search for extra-terrestrial life is a failure until that moment when it suddenly becomes a success. — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
I still remember my dismay in the summer of 2007 when - for the first time in the history of planet Earth… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
On Mars, where the air is spare - a hundred times less dense than on Earth - someone could hear you scream.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Ever since the infamous quiz show scandals of the 1950s, the feds had insisted that TV game shows be honest - or… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The Earth has been lawned with life for something over 3.5 billion years. That's a span of time great enough to encompass… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The cosmos is three times as old as Earth. During most of creation's 14 billion year history, our solar system wasn't around.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Neil Armstrong was no Christopher Columbus. In most respects, he was better. Unlike the famous fifteenth century seafarer, Armstrong knew where he… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
When was the last time you bought an American-made radio or television? If you're Gen X or younger, the answer is 'never.'… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
A century ago, scientists believed there was only one obvious stomping ground for alien biology in our solar system: Mars. Because it… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Our computers double in capability on time scales of only a few years. It's hardly outrageous to believe that we will successfully… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The next time you check your moves in the mirror and reflect on how special you are, consider that somewhere in this… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Clearly, enriching the cosmos with heavy elements takes a while. So there's inevitably an interval between the sterile aftermath of the Big… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Judging by informal observation, most young Americans burn up their spare time buffing their emotional IQ and self-esteem with social media and… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Humans have existed only for the last 0.001 percent of cosmic time. All of which says that - unless the Homo sapiens… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
I got interested in astronomy at the age of 8 because I was looking at an atlas of the planets in my… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Any beings advanced enough to traverse interstellar distances are at least a thousand years beyond our technical level. Spending gobs of time… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to know. — Seth Shostak Copy Share
If you could drive straight down, into a tunnel bored through the crust of the planet, you'd hit this molten mess in about an… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
While I have always thought that the motivation for looking for E.T. was both self-evident and patently worthy, it's possible that I'm a victim… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
The most attractive habitats for synthetic sentience might be the vicinities of exceptional sources of energy - for example black holes, or even the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Buying insurance is no one's idea of fun. And it's especially easy to berate something as funky-sounding as writing checks to defend our neighborhoods… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back… — Seth Shostak Copy Share
